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Fun? Easy? Cheap? Yes, I know that sounds to unbelievable right? I can't begin to tell you how amazing this party was for our family. It was no stress, inexpensive, low-key, colorful and could work for a boy or a girl. Did I mention it was cheap? Let me show you how you can have just as great of a party. Because who doesn't love cold sugary frozen snow cone drinks?
Let's start with the free printables. They are so darling and did I mention they are FREE? Yes, FREE!
Jen Goode From 100directions.com is the fabulous designer behind these darling printables.
We started with the super easy invite cards. This was pretty much the only thing in advance. Cause people like to know these things ahead of time.
So now comes the crazy easy part. I may have mentioned on social media that I was attending the SNAP conference (AHHHMAZING!). So basically, I woke up Texas time at 2:30 am, caught some flights, had some layovers, and drove 2 hrs home. I arrived to our town at 5:10. The party was at 7:30. I ran into Dollar tree at about 5:15 and picked up the items I would need. The total was less than $15 and that included balloons for the kiddos.
This was the basic set up for our party. Sorry about the pics--it was incredibly windy but thankfully it did not rain! You can see I have the cooler of ice on one side, the umbrellas, cups, napkins and syrups. I used colorful ruffled crepe paper to edge the table. I had made it several years ago and it has been so helpful to have on hand. I simply used double sided tape to adhere it. The tablecloth is a $1 dollar store purchase.
Here is one tub that I picked up that I simply used double sided tape to secure some banners to. It was stuffed with napkins (and with snow cones/shaved ice) you will need lots of napkins. I bought 4 packs in 4 colors to pump up the rainbow theme.
I also picked up this larger green tub to hold our 3 bottles of syrup. Syrup bottles can be messy, and this helps catch spills. Plus, bonus---once it's washed, it will hold some fun toys in it!
I love that I was able to personalize one of the ribbon banners to say the birthday boy's name.
I also grabbed these cute ramekins from the dollar store and they held our little umbrellas. They came in a pack of 3 for a dollar.
For silverware storage, I simply flipped over one of the cups and had it hold the spoons. The company we used for the shaved ice provided these, and they are so cool. When they get cold, they change colors! How fun is that?!!!
Did I mention it was windy? So so so windy. Our balloons just couldn't deal with that wind. My son adores balloons, and thought the wind was hilarious. I think the pictures below caught that!
So I know you want to know about the Hawaiian Shaved ice part, right? My neighbors LOVED this. I loved this!!! I simply had to go to our local Hawaiian Shaved Ice store and purchase their party pack. I choose Bahama Bucks because I had a coupon for it. They provided EVERYTHING you would need, and you can see their packages and included items here. I paid a little bit more for convenience-- remember that I arrived home pretty close to the party start time. It was such a lifesaver to just be able to pick it up and be good to go.
Maybe you don't have a Bahama Bucks in your town, or you are not in as big of a hurry as I was. If you are looking for convenience, I would call your local Hawaiian shaved ice or Sno Cone stores. Also, I called our local sonic, because there ice is small and probably easier to crush if making your own. It runs $1 for a 10 pound bag here. Cool huh? I've also discovered that Bahama Bucks sells "snow balls" . How fun would it be to add a snow ball fight to a birthday party on a hot summer day?
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If you are making your own and would like a machine to be able to make the snow whenever you want, I would recommend this one.
You can also find things like the umbrellas, syrups and bottle spouts there.
I really hope you enjoyed our Rainbow Hawaiian Shaved Ice Party. Be sure to check out Jen's awesome site for more fun party ideas!
****Did you miss my posts about the SNAP Conference on my social media accounts? Want behind the scenes photos and ideas that I regularly post there? Be sure to follow me on instagram, twitter, Google + and Facebook. You can find the links to these accounts by looking in the top right side of any page, under the tab "Let's Connect"*****
Carolina Moore says
I love how this party turned out! All the color! There was only one thing missing... my invite! 😉