I find it is much easier to plan something when there's a theme in mind - some people want a Nautical Party, Vintage Party, Dress Up Party, Tea Party, White Party etc etc.  

​When we think of Party we instantly have a glimpse of the day (well I do). I remember as a child when I play with my imagination and think of a Birthday Party I immediately imagine lots of balloons, lots of bright stuff and most importantly I hear so many laughters and see happy people.  

Don't be too nervous to pick a theme because you can always change it or add to it, so go ahead and pick one and run with it. You'll find that once you pick a theme all your thoughts and ideas will be directed to that theme which makes it more exciting and easier!

Now don't panic because what I'm really asking for are just 2 things so I can have a feel of the day and making sure that I plan toward something that everyone will enjoy.  What's most important to know are the following:

• How many guests
• Age

Knowing the amount of people and age range will help you determine what kind of environment it would be and what would work for all.  For example - if I'm asked to host a Baby Shower and I am told that kids are allowed, the last thing the kids would want to do is to sit there for 3 long hours waiting for their mum to finish chitchatting.  

*OHSEWPESI TIP: A party is most beautiful when it is spent with people that matter most to you! 

I always love to know how long party should go for! I love it for so many reasons.  So this is one of the very first thing I'd ask 'How long' do you want your party to go for!  I think 3 Hours is a lot! Long enough to have fun and short enough to send your Guest home on a high note!  

I've host parties that only went for 3 hours and the guests stay around chitchatting for 3 more hours haha which is absolutely fine.  As humans we have so much going on and when we're given a time slot for a party it will help us plan our day better and we'd enjoy it more knowing that we have control of time.

THIS IS VERY VERY IMPORTANT! Imagine rocking up with Party Pies to be heated on the microwave only to find out there's no oven and microwave available?! Knowing the locations is very very very important for few of the many reasons:

• How to decorate
• Food Arrangement
• Weather Forcast
• Driving Distance
• Toilet Access 
• Parking Access
• Kid Friendly

I can go on but can you have a feel why it is very important to know the location?

"BUT I HAVEN'T EVEN THOUGHT OF FOOD YET"!!! Of course you haven't and that's very normal so you can breath.  I don't want to know what you are planning on having on the Menu (not yet anyways), I just want to know if you are doing a 3 Course Meal or Finger Food because the last thing I want is to set up for a Finger Food kinda party when it is a 3 Course meal.  

Can you imagine providing napkins and little plates thinking it'll be finger food and find out on the day it's a 3 Course Meal?  TRUST ME it happens too many times before!

​Last but not the LEAST is your AGENDA! Don't worry about the fine details - that is something you will work on as time goes by prior to your party but set up an Agenda as your Skeleton for your party and from there you can change and add.  

Your Agenda will become your VISION BOARD for your PARTY! Don't worry about it being unrealistic because TRUST ME it will change as you go.  An Agenda will make your life EASIER! Because if you start with it from the beginning by the day of the party you will know and master that Agenda inside and out and whatever may come up on the day will not send you on a Panic Attack - you will handle it like a boss!

I hope you find these suggestios useful for your next party!
AS ALWAYS thank you so much for stopping by my blog - always appreciate the love and support.

Much Love {ohsespesi} xo

I had the honour of hosting a PIRATE PARTY for my nephew Captain Seti - what an honour and a privileged to make a day so special for one of mine and my husband's heartbeat.  I love showing pictures only because I suck at explaining things - so I'll post pictures and explain each section for those who wants to do a Pirate Party.  PS. A huge thank you to my sister Manatu for capturing the party with her Samsung Phone.. love them.

I didn't want to write a long post of EVERYTHING so I am breaking this up into different blogpost so it's easier for everyone so for this post it will be all about the GAMES :)  

Thank you for stopping by OHSEWPESI xo

So with the games - we prepared 6 games and it was perfect. Seti's Aunty Sovaia did an amazing job with some of the Games which got all the kids excited and the perfect start for our Party.  Over the years she became a mum, aunt, friend and a room decorator and more for her nephew Seti :)   #TIP: sometime we get too excited and plan too much game and don't end up using it or rush through the games so that you can get through it all.. over the last couple of years I've learned that it's not about the quantity of the games but the quality even when it is simple games and taking your time hosting it so that the kids can enjoy themselves thoroughly (like the ones we've used here and it was a big hit!)

Aunty Sovaia put 5 Diamonds, 5 Rubies, 5 Blue Sapphires, 5 Gold Coins and 2 Necklace in every bucket.  Each of our Little Pirate had their own Bucket of Treasures with a digger and a bag to put their treasures in! This was our 1st Game and we couldn't have picked the best starter game because this literally set the tone for the rest of our party! Thank you Aunty Sovaia! Our Little Pirates were not only excited with the treasures but they were also excited that they get to dig to find them.

To accomplish this task our Little Pirates need to walk the plank in the deep blue sea while collecting treasures without falling into the sea full of sharks! Aunty Sovaia's original plan was to do it outdoor and have water on the blue sheets but it was windy outside and we couldn't keep the blue sheets down so she improvise and did it indoor and it was such big hit! They each got a Medal upon completing the task by walking across the plank collecting gold coins without getting eaten by the sharks!  PS. She even put the cushion at the bottom to give that unbalanced challenged.

Our Little Pirates loved this game! The thought of standing from a little distant trying to toss a glowstick on a sword excite our Little Pirates!  Aunty Sovaia had two station, one with a short distant and one with a longer distant.  They had a grand time challenging themselves and loved it.  They played the short distant first and gain confident to do the longer distant.

I like to think I made this game up but I know somewhere out there someone had thought of this too.  We had a main person called The Dice Roller that stood at a certain location as his/her territory and roll the dice.  Every time he/she roll the dice and call out the revealed we'd do the steps accordingly, so if he/she shout out 4 we'd do 4 steps.  When we reach the territory of our Dice Roller he/she run so we chase him/her and hold capture.  Each of our Little Pirate had a turn and they all eagerly waited for their turn to be the Dice Roller.  Again, a simple game but the kids loved it AND I ON THE OTHER HAND tried to catch my breath before I pass out from running lol

I did a last minute change on this one! I had print out a MAP with photos of the places for them to run and collect treasures but I decided last minute to take them on a Treasure Hunt Tour. Every stop I told a story about the treasure they found and they really loved it and got really excited to discover the next stop! For example - one stop was Paper Planes and I told them that often times when the Pirates have nothing to do they would lie flat on their back on the ship and see planes flew by.. I pretty much made it up on the spot and you can too :)

Our Little Pirates loved loved loved this game but who wouldn't right? Even I as a grown adult still enjoy it - the good old Pinata! As you can see I couldn't find the stick we bought for the Pinata so we had to use a broom but our Little Pirates were too excited to even care what we used! This Pinata was so full of fun goodies including sweets and toys and pirate chocolates! You can never go wrong with Pinata at parties and I found this Pinata at Kmart for only $12 which was perfect for this Pirate Party

​This week has been a busy week in the OHSEWPESI corner.  I made 50 Baby Shower Invitations,  10 Pirate Party Invitation and 20 Princess Party Invitation and I yet to make 30 Baby Shower Invite next week, however today I'll be talking about the Pirate Party Invitations.

My little nephew SL is turning 8 years old next month and I got so excited when my Sister CL ask me if I could give her ideas for SL's party and I immediately got excited and ask if I can help her run the party.  

First thing first, I looked up invitation ideas.  I love that people share ideas online to inspire others - that is one of the many reasons why I started this blog - to help or inspire someone else :)  Here we go:

THINGS YOU NEED:

• Paper Cutting Scissors
• Twine
• Invitation
• Candle
• Bottle 

INSTRUCTIONS:
STEP 1: Creating an Invitation! For this invite I used a FREE BLANK TEMPLATE from The Pinning Mama which allowed me to use my own text font and wordings!  If you want to use the same blank template please click HERE to be directed to the creative The Pinning Mama's page :) 

If you want to use the same font as I did - few of them I downloaded for free - click on the Font Name to direct you to the page to download it from:

• Ahoy Mateys: French Pirate 
• Captain Seti: Pirate Ship Font
• Is turning 8 years old: Franklin Gothic Demi Cond (free on Microsoft Word)
• Please join him for a: French Pirate 
• Pirate Party: Pirate Ship Font
• Rest of the Invite: Franklin Gothic Demi Cond (free on Microsoft Word)

If you want to use the same layout as me - let me know I'd be happy to email it to you :)

​STEP 2: After designing the invitation and print it in A5, I lit the candle and burn the edges of the invite to give it that old old look.  

STEP 3: I fold it in half (lengthwise) and roll it and put a twine around it.  

STEP 4: This was my favourite part - putting everything in the bottle! I bought the bottle from Dollar King.  They are all over Sydney and I LOVE that place.  You can buy almost all the party necessities there.  I bought these cute glass cork top bottles for $1.50 each.  The plastic pirate coins I bought from KMART.  They have a cute collection of pirate stuff.   I bought the coin as part of a Treasure Hunt Pack that cost $3 for the whole kit.  I am going to use the Treasure Hunt kit for one of the birthday games.  As you can see in the picture below - I put 2 coins in the rolled invite and have the twine long enough so it overlap out of the cork so it's easier for the kids/parents to open the bottle.

STEP 5: Now this part is optional - but I did it because I can be a bit of a perfectionist and love detailed stuff.  I print out little skull and stick it under the bottle.  I doubt the kids will even notice it but I do haha. 

Thank you so much for stopping by and always make time to read my blog - really appreciate it! xo ohsewpesi