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3 Kids, 2 Dogs and 1 Old House

A Day In The Life Of The Alfino'sCelebrationsEventsFrom MomKyla IsabellaMemorable MomentsOur KiddiesPARENTINGPARTYRegular FeaturesRiya-Ray

Our Faraway Tree Party (And FREE Party Food Printable)

26 July 2016
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How do you decide on a theme for your kids parties?

Every year it goes the same way for us.  The girls (whose birthdays are two weeks apart – so they share a party) declare that they MUST have a Frozen party.  Then I vehemently disagree.  It’s not that I don’t like Frozen, it’s just that they don’t even like Frozen.  They never watch it.  If they were obsessed with it, I would suck it up and replicate every other party we’ve been to over the last three years, but they’re not.  I can’t justify throwing a whole party over a theme they don’t even love and one that I can’t stand to see again.

(I’m not knocking Frozen parties.  OK, well, I am.  It’s just that if you’ve been to one, you’ve been to them all right?)

So we sat down and analysed what they love.  And what they love is story time every evening.  Specifically delving into The Enchanted Wood and joining Beth, Frannie and Joe as they climb up The Faraway Tree and have wonderful adventures.  I mentioned it to the girls and they literally burst with excitement!  It was a done deal.

When I dropped Kyla off at school it became evident that none of her friends had read The Faraway Tree.  I won’t lie, I was disappointed.  But instead of wallowing in it, I took it upon myself to rectify the problem.  The Faraway Tree was one of the core books of my childhood, which is why it was important for me to share that with my kids and now their friends too.

The Faraway Tree Party Packs

Initially I wasn’t going to do party packs.  I’m quite over them.  But I was so disturbed by the fact that no one seemed to know about the Faraway Tree that I had to fix it.  So instead of the usual party packs, I bought a few of the collections of the three books from Bargain Books.  The beauty of it is that you can pick up any one of the three and it will reintroduce you to Moonface, Silky, The Angry Pixie, Mr Whatshisname, Dame Washalot and Saucepan Man.  These books became the party packs.  Each family now has a copy of the book to enjoy at home.  Hopefully they too will now know what a lot of what we did at the party even meant, but also grow a love for the funny little characters and their crazy stories.

The Faraway Tree The Faraway Tree

The Faraway Tree Decor

A couple of months ago I was knocked out with viral meningitis.  This meant that my usual plotting, planning and prep that starts around two months before the party was put on hold.  It was so on hold that it never got started.  So instead of stressing like a crazy person, I left it all in the very capable hands of The Cape Town Balloon and Events Co.  Guys, this is easily the best decision I have made.  They did everything!  Our garage was totally transformed from drab to a Faraway Tree haven.

What I love the most is that you give them a theme, number of kids and a budget and they will make it work for you.  Seriously, you don’t have to spend thousands to get a well put together looking party.

Together we transformed our garage into The Land Of Birthdays – with helium balloons of every colour and a table to eat the ice cream sundaes etc.  There was a sweet little photo booth, popcorn machine and of course, a jumping castle (which always seems to be the place the kids flock to because I can never get them off).  We also used the empty book covers as part of the decor.

The Faraway Tree The Faraway Tree The Faraway Tree The Faraway Tree The Faraway Tree The Faraway Tree The Faraway Tree

The Faraway Tree Cake

Ugh, what a nightmare this cake was.  But only because I had this image in my head of what I wanted it to look like and well, it looked nothing like that.  We used a dowel stick attached to a board that was then drilled with holes at the top to fit in skewers of icing covered marshmallows.  The trunk of the tree was made up of a rectangular cake, cut in circles 4 layers high and then propped up with marshmallows.  If you caught any of the snaps that I did as we were prepping it you would have seen the process, at one point I was crying because I was laughing so hard.  But anyway, our girls loved our weird little bonsai tree and it tasted pretty freaking great (if I do say so myself).

The Faraway Tree Cake The Faraway Tree Cake The Faraway Tree Cake

The Faraway Tree Food

Did I go back and read everything that Beth was served at The Land Of Birthdays?  You bet I did!  We had Google Buns, Pop Cakes, Lemonade, Toffee Shocks, Cheese Sandwiches, Fruit Salad, Strawberries and Cream, Doughnuts, Chocolate Cakes and even Acornade.

For the Pop Cake I used Woolies cupcake covered with popping candy, Google Buns were Woolies doughnut holes sprinkled with chocolate and Toffee Shocks were the Cadburys Chocolate Eclairs.  They don’t exactly explode in your mouth but chocolate is a pretty good alternative in my books.

The lovely Tracy Webb from Coffee and Cream Design did these cool food labels for me on the original book illustrations, but due to printing issues I wasn’t able to print them in time for the party.  I was so freaking bummed.

Faraway Tree Food Labels

321 faraway tree labels3 321 faraway tree labels1 321 faraway tree labels2

 

Toffee Shocks Pop Cakes Google Buns IMG_3327 IMG_3335

The Faraway Tree Activity

We did a “make your own sundaes” activity.  Technically – according to the Faraway Tree book – all you had to do was say it for it to appear in front of your face.  But that was just a bit impossible because I can’t actually do magic.  So we gave each kid a scoop of ice-cream and then made all the toppings appear when they said them.  (I didn’t leave the toppings on the table because then they go nuts and cover their ice cream with so much stuff that it’s actually inedible – we went around the table and made sure it was still good to eat at the end).

IMG_3505 IMG_3528 IMG_3539 IMG_3557

Originally I wanted everyone to dress up but seeing as no one really even knew the characters it was a bit of a bust on that front.  But all in all it was a great party – the kids had the best time and that’s the best part!

Like what you’ve read here?  That’s flipping awesome – feel free to share it with your friends.  Also come hang out with me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram where you can expect to find a whole lot more of this, just shorter.

Other parties that we have had or been to with a cool theme:

  • Superhero Party
  • Rainbows and Kites Party
  • Shaun The Sheep Party
  • Bling Party
  • Butterfly Party
  • Dinosaur Party
  • Murder Mystery party (this ones for the adults)
  • Cowboy Party
  • A Baking Party (one of my favourites)
  • Mister Maker Party
  • Alice in “one”derland party
  • Mermaid Party
  • Sixties Party (also adult but doesn’t have to be)
  • Princess Party
  • Circus Party

More pictures

IMG_3489 IMG_3552 IMG_3412 IMG_3416 IMG_3476 IMG_3400 IMG_3477

Our Faraway Tree Party (And FREE Party Food Printable) was last modified: July 29th, 2016 by 321Blog
childrens partyFaraway Tree Partygirls party themeparty themeThe Enchanted WoodThe Faraway Tree
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15 comments

Tarryn B 26 July 2016 at 2:06 PM

This is the most amazing thing in the world. I don’t have kids…don’t really plan on having them but oh my gosh… I LOVED the magic faraway tree when I was younger. I would spend hours reading those books. I can’t believe so few people know the story! Maybe it’s fallen out of fashion…

Anyway, I just wanted to say what a freaking great idea and I love all the decorations and that cake is bad ass. I kinda want an adult faraway tree party now! Or borrow someone’s kids and have this party.

Reply
321Blog 26 July 2016 at 2:10 PM

Thank you!

I know – it’s one of the best kids books EVER! It’s upsetting to me that kids now don’t seem to know it. Hopefully that will change soon. You should ABSOLUTELY do an adult party – people would actually dress up then!!

Reply
Kim Muller 26 July 2016 at 3:09 PM

I love everything about this. The detail, the food, the cake, the books you gave each guest. Your parties are always super amazing and there is nothing better than happy kids. Now to convince you to help me with this puppy party I’m planning for my youngest lol!

Reply
catjuggles 26 July 2016 at 4:25 PM

Now that has to be the best best best party packs ever! You clever girl. Another great party

Reply
mommabeartrax 26 July 2016 at 8:04 PM

LOVE the party pack alternative!

Reply
Jodie 27 July 2016 at 7:55 AM

Oh wow – that looks really amazing. Well done 🙂

Reply
Jo 27 July 2016 at 12:57 PM

We LOVE the Faraway Tree, but we have the old fashioned version with different names! The Wishing Chair books are also fantastic! It is my twins’ party in 3 weeks so I’m meant to be planning already ?, might have a look through your other party posts for some ideas ?

Reply
Chipped 27 July 2016 at 2:37 PM

Love your parties and glad that you didn’t do a ‘frozen’ party.

Reply
Faziela 27 July 2016 at 3:48 PM

I absolutely love this! I also love planning themed parties and have yet to spend copious amounts of money on it because I usually tend to craft everything myself. Really loving the party packet idea too, we did little craft bags for my little ones first birthday 🙂
. The party looks like it was such a blast!

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Caley 28 July 2016 at 3:56 PM

Awesome party and loved the theme – one of my all time favourite books growing up! x

Reply
Bianca 29 July 2016 at 9:12 AM

This looks lovely! We are literally just about to finish our third book of the Faraway Tree. It has been such a great experience reading it to them as besides them loving it, we enjoy reading it as well which just makes all the difference! The only problem with it is having to stop…we always get ‘just one more chapter, one more! Pleeeease! ‘ I love that you gave the books instead of the party packs…genius! 🙂

Reply
321Blog 29 July 2016 at 10:23 AM

We have the same problem! They beg for another chapter every night! I love that they love it.

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[…] The Faraway Tree Party […]

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How To Plan A Party - 3 Kids, 2 Dogs and 1 Old House 7 September 2017 at 1:03 PM

[…] The Faraway Tree Party […]

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*WIN* A Kids Hamper Packed Full Of Nike, Converse & Jordan Gear (Worth R2500) - 3 Kids, 2 Dogs and 1 Old House 18 May 2018 at 8:03 AM

[…] Like take Kyla for example.  If she is not practising her latest ballet moves for her upcoming exam, then she’s doing cartwheels.  So many cartwheels that I am often surprised to see her the right way up on the few occasions that she is.  She is currently dedicated to being able to do a handstand.  And I have honestly never met anyone with her insistence to get it right.  With muddy hands and sore arms, she just keeps going.  Over and over again.  Trying to perfect it.  It’s like she’s living the Topsy Turvy land in the Faraway Tree. […]

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