This is Part II of my 10-year-old daughter’s Mystery Birthday Party.  If you missed the food and decor, click here.  In fact, if you haven’t read it, I beg of you to read it first before reading this article.  Without the context, you will just think I’m a raving lunatic.   That being said, today I’ll be sharing the “Mystery of the Missing Ring” and the party games that played into the mystery party theme.

Now, for the mystery:   I concocted a tale about a distant relative from England named Aunt Abigail (aka the Duchess of Glouchestershire) who recently passed away.  I dressed up for the part and made a secret videotape for the party.  This “aunt” was a bit eccentric and loved a good mystery.  So while visiting our home several years ago, Aunt Abigail hid a special heirloom ring for my daughter along with a series of clues.  After she died, a videotape of her Last Will and Testament was discovered with a special message for her great-great-niece.  In it, she revealed that she had hidden a special ring and clues.   Click here for the complete script I used for the videotape.  Yeah, that’s me as Abigail.

Aunt Abigail shared the first clue on the videotape that we played at the party:  “I’ll give you clues in the form of  rhyme.  When this thing stops, you’re out of time.”

That clue led to this antique clock,of course, where Audrey found the next clue:  “In my long and fruitful life there is much that I have learned.  You should keep your eyes open so you won’t get burned!”

That clue led to inside the fireplace, where a clue was printed in a tiny letter font that required a magnifying glass to read it.  This clue read, “The lovely lady has something to hide.  Make sure you peek on the other side.”

This led to the next clue, which was taped to the back of  an oil portrait of a woman.  That clue was printed in a backwards font, so the girls held it up to the mirror in order to read it.  “A cartoon dog just might find this clue.  Just look behind something that’s not true.”  This proved to be the most challenging clue for the girls.  We have a false wall door into our laundry room in the basement that we refer to as the “Scooby Doo door,” since it’s like one of those secret passageways they found in every episode.  Behind that door was this clue:  “You’ll do well to think like a literary great.  You’ll find your next clue inside the red gate.”

The Red Gate is one of the books in the Nancy Drew series, which was one of the props on the food table.  Inside, I had cut out a square with an exacto knife to hide the final clue:  “You may be traveling far away, by sea or over land.  Nancy found the will she sought and you’ll find something for your hand.”

In the Nancy Drew movie, a will was found in the false bottom of  an old piece of luggage.  I set out a vintage piece of luggage as  part of the party table props.  Inside was the ring that Aunt Abigail left to Audrey in her will!  It was a vintage sterling silver spoon ring that I had picked up at an estate sale about two years prior.  

This was my daughter’s first real ring, and she couldn’t have been more thrilled!  She wears it every day.

As one of the activities for the party, the girls made their own fingerprint pictures with the help of Ed’s Emberley’s fingerprint art book.  The finished pictures were placed in floating glass frames I had picked up at IKEA in the fall. 

We also played “Sketch Artist.”  I pretended that I was a witness to a crime – a lady was kidnapped, and I had to describe her so that the sketch artists could draw a sketch to put on the local news.  They didn’t know it, but I was describing the lady in a portrait I had in our home.  So it was easy to determine the winner – we just compared their sketches to the portrait.  My husband was the impartial judge.

You don’t have to be a detective to figure out that the girls had a great day and we made some great birthday memories with this mystery party theme!  For more birthday party ideas, check out my Party Proposals in the Categories box on the right of the screen.

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My oldest daughter is a reader.  She loves mystery series like Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and the Mandy series.  For her 10th birthday, we decided to create a real mystery that she and her friends could solve.  This party could be modified for boys and for different ages.   Let the sleuthing begin!

First thing I have to tell you is:   I barely had to buy a thing for this party.   Decoration was easy.  I cut out footprints and question marks out of construction paper and taped them all over.  Most of the props for the party were already in our house (vintage suitcases, mystery books, vintage typewriter, etc.)

I created the invite below using typewriter font.  You can download an editable version here.

And yes, there was a true mystery to be solved.   However, I will share the mystery in detail on another post, along with the other related party games we played.  For this post, I am going to focus on the party decor, food, and party favors.

To set the scene, I taped cut-out footprints on the floor leading from the front door into the dining room.  The colors were mainly blue and green.

So, here’s the Mystery Party tablescape.  I simply stacked lots of mystery books (Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Sherlock Holmes), used a few vintage suitcases, candles, and magnifying glasses from Dollar Tree, and spread out a vintage Clue game board and a few game pieces to set the scene.  The most money I spent was for the helium-filled balloons (about $15).

I had my kids cut out letters from magazines to create labels for the food we served.  The result was a “kidnap letter” effect.   We had “fingerprints” (sausage pinwheels).

We also had “poisoned fruitcups” and “mystery cheese.”

I made my famous shortbread cookies (find the recipe here) and simply piped a question mark of each of them, dubbing them “get-a-clue cookies.”

Happily, this was one easy “super sleuth”  cake.  It was a rainy weekend, and I knew my homemade icing would be a disaster.  I made one small round and one small rectangular cake, using one cake mix.  I used 2 cans of cream cheese frosting – I simply dyed one can to get the blue I wanted.  I took black licorice and cut it lengthwise with kitchen shears to get thin black strips to create the fingerprint in the center of the magnifying glass.  I could of done it with icing, but this was easier!

I took manilla folders and labeled them TOP SECRET! and CONFIDENTIAL!! and stapled the sides closed.  Then I slid in the party favors:  a magnifying glass from Dollar Tree, a word-find book from the Target dollar aisle, fake eyeglasses from a party pack also from Target, and a retro Nancy Drew paper doll page downloaded free from Tangarang.

Here are the girls sporting their new disguises and magnifying glasses!  They were definitely a band of super-sleuths.

Click here for the post detailing the mystery I created and the other party games the children played!

I think children’s birthdays are magical.  A simple theme can be developed into something truly special that you and your child will never forget.  For my daughter’s 4th birthday, we decided to make it all about butterflies.  And what little girl doesn’t love butterflies?

So, let’s start with the decor.  I actually have lots of butterfly ornaments that I use on my Christmas tree, so I pulled those out to start.  The colors were pink, creamy white, light green, and pale blue.  Pink, white, and green balloons and faux flowers made the dining room feminine and airy.  For this party, I shoved my dining room table against the wall to serve as a buffet for the food and to provide more room for guests to mill around.

I used colored chalk on a chalkboard easel that I got for $3 at a yard sale.  Those flower thingees laying on the table are a pair of table runners with applied flowers and fabric petals – they kinda have a lily pad effect, but it works.

I found a picture out of a vintage children’s book and scanned it to create a custom butterfly invitation.   The invite read “Flutter On By to the Barnett Butterfly Garden for Kelta’s Birthday Party” with details and rsvp information.  Feel free to download the one I created which can be customized for your own butterfly birthday party.

We served “Butterfly Nectar” to the guests.  In other words, Juicy-Juice.  It’s all in the presentation – I found these foam craft flowers in bulk at Michaels, punched a hole in the middle of them, and stuck a short straw through.

This cake was soooo easy.  Really!  I made a large round cake, cut it in half, flipped the halves over, and carved out the “wings” on the outsides of the two halves.  A twinkie and colored Twizzlers created the body and antennae.  The details on the wings included some flat candy sprinkles and clear sugar sprinkles.  JoAnn’s has lots of colored candies that you don’t find most places that really simplify my cake decorating.

Other food included these frozen strawberry salad cups (recipe at end of post), sausage pinwheels, and butterfly-shaped cookies.

For my delicious shortbread recipe that I used for the butterfly cookies, look here.

In another room, I set up a table for crafting.  I borrowed and bought enough butterfly wings for all the girls to have their own pair and scattered them around the table.

Now, older girls might be able to do these themselves – but I premade little tissue paper flowers for them to glue to headbands to create their butterfly “hats.”  I simply cut out uniform squares of tissue paper, stacked 5 pieces, and accordion-folded the paper.   I secured the middle of the folder papers with a twist tie, then began separating the tissues to form the petals of the flowers.

I helped the girls twist pipe cleaners around pencils to make antennae while they cut out pre-printed butterflies and glued them to ends of the pipe cleaners.

With butterfly wings and floral crowns, the girls look all aflutter!

Everyone colored beautiful butterflies that I downloaded from here.

The girls also made a lovely stained glass butterfly with wax paper and crushed crayons.  The instructions from Enchanted Learning are here.   Afterwards, the girls went outside to take a swing at the candy-filled butterfly pinata.

Goody baskets were filled with a butterfly puppet, butterfly tic-tac-toe games, a mini windchime, butterfly bookmarks, and a butterfly sucker.  The baskets and contents were mostly from Dollar Tree, except for the tic-tac-toe games from the Target dollar aisle and suckers from Oriental Trader.

Hope you liked this party proposal!  Click on the pics below for more details from the butterfly party.

Recipe for Frozen Strawberry Salad Cups:

diced pint of strawberries

1/2 small can of condensed milk

pineapple tidbits

2 cups cool whip

2 chopped bananas

Mix berries and milk.  Fold in pineapple, bananas, and cool whip.  Freeze in aluminum baking cups on a tray at least overnight.  You can make these weeks in advance if you like.

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Her costume came from a large authentic-looking Native American shirt I bought at an estate sale for $3.  The shirt hung down to the ground on her like a dress, and I simply had to cut the sleeves down.  I bought mocassins on ebay for $8.  The headdress came from a yard sale for $1 that I found 2 weeks before the party.  I love those racoon tails hanging down around her ears!

My husband constructed a teepee from things he had in his workshop:  scrap wood, an old paint dropcloth, and rope.  That’s it.  Simple, but it made for the coolest centerpoint for the party.  My husband has had these fake fireplace logs since he was a bachelor, and they made for a perfect American Indian cookfire.  This other little squaw is my older daughter.

Here’s the retro-cool invitation.  I used a free font that looked like wood logs.  Then I individually burned the edges with a lighter.  Aren’t they darling???

The kids “roasted” marshmellows over the fake fire.  It was so hilarious – they couldn’t understand why their marshmellows weren’t turning brown!  Anyway, they “roasted” while I read them a Native American story about a little brave who ran away from home.

I served up a teepee cake made from a Pampered Chef Batter Bowl.  I used regular homemade buttercream icing, but fondant would work great, too.  This cake was such a hit! 

The tablescape started with a couple of Indian-look blankets draped across the dining room table.  Vintage American Indian books were set upright toward the back of the table, along with a few metal collectable tins with Indian motifs filled with turkey feathers from Michael’s.  I had a small collection of Cherokee Indian artifacts that my father had gathered as a boy, which I scattered about the tabletop.   The Indian dolls came from a yard sale and a gas station in Alabama (I found that on the way back from the beach!)

Besides the cake, I served brown horse cookies, popcorn, jiffy cornbread, chocolate sugarcone teepees, and edible Indian corn.

Click here for Jane’s Shortbread Cookie recipe.

For the Chocolate Teepees, simply ice inverted sugar cones with pre-made chocolate icing.  Insert 3 half-toothpicks in top and add candies for decoration.

Edible Indian Corn Recipe

4 tbsp butter

4 cups mini marshmellows

5 cups puffed corn cereal (corn puffs)

1 1/3 cups diced dried fruit (raisins, papayas, cranberries, apricots)

popsicle sticks

tye-dye fruit roll-ups

Melt butter and marshmellows over low heat in a large pot for about 5 minutes.  Remove mixture from stove and use wooden spoon to stir in puffed corn cereal and diced dried fruit.  Allow mixture to cool for about 15 minutes.  Using buttered hands, shape each treat by pressing 1/3 cup of mixture around a popsicle stick.  Add piece of fruit roll-up to make a husk for the bottom of the ear, slightly moistening them to help them stick if needed.  Makes 15 treats.

We made  Native American vests with left-overs from the paint dropcloth.  We gave the kids ideas for Indian symbols to write on their vests.  I pre-cut headbands and let the kids choose the color feather they wanted from Michaels.  We also made beaded necklaces by threading beads on leather laces, again from Michael’s.

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Everyone got American Indian names from  http://www.apples4theteacher.com/native-american/names/for-girls.html.  All the kids had their own special Indian names like “Princess Ottertail,” “Princess White Feather,” “Princess Sunflower,” “Princess Wind Maiden,” etc.  The moms wrote their Indian names on the backs of their vests.

We also played an Indian Trading Game.  I took scraps of the leftover teepee dropcloth fabric and cut it into  5 inch squares.  I gathered all kinds of “treasures” like pretty rocks, seashells, jewels (pulled out of old costume jewelry), bit-o-honey candy, feathers, etc. and tied them up in the squares with cord.  Each child got a “pouch of treasures” and took turns trading their things with the other squaws (and one brave).

Our trusty tinman got to dress up, too.  Kinda like my version of a cigarette store Indian.  He held the goody bags – small brown bags with an embossed bird I found last year in Target’s dollar aisle.  Goody bags were filled with plastic Indians, a dreamcatcher, and a 6″ horse, all from Dollar Tree.  The vest is vintage boy scout borrowed from my sweet neighbor.

Photo Credits:  The Decorologist.

I found these never-opened paper plates and napkins in an attic of a friend of my mother’s.  I kept them for 8 years until I was inspired to use them for my younger daughter’s third birthday.  I also had a few small books of JWA art and poetry that I had picked up over the years.  Her illustrations of little children have always touched me and aroused that nostalgia within me for anything from my own childhood.  

So, what was I going to call this party?  A Joan Walsh Anglund party?  My daughter would never understand.  So I looked for a common theme in JWA artwork and decided upon Rainbows.  That way I could use primary colors that would work with the plates and napkins.  I decided to hop on ebay and see what I could find of Joan Walsch Anglund’s.  I found 2 unopened Hallmark cardstock centerpieces put out in the late 70′s that featured little children sliding on rainbows.   It came with little cardstock clouds and stars that I could scatter all over the table. 

I found a beautiful unused JWA coloring book that I snatched up for a few dollars.  Oh, and a DARLING  cookie cutter of one of her classic little girls!  Amazon has many of her books, new and used.  And finally, I found a JWA decorative birthday plate and coffee mug .  All my JWA “props” cost a total of $40.  The other props I used were just things that color-coordinated (yellow, orange, red, green, blue, purple) or looked rainbow-ish.  I color-copied artwork onto label paper and made stickers that I adhered to multi-colored party hats from Dollar Tree.

These are the only invitations I’ve ever had for my childrens’ parties that I did not make myself.  But I found these Joan Walsh Anglund invitations on her website and felt like I owed it to her to order them from her! 

The food for this party was fun!  The rainbow cake was easy – just a round cake, skittles to create the rainbow, and mini-marshmellows for the clouds. 

Here are the sweet cookies I made from the JWA cookie cutter I found on ebay!

My Fabulous Butter Cookie Recipe 

1 cup melted/softenedbutter, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 4 eggs, 3 tbsp vanilla +1 tsp water (or food coloring), 6 cups self-rising flour

Cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time.  Alternately add 2 cups flour, 1 tbsp vanilla, mix, repeat.  Add 1 tsp water.  Chill in refrigerator 3+ hours.  Rollout 1/4 inch.  Cut and bake 335 degrees for 10 minutes on parchment paper.  Use royal icing mix – add more water for glaze.

I used red plastic forks from Dollar Tree, and found colored plastic mugs with built-in straws on clearance at Kroger’s for $1 each.   I made a jello rainbow in a glass trifle bowl – that took awhile to let each color gel before adding the next.  Cubed cheddar cheese looked special on a raised cake plate and rainbow-colored toothpicks.

I made a fruit tray using a rainbow of fruits set in a cream cheese, sour cream, sugar mixture - blueberries, peaches, oranges, green grapes, and strawberries.  I layed the cream and fruit in a rectangular tray with a lip so that it wouldn’t ooze out.

I ordered huge multi-colored swirly suckers from Oriental Trading and grouped them for a colorful centerpiece on the table.  Multi-colored balloons completed the rainbow tablescape. 

As the party was for a 3-year-old, the activities were kept simple.  I made lots of copies of coloring pages from the JWA coloring book for the children to color.  We did a simple rainbow craft that you may download.  Print a page for each child and have them attach colored pompoms with glue. 

Below is thumbnail of the rainbow craft.  Rainbow Download

We also made froot loop necklaces – what could be simpler?  Notice how Kelta wore a Gymboree shirt with embroidery in rainbow colors.

All our guests took home a goody basket.  I found these plastic multi-colored baskets at Dollar Tree and filled them with shredded colored paper from Michaels, striped hot air balloon bookmarks,  beaded jewelry kits, and colorful sticker letters (the last two were from Dollar Tree).  I attached cardstock gift tags of JWA artwork with red ribbon.  

The children also got to take home a large swirly sucker (from Oriental Trading Company) and one of the plastic mugs they drank from earlier.

Now, this is absolutely the coolest thing about this party – when I ordered the party invitations off the JWA website, I left a message about the party I was planning for the site manager.  Soon after, we received a special package in the mail.  Mrs. Anglund sent us a precious pencil drawing personalized for Kelta’s birthday with a sweet note wishing her well.  We framed the artwork and treasure it!!!

Below are the gift tags, 2 sticker sheet images, and several coloring pages that you are welcome to download!  Click on the link below for all.  Enjoy!

Joan Walsh Anglund – Download

Ok, my daughter loves reading like you would not believe, so I had to find a way to take that love of books and create a birthday party to suit her perfectly.  The main theme was books, supported by owls – wise old cartoon owls are always reading a book, right?   If you preferred, you could do books with worms (bookworms, of course).

The party colors were green/blue/brown.  I used light and dark blue balloons for decor.  I found a green owl shirt at Target for Audrey to wear, and I dressed up like a nerdy librarian .

Invitations were little folded books I printed on cream cardstock stationery from Michaels.  I got the cover pic from an old children’s book. You can download the Word documents at the end of this post to customize your own invitations.

I made an owl cake with a cake pan I found on ebay for $8 (I think it was a discontinued Wilton pan)You could also use that cake pan that is an open book, or a cake with a bespeckled bookworm.  I found an owl cookie cutter on ebay for a few bucks and made owl cookies.  I also served sliced green apples in a glass trifle pedestal bowl, strawberry blossoms (see recipe below), grapes, and a Nashville Junior League ham and biscuit recipe that rocks (see below).

I used lots of books as props, as well as owls of all kinds.  You can always find owl stuff at yard sales and estate sales in 1970’s ranch neighborhoods!  I had a lot of owls anyway, since I use them in my Halloween decorating (you’ll see that in October!)  Cups and plates were a kinda mid-century mod pattern in green and blue that I found at Publix grocery store.

Activities included making slam books (see details below).  We also made a beaded bookmark with blue and green glass beads from Michael’s thread on medium gage wire,  played “Who Am I” book characters (I gave some hints for them to guess some pretty major literary characters), and went on a book treasure hunt (see details below).   All the kids took home their bookmark, slam book, and a canvas bag from Oriental Trading Company with a classic paperback for a $1.50 from Dover Publications.   Great fun for 8-year-olds!

Download the Birthday Book Bash Invitation Files 

Book Treasure Hunt:

Simply choose 20 or so books, display them on a table or ledge, and make up questions that relate to the books you have chosen.  Give each child a copy of the questions and pencil, and the race is on!  Here are some sample questions, based on the books I used, of course:

This Book . . .

1.        contains many animal stories

2.        has 152 pages

3.        has the same author as Alice in Wonderland

4.        has a boat in it called “The Red Dolphin”

5.        includes an interesting map containing Deerlick River 

6.        takes place in a boarding school

7.        contains a picture of an eagle

8.        has a character named Veruca Salt

9.        is part of the “Dana Girls” series

10.     takes place on Prince Edward Island in Nova Scotia, Canada 

Slam Books:

In case you never made those in jr. high, a slam book is a small notebook, usually the spiral-bound type which is passed among school students.  I found some simple fabric-covered ones from Oriental Trading Company and let the girls decorate them with stickers and sticker tape from Martha Stewart’s collection at Michaels.

The first page is numbered 1-10 (or however many children are attending the party).   Just write a question at the top of each page, and then number below it (1-10 for 10 children).  Each child picks a number, puts their name next to that number on the first page of the slam book, then fills in their answer on each page beside that numbered line.   Questions for SlamBooks:  What’s your favorite color?  What’s your favorite food?  What’s your favorite school subject?  What would be your one wish? What do you want to be when you grow up?  What’s your favorite book?  What’s your favorite movie/TV show?  What 3 words/adjectives best describe you?  What’s the most special thing about you?  A sample page looks like this:

What 3 words best describe you?

1.   ______________________________________

2.  ______________________________________

3. ______________________________________

4. ______________________________________

Hope that makes sense.  If you don’t get it, go ask a 7th grade girl.

Strawberry Blossoms:

 12 large fresh strawberries

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 tbs powdered sugar

1 tbs sour cream

Slice off strawberry tops.  Place strawberries on cutting board, point up.  Cut each half into 3 wedges to form 6 petals.  Pull slightly apart.  Beat other ingredients and put in pastry bag with star tip.  Fill strawberries.

Junior League Ham and Biscuits:

1 lb. sliced ham

2 sticks butter

3 tsp poppy seeds

1 med onion, diced

3 tsp mustard

1 tsp worcestershire

12 oz Swiss cheese

2 rounds of Sister Schubert rolls (or) 3 pkgs small brown/serve dinner rolls

Melt butter, add mustard, poppy seeds, Worcestershire, onion.  Split rolls  (I recommend using a bread knife on slightly frozen rolls), spread mixture on both sides of rolls, then layer ham and cheese.  Wrap in foil.  350 degrees for 10 minutes.

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