Decorate a glass flower vase (ages 10 - 13)    My daughter's favorite creative birthday party was when we invited 7 of her girlfriends over and everyone painted two pretty glass vases each. There were two shapes, and each girl was given one of each. I purchased the vases very inexpensively (about $1 each) at a crafts store, and we used acrylic paints in small bottles. I had mentioned on the invitation that the children should arrive in messy clothes for painting, and I had already set aside several old shirts of mine and my husband's that we could use as smocks as well.  My daughter played Mad Libs with her friends until everyone arrived, and they made doodles and drawings on a big roll of paper I had spread out with colored markers. Then, I gave each girl a smock, and brought them to the table where I had set up a plastic table cloth, paints of all colors around the table, lots of brushes of different thicknesses (the cheap brushes like the ones from water color sets), cans or plastic containers of water for rinsing the brushes, paper towels for blotting the wet brushes, and two differently shaped glass vases for each child. My daughter had selected her favorite music CD's in advance. She put on her music, and the girls painted. They were absolutely absorbed for the longest time, chatting with each other and concentrating on their works of art.  Some girls were done sooner than others, but were happy to sit and make conversation, or add to the doodles on the paper roll. Girls that age love to just talk with each other. During this whole time, very little was needed from me.  This was surprisingly easy for me.  When they were all done, the vases were set aside to dry while the girls had birthday cake and ice cream. At the end of the party, I gave each girl a large bouquet of real cut flowers. I had put pretty ribbons around each bouquet. They loved the flowers and they couldn't wait to get home, put water in their vases, and place the cut flowers in them, so everyone could admire their handiwork! The children were very proud. I received several e-mails and phone calls from parents telling me how much they loved gazing at their child's personally docorated vases with the beautiful flowers in them. Me, too! I still use my daughter's vases, several years later. And she still gets a thrill when she sees one being used.