11542

Spiderman 6yr - Doc Oct Hot Dogs

July 2005

Minnie in Lake Butler, FL  USA

Runner-Up

For my son's 6th Birthday, he chose a Spiderman theme.  Here is what we ended up doing.  Some are my ideas, some are from this site and some are from other sites.  Thank you to all of the people who have shared their ideas to help others.  I hope these are of some help to you.   

INVITATIONS:  I created the invitations on the computer using Printmaster. First, I found high-resolution graphics of Spiderman online using google or yahoo image search.  Then I went to work.  I always make postcard invitations, mainly for two reasons: they do not require an envelope and they have cheaper postage.  On the front of the invitation there was a picture of Spiderman swinging from his web and it read: Swing on over...for web-slinging fun at Ryan's Spiderman party. 

Then on the back of the invitation it is set up like a postcard with a dividing line that separates the party info and the TO address.  On the left-hand side it read: Join us (then list date/time) at our "web-site" (then list address) Say you'll hang out with us (then list telephone #).  Then I put a picture of Spiderman hanging up side down from his web.  Our address was on the left side at the top in a small font.  Then they were addressed to the guests on the right side in a large font. 

GAMES:  We rented a MoonWalk and the kids spend a lot of time practicing jumping ôfrom building to buildingö like Spiderman.  Although I had planned on more games, I ended up only doing one.  I purchased sticky spiders (spiders on a long string that stick to everythingàI will discuss the spiders later).  I created pictures of Spiderman's villains, Doc Oct and the Green Goblin on small pieces of paper.  The kids took turns using their sticky spiders to give Spiderman a hand at ôsticking it to the bad guysö.  I also made large printouts of the villains that could be hung up (maybe outside on a window).  The kids could then take turns using a water gun to practice shooting the villains with their water ôwebsö.   

FOOD:  We had Doc Oct Dogs.  You can cut the end of a hot dog to make 8 tentacles and when the hot dogs are boiled, the ends curl up to resemble an octopus.  Along with this we had Cole slaw and chips.  We also served ôSpiderman Power Punchö, which is red Hawaiian Punch, Sprite, and pineapple sherbet.  We also added ôGreen Goblin Juiceö, which is green Hawaiian Punch, Sprite, and lime sherbet.  I made cards with the food titles and set these up in front of each item.   

CAKE:  This was the hit of the party!  With A LOT of help from the www.wilton.com forum and the DETAILED instructions and pictures from www.cakecentral.com (THANK YOU TO ALL WHO POSTED YOUR CAKES AND IDEAS, especially chris f. and lisa), I created a 3-d Spiderman torso cake.  You can find a picture of the cake I did at this address: http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-gallery_display_5684.html   Look on the sites above for other variations of this cake.  Basically what you do is bake 2- 10 cakes and 2- 9 cakes (I also baked a sheet cake for this to sit on so that it would feed more people). Ice in crusting buttercream (hereÆs the recipe I used: 1 1/2 cups Crisco; 1/2 cup cake flour; 2 pounds powdered sugar; 1/4 cup water to 1/3 cup almost boiling water; 2 teaspoons clear vanillaà.then 1. Cream shortening and flour with mixer   2.  Add vanilla  3.  Add sugar and almost boiling water  4. Mix on low.  Add as much additional water until smooth).  Take one of the 9 cakes and fourth it.  Stack these together (secure with toothpicks) to form the shoulder and then attach them to the left side of the 10 cake using buttercream as glue.  Do the same with the other 9 cake and attach to the right side to form the other shoulder.  Ice the shoulders in buttercream also.  Now for the head:  purchase a Styrofoam head (that holds wigs) from a beauty supply store (bought mine for only $2.99 at Sallys Beauty Supply).  Stick a skewer or craft/popsicle stick (I actually used a plastic butter knife) into the bottom of the head and then push the head down into the 10 cake using the skewer (or whatever you used) to secure the head to the cake.  I also added toothpicks around the side of the head to better secure it to the cake.  Then ice the head as well.  After the icing crusts, smooth out the buttercream icing and then using red spray food color in the cans, cover the entire cake until it is the desired shade of Spiderman red.  It took me about 3  bottles to accomplish this.  Now to decorate the cake with a head to look like Spiderman:  I used Printmaster again and found a picture of Spidermans eyes and enlarged them to lifelike size, printed this out and then cut them out.  I then pushed them into the Styrofoam head and then removed them so that there was an imprint that I could use to outline his eyes in black icing (from a tube that looks like toothpaste) and then fill with more white buttercream.  I then used the same black tube icing to form the webs all over Spiderman (using pictures and a Spiderman plush toy as a guide).  Boy, was that aggravating and nerve-racking!  But with much prayer, I got it done (thank you, Lord).  Everyone at the party loved this cake!  Especially my birthday boy who kept sneaking a peek at what was supposed to be a surprise cake!  And my 2-year-old daughter who kept saying Mama, hes looking at me (and then proceeded to play peek-a-boo with Spidey).   

GOODY BAGS: These consisted of the sticky spiders, black spider rings and glow-in the-dark spider rings, Green Goblin Goo (I made this myself.  It is kind of like slime or silly putty.  I bagged it up in a snack-size ziplock and added a label telling what it was and how to make it.  Heres the recipe: 1 cup of corn starch;  1/4 to 1/3 cup of water.  Mix this together.  My kids loved helping me make it and especially playing with it.  Believe me you will even like playing with it.  It has the characteristics of a solid and a liquid almost at the same time), a Spiderman button (I purchased plastic buttons/photo holders with a safety pin attached to the back at www.orientaltrading.com.  Then using a round label template in Printmaster, I printed Spiderman movie pictures onto photo paper. 

You could also add the guests name or the birthday childs name and party date.  Next I used a circle cutter to cut these out and inserted them into the photo holders.  They can wear them or attach them to back packs or purses);  Spiderman stickers (also from www.orientaltrading.com);  bubble gum balls in red, green, blue and orange (from Dollar Tree);  water guns (to practice their web-shooting.  I found ours at a cost of 4 for $1.00 at the Family Dollar);  and finally a copy of the Spiderman Theme Song.  The one we used is the older song that I remember from my childhoodànot that Im old :~).  I used Printmaster again to create a label for the actual CD.  I used a picture of Spiderman and then the label had the title Spider-man Theme Song and then I added in a smaller font: 

Thank you for hanging out with me at my 6th Birthday party!  Then I added my sons name and the date.  On the back cover of the CD case, I used Printmaster again (you've got to love that program!) to create another label that had the lyrics to the song (I found these onlineHere they are if you are interested:   Spider-man, Spider-man  Does whatever a spider can. Spins a web, any size, Catches thieves, just like flies. Look out! Here comes the Spider-man!  Is he strong? Listen, Bud! He's got radioactive blood. Can he swing from a thread? Take a look overhead. Hey there, there goes the Spider-man!  In the chill of night, At the scene of the crime Like a streak of light He arrives just in time.  Spider-man, Spider-man Friendly neighborhood Spider-man; Wealth and fame, he's ignored; Action is his reward  To him, life is a great big bang-up, Wherever there's a hang-up You'll find the Spider-man!   \* I played the theme song while my son was opening his gifts.

DECORATIONS:  On the inside of our main party room (our dining room) I bought a foil Happy Banner that featured Spider-man (I got this and other spider-man items from www.partyareus.com or www.partyetc.com) and hung it up on the wall.  On the dining room table, I had a blue tablecloth and of course, the Spiderman cake in the center.  I had another table against a wall in this room (again with the blue tablecloth) that I put the food and drinks on in a buffet style.  Above the food table I hung a black fish net and shaped it into a spider web (octagon). In the center of the web I hung a plush Spiderman that is posed in a web-shooting stance.  On another wall in the room, I hung a framed poster of Spiderman that I borrowed from Ryans room (it is also decked out in Spider-man).  In one corner of the room, I hung my sons Spiderman throw blanket.  I ran out of time, but I had planned to create a giant web on my porch between the columns using black streamer.   

THANK YOUS: Before guests left, I took pictures of them in front of the Spiderman throw blanket.  The Spiderman featured on our blanket was huge and lifelike.  The pictures turned out so good!  I used these for Thank You notes.  Yep, you guessed itI used Printmaster to create more postcards.  I printed the pictures on one side and on the other wrote:  It was fun hanging out with you at my 6th Birthday Party.  Thank you for the (then list gift).  It was right on target!  This party was so much fun to plan and even more fun to attend.  The guests and my birthday boy had a blast!  I hope your party is just as successful!   Now on to planning my little girls 3rd birthday party in November

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