For my daughters 11th birthday, she had a "cool" sleepover.16 girls came and 11 spent the night. I decorated on a budget with stars cut from neon poster board and hung ALL OVER
the room from the ceiling with fishing line. They seemed to float! I made huge smiley faces and peace signs out of poster board as well.
As the girls arrived, they filled in "favorites" books. I made a booklet for each girl using a "retro" scrapbook sheet for the cover and plain copy paper inside. Each sheet had a heading such as "favorite food", "favorite song"...I had 12 sheets in all. After swimming in the neighborhood pool, a water balloon battle, pizza, and cake, I had craft stations available. In the first one, I gave each girl a clay pot(42cents at Wal-Mart)and provided paint brushes and acrylic paints. Small foam plates were used to squeeze paints onto. The neon colors were really popular !For the next craft station, I had pre-cut with pinking shears(so they wouldn't fray)squares of white broadcloth 20"x20".The girls made tie-dyed head scarves by tying the fabric with rubber bands then squeezing(out of old mustard bottles)the color. For cheap fabric paint, mix acrylic paint, a little water, and fabric medium. I let the color soak, rinsed well, threw in the dryer, folded into a triangle, and PRESTO !Tie on hair and tie behind neck. VERY popular. For the next station, we made sunflower pens. Using cheap pens, take the cap off and hold upside down. Hold a plastic sunflower with a little bit of stem at the top of the pen. Wrap floral tape around the whole pen and stem. I also had plenty of beads and string out for those finishing their crafts early. The wire from twist ties and seed beads makes great rings. For party favors I had a neon smiley face bag for each girl with name on it and a little candy inside. They put their crafts inside their bags when finished. The girls also brought cd's, danced, watched movies and ate popcorn. This was a SUPER party with plenty to do. I think the key was to be over prepared. I also had board games set out and group games in case things got slow. Have fun !
