Tag: party ideas

Harry Potter Birthday Party

Post author By Suzanne Robinson
Post date October 10, 2025
No Comments on Harry Potter Birthday Party

This year the girls wanted a Harry Potter or Wizard themed birthday party. (Read on to get the free takeaway – Harry Potter Cupcake Toppers)

I thought how do I get into the spirit of the Harry Potter theme?

The invitations are the way to set the scene. Making sure that the invites are on track with the Harry Potter/Wizard theme is a good start.

I create my own for the twins birthday parties and this year was no exception.

The invitation that I created for the girls 9th birthday party. I got inspired by another invite I saw and used some of the text. The images were all ones that I found online and all are clip art so free to use.

To make my invitation have the right look I had to have the Harry Potter Font or something like it. Font Space have free Harry Potter fonts and are easy to download, install and start using.

Instructions if you are installing a font for your very own Harry Potter invitation:

Download the font
Install the font into the fonts folder in the control panel
Once the font or fonts are now added to your fonts folder you should see them in Photoshop or other programs you use to create your invitation. (I used Photoshop but if you don’t have Photoshop you can use a free web based Photoshop like editor called PIXLR EDITOR)
Now you have your fonts you can get creative with your invitation.

Now you have created your Harry Potter/Wizard invitations, the food and decor are something to think about.

What type of things will you serve to make the kids feel like they are at a Harry Potter Party? The twins told me that if it is not 100% Harry Potter that is okay, it just has to be wizard like.

Phew I thought, I was worried that it might not be exact and of course not accurately Harry Potter.

I googled for inspiration. I also went to Pinterest too.

Below is what I created for the party. I did my best to keep with the Harry Potter or Wizard theme.

I saw from Darla at Bakingdom that she did a coloured layered cake for each house in Harry Potter. After getting depressed about all the fancy cakes out there, I thought that this would be easier to do. I have done
The different coloured layers of the Harry Potter Cake. This is to show the different houses.

one similar the year or so before but it was a cake that had sweets inside...yep a surprise for everyone. I used the layered cake idea for the Harry Potter Party but did my own decorations.

For the layers I added food colouring to four cakes to get one for each house:

Gryffindor – Red
Hufflepuff – Yellow
Ravenclaw – Blue
Slytherin – Greeen
My decorations for the cake were piped out of dark chocolate in the shape of Harry Potter’s glasses and also the scar on his forehead. I also used chocolate stars that were already made in the cake section of the supermarket.
The dark chocolate that I piped to form the decorations on the Harry Potter Cake. I got the exact shapes from a printed download and copied that. Once done I put in the fridge to set.

The chocolate decorations for the Harry Potter cake. I kept it simple.

Finished the Harry Potter cake all ready for the party.
Sorting Hat Cupcakes – I saw them online and had to give them a go. Make your cupcakes. Cut a bit out of the middle and put in a few coloured M&M’s (I used the ones that didn’t have peanuts in case of allergies). The colours need to match the houses in Harry Potter. I did have to stand for a while and separate the colours I needed from a big bag of M&M’s. Once you have put the secret M&M’s into the cupcake put the cake back on top and then ice it. Decorate and done. Now do it the rest of them and then all your sorting hat cupcakes are organised. I made sure that there was an even number of each colour. Below are the colours I needed for the sorting hat cupcakes and as said got only those colours in six cupcakes each. I made chocolate vegan cupcakes with very dark chocolate icing. The icing was just icing sugar, organic cocoa powder from the health food shop, and water. This icing is just like pure chocolate and perfect for anyone who cannot have butter or other ingredients.

Gryffindor – Red
Hufflepuff – Yellow
Ravenclaw – Blue
Slytherin – Greeen
Wizard Bread – Fairy bread but these were stars and therefore more wizardry than normal fairy bread. I had fresh bread on the day of the party, and simply cut out star shapes with a cookie cutter. Once all done I put a little bit of butter on each star and decorated them with hundreds and thousands.
Yummy Wizard Bread
Broomsticks – I got the idea from One Little Project and this can also be used for Halloween as well. All you need is straight pretzels, cheese sticks that are able to be created into the end of the broom (I used Bega Stringers as the cheese allows you to take the ends and turn them up to look like a straw broom), and then you need some chives to tie around the base of the cheese and pretzel to make it look like the tie holding the broom and the handle together.Making the broomsticks is rather fiddly so if you are like me there might be a few words said when they don’t go your way. You need to be extra careful when you push in the pretzel into the cheese.One tip that helps is to make a hole in the cheese to allow the pretzel to go in easily, however be careful as it might make the cheese break too.
Some my first broomsticks that I made. Don’t they look awesome!

More broomsticks.

Broomsticks are all ready for the kids to eat at the party.
Magic Wizard Chocolate – I saw this online ages ago and have used it for a few parties now. I have made it different by some things I used in the chocolate and of course naming it Magic Wizard Chocolate helped make it more special for the party.
To create the magic wizard chocolate. Firstly purchase some dark chocolate or the chocolate of choice to melt. You will need a couple of packs as you need to melt the chocolate and lay it on a big tray. If you have a lot of chocolate you can make two trays. You will be amazed at how quickly this gets eaten. I chose dark-cooking chocolate and got three packs of the chocolate. You then need to have sweets to stick into the melted chocolate before it hardens. Feel free to add whatever you wish as it is up to you and the theme of your party. I chose eyes, bright candy, Kit-Kats, raspberries, and sprinkles. Once the chocolate has set (I helped it along by putting it in the fridge). All you need to do is break it into little pieces so that the kids can just take a bite-sized part and not a whole bit of it. The eyes help it look a bit spooky so will be a perfect party treat for Halloween, monsters, and of course a wizard party like Harry Potter.
Lolly Snakes – I made sure to have snakes as one house is called Slytherin and a birthday party really has to have more sweets it seemed to make sense.

Slytherin snakes for the kids… of course, they are not real but lollies instead.
Magic Chocolate Frogs – In Harry Potter there are chocolate frogs that fly away. Mine were not like this and nearly all the frogs got eaten to never return on the day. Sad but they were very yummy.
Magic Chocolate Frogs and Wizard Chocolate

I made sure that all food had labels that fit in with the theme of the party. This way everyone got involved in the fun.

The birthday girls excited to cut the cake. — The birthday girls are excited to cut the cake.

There was also a seat that had invisible cloaks for anyone who needed one. Yep I wore mine although no one knew due to it being invisible.

Some great tips and more inspiration to throw an amazing Harry Potter Party is listed in the BuzzFeed’s article on 33 cheap ways to organise an epic Harry Potter Halloween Party

I hope this gives you some great ideas for a Harry Potter Party or even Halloween.

Inside the Harry Potter Cake for the girls 9th Birthday Party.

FREE TAKEAWAY BELOW!

I’ve created a fabulous download for you. Harry Potter Cupcake Toppers. Perfect for your next party.

Originally published October 24 2017

Party ideas

Digger Birthday Cake

Do you have a construction mad person at home?
Are they having a birthday soon?

If you answered yes then this simple but effective cake might be something that is of interest.

How did I make this cake?

Firstly I made 2 cakes so that the diggers had the height for the rubble to be coming off the side of the cake
I made it easy and used a vanilla cake mix.
I then iced the outside of the cake with chocolate icing
I printed out a big number 2 so that I had the size and shape right and cut out the paper for a template.
I then filled in the template area with the M&M’s or you can use smarties to create the number on top of the cake
To create the rubble on the side of the cake and in the diggers I used Violet Crumble and purchased a few bags to crush and have around the side of the cake
To make sure it is indeed a digger cake I added 2 diggers scooping up the Violet Crumble
You will need to have diggers for the decoration for this cake and some can be easily purchased online.

To get the most chocolatey icing
do the following

Get organic Cocoa Powder from the health food shop, then mix it with just icing sugar and a little water or maybe some juice (apple, orange or even just lemon juice is nice) This icing is like pure chocolate and is so yummy.

This cake is super easy to construct and decorate and looks fantastic. It was made for Alexander’s 2nd birthday. It is easily made for any birthday number, all you have to do is to change the number on top of the cake.

Alexander’s digger cake for his 2nd birthday

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Tags birthday cake, birthday celebrations, cake, construction cake, digger cake, easy birthday cake, kids birthday cake, kids party, party food, party ideas

Party ideas

Making Birthday Parties Easy with Coles’ Vanilla Pink Drip Cake

Post author By Suzanne Robinson
Post date June 21, 2025
No Comments on Making Birthday Parties Easy with Coles’ Vanilla Pink Drip Cake

Have you ever thought that birthday cakes should be easier?

What if they can be and you can take all the glory for not doing that much at all? Coles has the perfect cake to make you look like the best parent in the world.

The Coles Vanilla Pink Drip Cake will help your next party be a HUGE hit.

If you are not a fan of the Pink Drip Cake, you can also get a Chocolate Drip Cake

Our summer-inspired Coles Vanilla Pink Drip Cake

Coles Vanilla Drip Cake Makes Birthday’s Easier

I like any mum who wants to make their child’s birthday party special. Each year I ask each kid what they would like for their birthday, and I go out of my way to make it happen.

Hubby is a bit over all the trouble I go to and keeps on saying I should just get a cake from the shop and make it look pretty.

So when I was asked to test out the new Coles Vanilla Pink Drip Cake I thought this might be the answer to making birthday’s easier.

What did the girls choose as decorations?

Coles Tropical Candles 6 pieces – $4.00
Coles Tropical Sprinkles Jar – $5.80

The kids wanted to make it a summer cake filled with tropical decorations.

I think they did an amazing job and had fun too.

I think next time I have a party I will make things easier for myself. As a mum, there is so much to do and to organise, if you can get more time back it is a win, right?

Will you be testing out the Coles Vanilla Pink Drip Cake?

Did you know that the Coles Drip Cakes was voted product of the year for 2020?

I can see why it won product of the year, it’s yummy and a stunning-looking cake.

COLES VANILLA PINK DRIP CAKE
The Coles vanilla pink drip cake is a stunning and cost-effective solution to creating the cake of your dreams! The white icing with a delectable pink drip puts this stunning dessert on par with the decadent, Insta-worthy cakes that are continuously popping up. This cake is light, fluffy and drizzled with a sweet pink topping and makes the perfect base for decorating and dressing as you see fit! Whether it’s for a bridal shower, kids’ birthday party or just for impressing your guests after dinner, the Coles pink drip cakes are perfect for every occasion.
RRP $28.00
Available at Coles.

I hope this gives you some ideas on how to make your next celebration fantastic with this super stylish cake.

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Posted first on Feb 21st 2020

Tags anniversary, birthday cake, birthday cake hack, birthday party, bridal shower, cake over, cakeover, cakes, celebration, Coles, Coles cakes, Coles Vanilla Pink Drip Cake, make birthdays easy, make your birthday cake in record time, parties, party, party hacks, party ideas, product of the year 2020

Family

7th Birthday Celebrations

As you already know I was madly preparing for the kids birthday party. I had also baked cupcakes for school and then did it all again the next day to prepare for the party. Last Thursday and Friday were super busy and I of course did not make it out of the kitchen other than to pick kids up from school and off course drop them off. If you did see me throughout the day I might have had to make a run to the supermarket to pick up some forgotten supplies.

I kept the party simple. Just some snacks, cupcakes and of course the cupcake cake for the birthday. See pictures below of my Lumpy Space Princess Cake, or many cupcakes that create the cake. It is a creative attempt. Kids were happy and the cupcakes turned out very well. They were vanilla lemon cupcakes with butter vanilla icing.

My attempt at making Lumpy Space Princess (LSP). I was not 100% happy with it but the kids loved it. One kid after I showed her what I had done said, that I just needed to do a picture of LSP on a cake like the rainbow one I made last year. Gosh if only I knew that would be okay and I would have done that.

Candles all ready to light for birthday celebrations for the twins.

Hubby pretended to be Princess Bubblegum to run the game. Which of course created much laughter, a couple of kids yelled, “Your Princess Bubblegum” and then laughed hysterically. The game was basically Simon Says but using the character of Princess Bubblegum. It was a lot of fun.

The weather was good for us and it was very warm, sunny and not a cloud in the sky. Kids ran wild with their mates in the park and were so tired when we arrived home. Due to having a small house and not much room having the party at the park is ideal for us. Less mess, more space and kids can play in nature.

The crazy chocolate that I made was magically eaten very quickly so I can only think that it was a massive hit.

All packed in a container and ready for the party. — Crazy chocolate for the kids 7th birthday party

As the twins had their party the day before their actual birthday, we wanted to take them somewhere special to celebrate their actual day. I booked tickets to the Stardust Circus for yesterday and it was the girls first time at the circus. They had a great time. You should have seen their surprised faces when the lions, acrobats, juggler and more did their thing. They were amazed and just so happy that we went. It was pity that I could not take pictures while inside the circus tent as that was prohibited. If I did I would be asked to delete the images, so thought best not to do it at all.

Officially 7 today. On way to see the circus for the first time.

It was a very hot day yesterday at the circus and although still spring it was about 30ºC. We were very smart to have dressed in summer clothes, kids and hubby in shorts and t-shirts and me in a dress. If it is like this now, summer is going to be a hot one.

Other than the circus the big hit of the birthday presents were Beenie Boo’s. One of their mates from school gave them one each and hubby and I got them four to add to their collection. They have liked the other presents but the Beenie Boo’s seem to be this years HUGE hit. Who knew that the little tedddies would over shadow other fab pressies. Have you had this happen to you?

We were all very tired from the whole weekend. Party on Saturday (The party was a hit and all kids and adults and a great time, so that was a good outcome) and then Circus on Sunday. Pity it is not school holidays yet, however after this week the kids will be on holidays and then we can rest.

If you made an odd shaped cake, post the picture on our Facebook Page Did the kids love it?

Did it turn out as you expected. My effort for Lumpy Space Princess was not ideal but it did the job. The one thing that has made the weekend very good here is the weather, it has been warm and just lovely, cannot wait for more of it.

Tags Adventure Time, Baking, birthday ideas, birthday party, circus, creative cakes, cupcakes, kids, LSP, Lumpy Space Princess, making odd shaped cakes, parenting, parents, party ideas, twins

Party ideas

Adventure Time Party Prep

Post author By Suzanne Robinson
Post date September 10, 2015
No Comments on Adventure Time Party Prep

The kids have asked to have an Adventure Time themed birthday party this year. So of course I said yes. However then they both asked for a Lumpy Space Princess Cake. Have you seen Lumpy Space Princess? If you have you will know that she is an odd shape and not very easy to do in a cake. See image of LSP (Otherwise known as Lumpy Space Princess) below:

Lumpy Space Princess. Now you see what I mean about the odd shape. Of course the twins want a cake like this! I hope I can pull it off.

I have thought long and hard about the cake issue and the shape that LSP needs to be and wondered how to achieve it. I have concluded that the only way I can do it is with a whole bunch of cupcakes strategically positioned to look like LSP. I of course will have them with purple icing and one will have the yellow star and others with have the eyes and mouth. You get the idea. I have not practiced and plan to do it the day before the party. So that does not give me a lot of time. I’m being positive and I am seeing that all be fine… at least that is what I am telling myself.

Have you made a cake this shape before? Did you decide to do cupcakes and put it all together like I’m planning? Let me know.

So other than the cupcake birthday cake that I am going to create, what else am I going to serve for this party.

Food Ideas

Chips
Fairy bread
Dip with carrots, cucumber and crackers
Vegan chocolate cupcakes (these taste like mud cake and are so yummy)
Chocolate that has all sorts of sweets and eyes on it (it looks like it comes from the land of Adventure Time)
Fruit – Watermelon and Strawberries
I also have some sweets on offer that are standard at birthday parties and for the thank you bags

I also have 100% juice poppers and water for the kids as well.

Saw this online and had to give it a go. Step 1: Melt chocolate. Step 2: Pour chocolate onto baking paper. Step 3: Add decorations. Step 4: Wait for chocolate to dry and harden, then crack into little bits to serve for your party or as an addition to a cake. ‪#‎kids‬ ‪#‎partyfood‬ ‪#‎foundonline‬ ‪#‎birthdaypartyideas‬ ‪#‎kidsbirthday‬ ‪#‎twins‬ ‪#‎cooking‬ ‪#‎birthdayparty‬

Party Game Ideas

Princess Bubblegum says. I saw this on another website and it is just another variation on “Simon Says”. Instead of Simon you have Princess Bubblegum and she/he runs the game.
Scavenger Hunt or Quest. Place prizes around the park or yard and have clues to get to the next one. The last one is the biggest prize or just have a lot of little prizes to give everyone a little something.

I created 48 cupcakes today so that the kids could have a birthday celebration at school. Due to them being in different classes this meant double the cupcakes, however it will be nice that the kids have a moment to enjoy their birthday on their own in class.

Tomorrow I have a whole day of baking, tidying, and sorting things out to be ready for the party on Saturday. I will post a picture of the finished cake. All I can say is that I am sure it will be purple and of course lumpy. If it is exactly or more like the picture that will be a good effort, however we will see.

Have you been asked to make a weird shaped cake? Was it LSP? (Lumpy Space Princess) If so what did you end up creating? I would love to see photos.

If you would like to share your cake creations, please post the photos on Mummy to Twins Plus One Facebook Page.

Tags Adventure Time, Baking, birthday party ideas for kids, cooking, cupcakes, party, party food, party ideas

Party ideas

Octonaut Party Preparation

Post author By Suzanne Robinson
Post date August 19, 2013
No Comments on Octonaut Party Preparation

Next month my little babies are turning five. Yes they will be five! Hard to believe it has been five years since I had my little joys. Oh well. Enough marvelling at how long it has been. What will I do to celebrate this milestone? An Octonaut party is in order, don’t you think? (Make sure to check out all that was created at the party here)

Since the family are off to the gold coast soon we don’t want to spend too much on this party so we have decided to have it in the park. Perfect for kids to run around and pretend they are an Octonaut or a pirate or whatever takes their fancy. I am skilled with using Photoshop so managed to whip up the invites for the girls and had them printed cheaply at the local photo shop for just a bit over $8.00. So not bad.

Party Invite, like the one I did but different name and image.

So now the invite is sorted, what do I need to organise next? Envelopes, and decorations for them. What would I get? Well I thought why not get a colour to match the invite. I managed to find a bright organge just like the Octo Alert and the colour I have used in the invitation. I wanted to make sure it matches and ties in.

I like to put the stickers on the back to help seal the envelope and to also add some fun to the invite itself. Kids love them so it helps to create interest in the party. If you don’t want to add to the invitation why not put it the thank you bags for your guests.

Some great sites that can help when planning an Octonauts party:

On the Verge Mom – Has a brilliant list and is very creative. She has created some great printable for personal use. I love them and it will make the party even better. Thanks.
Misadventures of a first time mum – She has great printables. Pesco’s bandages, books to make for Captain Barnacles and other great things.
1plus1plus1equals1net – Great printables for toddlers and older children. Can help with learning also.
Kevin Cooney created a great party for his kids and made the Octo Alert. Any handy people out there why not do the same thing!
Etsty has great stuff at reasonable prices, so check out invitations and decorations for an Octonauts Party
Knitty Mummy – Great ideas and food for the party. Also has a print out for Peso’s medical bag
Matilda’s Mum – Great food ideas, will steal some so thanks for the ideas 🙂
Ninaribena Makes – Great food ideas. Love the one that adds blue food dye to tomato sauce to make squid ink
Ebay – I found some great decorations for the cupcakes on Ebay. Why not have a look and it might be a cheap way to get what you were after
Octonauts.com – Great colouring sheets and activities

If you cannot find an image that you want, look on Google and search under the images link. This is great for simple do it yourself party invitations or decorations. It gets complicated if you are selling the image as most have copyright. Fine for at home but you would need permission to sell or be in business with these images.

I plan on making shortbread biscuits and cutting them out with a fish shape, just like Tunip the Vegimal’s fish biscuits. Well not the same but will look great nonetheless. I will have a look at some of the ideas on the links and see how we go. One game that is taking my fancy is pinning the eye patch on Kwazii Cat. This is a great idea that others have sourced of the internet.

I have also purchased some cheap t-shirts for the twins so I can add Octonaut characters to them. This will be great so that they have a fun t-shirt for their party. Check out the link for On verge mom, she created great transfers. If you cannot see what you want, get the image and print it and then all should be good to transfer onto the t-shirt. Just remember to read the instructions on for the iron on transfer sheets as there is only five in the pack (you might be able to get more though) and you don’t want to ruin the shirt or run out of sheets.

Thanks to all the lovely blogs and links that I have added on this post. Your tips and ideas have been invaluable to the planning of this party. I am trying to do things on the cheap as we are trying to maximize our cash for going away, so most of the ideas are things that you can create or purchase for little money.

I hope this helps your next party and especially if it is an Octonaut themed one. Have you thrown an Octonaut Party? If you have had one send in your ideas and what worked well for you.