The Almost Impossible Astronaut & Ballerina Party Photos

The party day was cold and windy, but that didn't deter us from having a great time! We added an outdoor  fire, s'mores and hot cocoa and we were good to go. The kids stayed outside for more than an hour playing with the rockets, gliders and zipline before we came inside for cake.

My tutu wreath made on an embroidery hoop

Our homemade rockets and goodie bags

I didn't get any pictures of the kids performing on the reclaimed pallet stage,
but both the girls & boys loved it.
They found instruments like our Paperjamz guitar and put on a show!

Dollar Tree foam gliders were a huge hit (while they lasted)

They girls liked the Rocket balloons as much as the boys

Rocket balloons from Dollar Tree - tons of fun!
Tip: buy several balloon pumps if you get these
otherwise they are really hard to inflate

Stomp rocket was played with all afternoon by both boys & girls

Everyone loved the zip line! The flight training sign blew down

 

Space helmet visors raised to eat s'mores

Fortunately you can eat s'mores with your tutu and tiara on

Cake with moon topper and tutu

rocket craft



Craft & cake aftermath...

 

Please see previous posts for more information about the cupcake toppers, rocket craft, helmets, tutus and my tutu cake plate.

Tips of you try this party at home: splurge and buy a zip line if your yard will accommodate it. If you can't manage a zip line definitely buy a stomp rocket (or two!)  The toys from the Dollar Tree (gliders and rocket balloons) were fabulous. You could probably skip the dress up costumes and just buy a glider & some rocket balloons for each guest and they would entertain themselves until they broke and/or were lost.

This was a fun party, but at the end I was (as always!) exhausted. Next year, I swear I'm going to talk her into having her party outside of the house. I'll pay the extra $100 - it took me almost a week to clean the house, decorate and cook. Surely my time is worth at least $100. Live & learn....



Simple Rocket Wand Craft

On my quest for activities for the Almost Impossible Astronaut & Ballerina Party, I got lucky and found pretty pastel star wands at Dollar Tree for the girls (3 for $1). I wanted something similar for the boys to decorate and play with. I came up with this easy craft.

I bought 30 paper rocket cut outs at Hobby Lobby for $1.99. I then bought 16 wooden dowels and 3 spools of thin ribbon at WalMart for about $2.50.

All I did was cut various lengths of red, yellow and orange ribbon. Then I glued them on to one of the rockets.

I rolled the end of a wooden dowel in glue. I outlined the rocket in more glue, place the dowel on it and then glued another cut out on top. This project  is so easy that your birthday boy or girl can help you assemble them.

 

The finished rocket wands were ready to be decorated! Each cost about 30 cents to make.

 

How to Make a Rocket from a Cardboard Tube

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Super Easy Rocket from Recycled Materials

Today we made rockets out of mailing tubes. I had two mailing tubes in the recycling.You can make rockets, shuttles,etc. following the same basic plan using smaller tubes like paper towel tubes or empty toilet paper rolls. It took about 10-15 minutes.

We cut tail fins from old boxes. Use the first one as a template for the others so they are all identical (especially important if you want your rocket to stand.) Triangles are the easiest shape to cut out.

Cut slits in the tube with a box cutter to the length of the end of your tail fin.

I followed Martha Stewart's instructions exactly to make the nose cone - measuring the cylinder and making a compass out of a pencil and string... Turns out you get a half circle almost exactly the same size as half a 9" paper plate. Save yourself the time and use a paper plate trimmed and cut in half for the nose cone!

 

When the glue was dry I spray painted the whole thing white. I decorated it very simply using duct tape for stripes when the paint was dry. Danielle was a little more creative with hers.

 



These will make a great addition to our Ballerina & Astronaut Party Decor!