Merry Grinchmas!

Here at Box of Balloons we not only love celebrating birthdays and have themed birthday parties but we also love having seasonal, festive parties too. Each December I throw a themed holiday party for my kiddos, family and friends. Choosing a theme is step 1 when I am planning a party and I always try to include my kids in on the decision. We recently saw the new Grinch movie with friends so when asked what kind of Christmas party they wanted this year they all excitedly yelled, "A Grinch Party"!

Once a theme is chosen I pick party colors so I can focus and decide what kind of decorations we need. For this Grinch Party we went with green and red, the obvious choice but it was a must! I love balloons, no surprise, and have been inspired this year my SugarSmith to create big balloon garlands for all of our parties. Once I purchased an electric balloon pump my life was changed and balloon garlands became even more fun to create! I blow up all the balloons, generally between 30 and 40 depending on the size of garland I want or the amount of time I have. Then I use a large sewing needle and either fishing line or thin twine and string the balloons on together. I attach the long garland to the wall using push pins and string but you would use command hooks too.

Each party I always make sure to have a party game or activity (just like we include in every birthday box), this gives the kids something to participate in and allows them to interact. For our Merry Grinchmas party I had sugar cookies ready to decorate with several colors of frosting and sprinkles. Cookie decorating is always a fun activity and then it doubles as dessert or the party favor.

In addition to cookie decorating we made grinch ornaments. I bought large, clear plastic ornaments at the Dollar Tree, green puff balls, green crinkle paper and small heart foam stickers. Kids filled the ornaments with puff balls or paper and then decorated the outside with heart stickers. I had soft felt red bags for each guests to take their ornament home in as their party favor.

My family was all in attendance at our Grinch Party and we love bingo so we played Grinch bingo. Everyone brought a bingo prize, we put them in the middle and used white chocolate chips as the bingo markers. After about six rounds of bingo we let everyone choose a prize and moved to the photo booth. A photo booth is an easy addition to any party that encourages fun and documented memories.

I try to always keep food themed as well, once I have a theme I really stick with it! For dinner we had roast beasts (Arby's beef sandwiches), Grinchy green salad, Cindy Lou corn hash (street corn), schlott's spinach and artichoke dip and then cupcakes and cookies for dessert. The beverages were themed with beezlenut splash soda (green hi-c and sprite) and then a hot chocolate bar. Setting up on main area for decorations and themed treats makes it easier to focus on just that space for decorating.

Thankfully we had all happy, joyful party guests, no Grinches in attendance! Everyone enjoyed the Merry Grinchmas party and we are already dreaming up next year's theme....