CAMPFIRE - this boy is on fire!

Ha, not really! but he is definitely burning through the years faster than we can count! Finding fun, low-cost ideas for a February birthday is never easy but at 8 this was the perfect year for a CAMPFIRE party! Not unusually we celebrated in 3 parts. We spent Winter School Break visiting Finn's godmother in Germany, then we came home and had a simple birthday dinner on his actually day, and finally he invited just a few friends over for a fun campfire afternoon in the garden .. the weather was actually gorgeous and the fire was just for looks as the children ran around in shirtsleeves without coats.

Cakes - yes, there were three! 🙈

1. Round 2-layer chocolate cake topped with _____, yellow candles placed between the "logs" ..it truly looked like the cake was on fire. We celebrated with 4, but there was enough cake for 8-12.
2. A chocolate swiss roll filled with chocolate cream and frosted to look like a log. The flames were made by melting candies, pouring them on foil and allowing to cool. Candles were placed behind the candle flames to set it on fire. We celebrated with just us 3, but ate cake for 3 days.
3. Chocolate cupcakes topped with flame-colored buttercream frosting and salted pretzel logs. Topped off by a mini marshmallow stuck on the end of a toothpick. We made 12 cupcakes for 8 children and 4 adults.

Food

• Snacks: Flame-colored carrot sticks, red paprika slices and orange wedges
• Drink: Orange-juice and spiced apple cider warmed on the edge of the fire basket.
• Food: Pre-cooked sausages (real meat, not hotdogs) which the children warmed over the campfire and ate wrapped in a toasted buns. (No plates, just napkins)
• Dessert: (as if cupcakes weren't enough) roasted marshmallows!

Decorations

I am almost afraid to admit there were hardly any.

• We tied remnants of red and orange paper streamers to our fence and some bushes which blew around looking a bit like flames. (These were left behind by someone after celebrating a George and the Dragon party on our farm.)
• The FOOD - sticking to flame colored snacks and drinks gave a festive flare to the rustic picnic table.
• RED napkins .. yes they were paper, also leftover from a previous party.

Activity

There wasn't one. It was such an unexpectedly beautiful day in February that the children were just happy to play outside. They warmed their food, roasted marshmallows, ran about the farm, played in the fort, raced back and forth. They were happy and not once did they ask for a pre-planned activity. 

Gift Bag

Sticking to tradition we gave our guests cookies in the theme of our party to take home .. and this year was especially easy because there were several sibling groups who attended. So each family went home with a brown paper box of cookies topped with a hand-written thank you from Finn.

• F - graham cracker inspired cookie topped with home-made toasted marshmallow frosting
• 8 - Sugar Cookie with ____ icing and sprinkled with edible gold glitter
• Campfire - Chocolate Sugar cookie rond topped with a chocolate-covered-roughly-chopped nuts to look like rocks, a tripod of salted pretzel logs and a mini marshmallow roasting on a toothpick.
• Matchsticks - these were a lastminute addition that really finished off the box! And truly the simplest. Salted pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate and then red sugar crystals.

Budget ... 

This was truly the lowest cost party we have done to date. 

• Supplies for all 3 homemade cakes and cookies were at most 15-20€  (The cookie logs on the campfire cake were a contribution from Finn's godmother, the candies for the flames were about 3€)
• Food and drink, I am quite sure it was not more than 25-30€
• Total budget 50€
• Guests: 20 in total (cost per person 2,50)