Tiana & Riz’s PJ Masks Birthday Bash 2016

December 14, 2016 in birthday bash, PJ Masks Party, the little gym, tia-riz

At first we agreed on not having a brithday party this year – one reason is because we had a trip down to Legoland earlier and the kids got sick after the trip. but I’m glad I was stubborn enough to host this party because looking back at the photos we received from our photographer, it was well worth all the late nights crafts.

I initially planned it to be at home but November at its best is always rainy. It rained everyday and I already booked a bouncy castle! and then there was this headache about not having enough tables and chairs and high budget rental of all these party equipments. Had to cancel and bring the party to The Little Gym (i know, where else for me right). We had the kids’ party there last year and decided it’s the best, entertaining and most convenient venue for a kids party.

As always, I DIYed most parts of the party except for food and entertainment. it saves a lot of money ok! This year’s theme is PJ Masks – this new show on Disney Junior about 3 kindergarteners who superheroes; Catboy, Owlette and Gekko to save the world at night. Researching and finding merchandises for this party is super tricky because there are none in the shops! like, at all. no available toys, costumes, doorgifts. unless you’re in the US of course.

Venue – The Little Gym of Ampang/KLCC

We had the party at the branch in the Intermark Mall. Because I could foresee the kids jumping and and climbing around pretending to save the world and they have great teachers to host the games. so entertainment is settled:)

Should you decide to have your birthday bash at The Little Gym, they charge rm650 for members and RM700 for non members. This includes the venue, games, and setup of the party room, and they even help you clean up after. Calculated it’s around the same, if not cheaper than having it at home with the tents and all.

Attire

This part is pretty important to me! I made an Owlette inspired birthday outfit for Tia and a Catboy inspired one for Riz. For Owlette it was a mini sized ribbon trimmed tutu worn over a red leotard which I bought from First Steps dance studio in Setapak and I heatpressed on the Owlette logo as well as the pink stripes at the sides. The red leggings was something she already owned. Then I made a big wing out of felt which resembles the character. I sewed on elastics to be worn at the shoulders and to put her thumbs through so the wing is flappable for real:D I also made the famous wristlet and mask. all out felt and super durable!

Catboy was pretty straight forward. Catboy logo and thunder stripes heatpressed on a blank royal blue tee and on a pair of blue trackpants I found in H&M. I made a cat tail out of felt, stuffing and elastic and matched with the mask and wristlet- voila! we got Catboy. He refused to wear the mask throughout the entire party though. ishh.

Of course we need a Gekko to join the group, so I made a green-black tutu for my niece with the gekko logo heatpressed on her tee to complete the fantastic three! Just like Riz, she’s short of tail and mask:’)

What fun is a party without dressing up…..I can’t help but to make owlette wings, catboy tails and gekko tails, masks and wristlets for all the kids! My silhouette cameo helps me a lot and I guess I was having fun exploring it. The owlette wings was so economical – I bought 2m of jersey knit fabric at rm3 a meter and I got 12 wings! I used rotary cutter to cut the edges while watching tv so it wasnt very taxing. The tails are pretty easy as well. I drafted it on paper, sew and stuff them up, attach elastic. They looked so adorable and was a hit that day and some parents told me the items are still appreciated after party, they wont take it off! Makes me feel so great making them, honestly.

note: I bought the PJ Masks logo and masks digital cut files from etsy.

Activities

There are a few games that they planned with the kids and I requested them to play music from the PJ Masks official youtube channel. There are a few singalongs and theme music uploaded there. These songs were played as party music while the games are played in the gym. I saw some of the kids jumping and singing along to the songs, so enjoyable to watch! Also if you’re planning a birthday party at The Little Gym, request for the Air Trak. It’s an equipment the gym use in their classes to teach tumbles. It also acts like a semi bouncy castle and the kids love it every time.

Pinata

And of course there was the pinata that I made – a simple 2D one this year. I had Catboy printed big at the printers’ shop and then cut the cardboard following his shape. It looked pretty good after all the crepe paper ruffles put together. However, I forgot to put a soft spot on the pinata and it took forever to break it! it didn’t break in the end. a total fail! one of the instructors just opened the trap door and turned it upside down lol. on the brighter side though, it looked good in the pics and nobody remembered it didnt work and hey, it saved me some hundred bucks if purchased elsewhere!

Cake table

This year we decided not to have too many sweets on the cake table. every year most of the candy on that table will end up in the dustbin and if you’re a parent like me..candy tables actually scare me hehe.the kids will be eating all the cake pops n jellybeans and then get high on sugar.my party was 5-7pm so for the best of all of us and so that the kids wont be bouncing off the walls a bedtime..i decided to just decorate it with cake, themed cookies, mineral water and trail mix (marshmallows, koko crunch, popcorn) placed in three little ikea plant pots lined with aluminium foil. This year the cake is a two tiered buttercream with fondant 2D PJ Masks themed decoration. Didn’t think it was a good idea because the cake looked senget. baker should advise me on that but didn’t…takpelah. Cookies were from my cousin again, but minutes before the party she sat on the catboys 🙁 hence the generic ones she made new to replace. sighhh..

Banner was designed by me on Adobe photoshop and printed at this great new place I found in melawati – Zest Print. They can be located on Lorong Perak, Taman Melawati- next to the JPN. reasonable rates and great quality. They printed the banner, pinata catboy and the mineral water bottle stickers. I didnt pay for designing though because I made them myself. hehe.

The ruffled table skirt was made from plastic tablecloths purchased from spotlight. They were going at RM4 each and 60% off for the black ones. It wasn’t even that much hard work. I followed this tutorial to make it. I wish I had pasted the ruffles a bit higher though; the green part looks a bit awkward like that and the backdrop stands should be fixed a little closer to the banner. arghh post party regrets…

Helium Baloons were also purchased from Spotlight using their RM120 off voucher for every rm300 spent. I think it was a pretty good deal. or it wasnt really a good deal but saved us some transport fees.

My mom cooked some aglio olio pasta which complimented the meatballs pretty well. It was great because I could straightaway feed the kids dinner after the party too:D We also put out some mini bahulu as finger foods and drink was just mineral water. all these plus the cake may seem very little food, but enough and filling for a party held at 5.30pm – 7pm. So grateful for my family for these SOS menu!

Printables

Invitation, banner, place cards, mineral water bottle labels, thank you cards are all done by moi, some printed by Zest Print, mostly self printed and diecut by me.

Doorgifts

I got carried away on this part and diyed every single one. personalized tees, fuzzy pencils and PJ Masks costume accessories (tails, masks and wristlets. fine, I did not do all the tedious cutting, my silhouette did:D

The personalized tees are pretty personal and special to me, and I’m glad all my guests are ones who are close to heart and trusted friends:)

Miscellaneous

I always hire a photographer for my parties because I know I will be scurrying around doing so many things at once. I’ve worked hard to organize it and I need all the wonderful moments to be captured well or else I will regret it big time! Our photographer for the day was Renee from Krom Studio. She was very proactive and covered the event really really well:)

Party regrets – came late to set up so I missed the whole game session:( I didn’t manage to take any videos except the pinata part..if only things are more manageable and I could get there earlier. what to do, I’ve got no helper to manage the kids in times like this. redha hehe. That’s pretty much it.

I am glad the party went well and everybody had fun again this year. It makes all the effort well worth it. I am also so grateful that everyone managed to make time for our party too, Thank you! <3 Here are more pics from the birthday bash: