The Wizard of Oz Party

Let me just begin this by saying that I'm taking a sabbatical from home parties :0). I still have the song 'Over the Rainbow' stuck in my head. Seriously. Judy is just belting it out right now in my brain as I sit here. Sometimes if I'm lucky, Judy will be replaced w/ the munchkins. At least with them there is some variety....how sad is that...ha!

Aside from the little voices in my head, the party went great! I had so much fun preparing it and watching it come together. I think the kids had fun, too :0). Here are some pictures of the decorations. I used some Madame Alexander dolls around some old Wizard of Oz books in the dining room and here's a shot of the table. I decorated the dining room where the kids would have cake and outside. I had Halloween decorations already up, so I didn't want it to be overkill! Here's a little house I found at Goodwill for a $1. It was a wine box that I turned into Dorothy's farm house by making a roof . Then I added the witch's legs underneath using a pair of Strawberry Shortcake's tights & stuffing.

We also made ruby slippers out of red posterboard & sprinkled red glitter on them. I hung them outside & in. Lastly, I made a tornado out of wire & stuffing to hang from the chandelier. I also found a little polly pocket dollhouse and glued that to the side like it was Dorothy's house in the cyclone!

For party favors I got a box of animal crackers & these little wooden tigers & lions from Michael's for $.30 each. With I also added a spiral lollipop & a glow stick. With Halloween the next day, I didn't want to overdo it with candy. Inside the bag, I put a little note that said, 'Lions, Tigers, and Bears Oh My!'

When the children arrived, I wanted them to walk down a yellow brick road, so I asked Anabelle to help draw one with chalk in the driveway. I also made a sign that said, "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" with an arrow pointing the way to the backyard. We hung some streamers & balloons and had the movie soundtrack playing.

Once everyone was there, we started the Toto craft. Beforehand, I got a big fat black pipe cleaner and cut it & molded it to look like a dog sitting. Then I prepared all of the cutouts to glue on as it's face. Once they finished the face, they placed it in a little basket with a blue & white gingham blanket. They turned out really cute!

For snacks we had 'Magic Broomsticks' (chocolate covered pretzel sticks w/ sprinkles), 'Glinda's Bubble Punch' (pink raspberry & cranberry punch), 'Wicked Witch Hats' (bugles), 'Sweet Scarecrow Mix' (praline chex mix), and 'Haunted Forest Apples'.

For games, Danny made a scavenger hunt for the kids where they had to find Dorothy's ruby slippers because the mean witch hid them. He had some great clues hidden all of the yard. Here's Sadie once they found them for her.

We also played who can roar like a lion. This one was easy. They kids sat in a circle and took turns roaring. Lots of laughs on that one! We also
played a feeling guessing game w/ a box I made. I called it 'What's Behind the Curtain'. I put an object behind the curtain & they had to feel it and guess what it was. I put things relating to the movie like the tin man's heart, a lion, and an apple.

Lastly, we played Toss Toto in the Tornado (using a parachute and Toto doll) and Melt the Witch. This was super fun! I drew the wicked witch w/ washable markers and asked the kids to try & melt her w/ water using water balloons. I was SO happy she looked all drippy!

Another fun thing I showed the kids was the tornado tube. You can buy the piece at School Crossing. I put blue food coloring in to give it some color and added a Monopoly house inside the tube. When you spin it, it makes a tornado!

We ended the party with cake & ice cream inside. This year I kept it simple in the cake department and ordered a rainbow one from Costco and just added a little Dorothy figurine on top.

We were blessed with a wonderful day to celebrate a wonderful person! Happy Birthday Sadie!!!