Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.
It is hard to believe it is almost Christmas. Once Christmas is over, we begin to really focus on Hazel's birthday. This year I am trying to have most of the work done before Christmas or at least the things I can do ahead of time. Oriental Trading was kind enough to send me some flamingo items to review, so here is my review as well as a preview of the party.
Since we have her party on January 1st, we send the invitations out early. It took me awhile to figure out what to put on the invitations since most flamingo themed parties are pool parties. We decided this year to do evites and then printed the few for the people who do not have e-mail or whose e-mails we do not have. The evite had the picture of Hazel with the flamingo and had our rhyme in the added information. For the printed invitations I used a picture of five flamingos dancing. I deleted it here since it would infringe copyrights.
I always like to have a craft for the kids and some adults to do at the party. This party is always a mix group of ages from infants to adults and everything inbetween, so it is hard to have planned activities. I find leaving some crafts out always keeps some entertained. I fell in love with the handprint flamingo bags I saw at Oriental Trading. I have the paint and googly eyes, so I ordered some tote bags. Since the large ones were a mixed color group and so many, I ordered the smaller tote bags in yellow (they didn't come in white).
To make them it is easy. You paint a child's right hand with pink paint and have them place their hand on the bag. (Always put something inside the bag so it does not bleed through to the other side. I found my Oriental Trading catalog was a perfect fit.) Then use the pink to make the neck and head. With black or pink add the legs. Hazel wanted to do this herself and messed them up a bit. Use black on the beak and blue for the water. Once dry add a googly eye. These will be our craft favors for the kids. The added bonus is they can collect their goodies from the pinata in the bags.
Hazel has a love of pinatas. She has been asking for a flamingo pinata since choosing the theme. I was researching how to make one, but I was ecstatic to find Oriental Trading has one. I was a little surprised by the low ratings and the reviews on their site. When I got it I did not see why anyone had problems with it. It is adorable, and it does have a hole unlike what some of the reviewers wrote. Since I do not let Hazel and her friends try to open it indoors, I usually cut a hole in the bottom anyway and convert them to a pull string type, but I love it and it saved me hours of work!! And Hazel was so happy to see it. She has been asking all sorts of questions like can we hit it open--no and what will we put inside--toys and candy.
Next Hazel fell in love with the flamingo glasses Oriental Trading had. She begged me to get her a pair. You should have seen how excited she was to get a pair. I had to open them right away for her. They are foam and plastic and actually are more sturdy than I thought they would be. Of course they are sold in packages of twelve so we are set to hand these out to anyone who will wear them. I think we will have glasses instead of party hats, but who knows--maybe I'll think of a cute party hat idea (pink feathers on hot pink party hats?).
I love this inflatable flamingo. It is about the same height as Hazel. I figured it will make a good photo prop. We haven't opened it yet, but I imagine it will live in Hazel's room after the party. I know she will want to play with it and I'll want to keep it away from the cats.
Our final thing to review is a package of flamingo swirl lollipops. These twelve lollipops are going to make my life so easy!! For her cake (which has to be strawberry since it will be pink inside) I am going to frost it with blue frosting for the water and just stick these lollipops in it. It will be an instant flock of flamingos!! I am so excited for an easy cake after last year's two cakes. I cannot honestly review the flavor of the lollipops, but they look cute. I will unwrap them when I put them on the cake!
Hazel is really excited for the whole party and loves all the wonderful supplies Oriental Trading sent us!! If you want more flamingo party ideas, check out my flamingo party Pinterest board and also the other great flamingo things Oriental Trading offers!
Now I have to work on what food we will serve. I am trying to find as much pink food as I can. Any ideas? Stay tuned for more party updates!!
