Goody Bags & A Silly Headband

We are getting ready for Little Cutie’s 8th birthday party on Saturday.  While I know many people no longer do goody bags for birthday parties these days, they are still a big deal to The Cuties {and Mama!}, and so we have fun with them.

Little Cutie’s favorite place to play in Japan is at the bowling alley at the Tokyo American Club, so we are having her party there.  With that in mind, we decided to go all-out with the bowling theme for the favors this year.

I started with small paper gift bags and this shape from the Silhouette store for name tags.  I used a silver paint pen to write each child’s name on it and tied it on the front.  {In the interest of keeping it real, I should tell you I really envisioned double-layering the name tag with a bowling pin as well, but I am out of white card stock, and one of the challenges of life in Tokyo is that I can’t hop in my car and zip over to Michael’s for craft supplies.  Oh well.}

I first made some chocolate lollipops for the kids with a bowling-themed mold.  If you’ve never used these molds, they’re very easy and you can make up favors quite quickly.  First put a bunch of chocolate wafers into a plastic bag and melt them in the microwave {please  take caution to do this in short increments of time and on a low heat setting so you don’t burn yourself!}.  Once the chocolate is melted, snip the edge of the baggie with scissors and squeeze it into your mold.

When the molds are mostly full, add in your lollipop sticks and then fill completely, going over the sticks.  Then gently tap the mold tray on your countertop to remove any air bubbles and to even out the chocolate.  Stick the tray in the freezer for about 15 minutes and then gently flip the lollipops out on a dish towel and you’re finished.

And here is the whole goody bag: a mini trophy for all the “winners;” a sparkly pencil {reminded us of bowling balls} and a bowling pencil; bowling stickers; chocolate bowling lollipop; and a mini bowling game.

And then, since I had to order the bowling games in packages of a dozen, I had a bunch leftover and got a bit of a wacky idea…..

I mean what else is a girl and her glue gun to do, but get going….

My post-shower model found this project extra silly, and she’s the Birthday Girl, that’s a good thing.

I think it will be fun with the shirt she got to wear to the party from Etsy.

We’re all really looking forward to her party and I promise not to completely embarrass her by belting out all the lyrics to “Let’s Bowl” from Grease 2 in the middle of her party.  Or at least not embarrass her by doing that….

Linked to:

C.R.A.F.T., Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, Between Naps on the Porch, Hope Studios, Coastal Charm, Sugar Bee Crafts, Today’s Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife