The Party Edit

Meri Meri Studio has created a fabulous jewelry holder make for your kids. A fun activity and it’ll help tidy up their room too - double win! Also, if you want to buy jewelry as a gift, but are stuck what to get, then we’ve got a jewelry guide for you. Kids love jewelry, just as much as adults, but it can be hard to know what to buy as it is such a personal thing.    Make a bunny jewelry holder Do your kids keep getting their jewelry and hair accessories mixed up or lost? Problem solved! Our designers have created a bunny jewelry holder for them to make. It’s easy to do, looks amazing and works like a dream (and it makes a great gift to send to granny too!). Click here for the template. Your jewelry gift guide Find out what type of jewelry to buy as a gift to suit a special little one, depending on their personality and likes.   1. Outgoing and chatty Buy jewelry in bold shades. Funky bright enamel or acrylic pendants are an excellent choice, like our Shooting Star necklace. 2. Quiet and calm Why not opt for jewelry in pretty shades with charming designs? They’ll love our Secrets Book necklace, with a pink enamel bead chain.   3. On-trend It’s a good idea to get jewelry with an on-trend design, like rainbows, flamingos, popsicles, cacti, pompoms or tassels. 4. Quirky Look for a necklace that is different from the norm. They’ll love our doll necklaces, featuring beautiful fabric dolls dressed in sensational outfits with colored enamel bead chains. 5. Adores animals You can’t go wrong with a necklace with an adorable animal pendant, like cats, dogs, horses, elephants or sea horses. 1. Tropical Brooches 2. Matilda Doll Necklace 3. Secrets Book Necklace 4. Magical Enamel Lapel Pins 5. Yep Nope Hair Clips 6. Emoji Enamel Charm Bracelet 7. Happy Glitter Hair Clip 8. Shooting Star Necklace 6. Loves all things magical A necklace with a fantastic creature will really resonate with them, like unicorns or mermaids. 7. Lots of necklaces already If you’re unsure, then how about buying them a bracelet? It’s a great way to add color and style to any outfit, like funky emoji enamel charm bracelet. 8. Physically active Necklaces or bracelets are perhaps not a good idea because of the safety factor – you don’t want them getting tangled when climbing trees or doing handstands! Decorative pins and brooches, to accessorise clothing, are a better jewelry gift choice. We’ve got sensational ranges to suits girls and boys of all ages, click here and here. Shop our Gift collection

Find inspiration for your magical rainbow party here, featuring food and décor ideas – brighten up your kids' birthday with our rainbow balloon arch or pińata!

Discover our guide to fun and easy Easter games, including piñatas, bowling, and our free, printable bingo activity.

Easter is all about yummy foods that look and taste sensational. So, we’ve created  beautiful bunny and flower cookies to delight you. They’re almost too lovely to eat – but we’re sure you’ll manage! Eggciting Easter bunny cookies Firstly, use a recipe that you know is great for making cookies that need cutting out. Check out the cookie recipe in one of our previous blogs – it’s perfect for Easter cookies. To get a bunny shape use our wonderful Floral Bunny Cutter Set. Once the cookies are baked, and cool, it’s time to decorate them. Here’s how, with tips from Anna Tyler, Afloral-bunny-cutter-setNNA Cake Couture, who made the cookies pictured here. Cover the bunnies in fondant (also known as sugar paste). Buy white ready-to-roll fondant and roll this out to around 4-5 mm thick. Let it dry for 30 minutes, then paint the back with water and gently drape over the bunny cookies. Now make the icing flowers to decorate the bunny with. Mix gum paste (also known as flower or floral paste) with food coloring to get the colors you want. Gels tend to give better colors, a good one to try is AmeriColor. Dip the tip of a cocktail stick into the food coloring, you only need a little bit at a time. Add to the gum paste, and roll it to get the color to blend in. Now, roll out the paste until it is 1mm thick, and cut the flowers out using the flower cutters in the set. These are very small, so the best way to get the flowers out of the cutters is to gently use the bristles of a thin paint brush. Use a blob of royal icing, or wet them slightly, to stick them onto the bunny cookie. To paint in the gold detail, mix an edible gold lustre with rejuvenator spirit (this is a clear food grade 99.9% proof edible alcohol, widely available from cake websites) and simply paint on with a small paintbrush. The rejuvenator spirit will evaporate very quickly leaving you with a shimmering gold color. To paint in the gold detail, mix an edible gold lustre with rejuvenator spirit (this is a clear food grade 99.9% proof edible alcohol, widely available from cake websites) and simply paint on with a small paintbrush. The rejuvenator spirit will evaporate very quickly leaving you with a shimmering gold color. Fabulous flower cookies Cut your cookie dough out with our Flower Cookie Cutters, bake then decorate. Here are Anna’s tips on how to get the same icing effects she created. To get the textured petal effect you'll need a flower petal piping decorating tip on the end of your piping bag. (Anna used the Wilton Flower Petal Piping Decorating tip 103). Fill the piping bag with stiff royal icing, and place the 'fat' end of the piping tip onto the flower and pipe a petal shape. Start on the outside of the flower and go around the whole of the outside. Now, layer petals over the whole of the flower, working inwards. Place each petal slightly on top of the one before so as not to leave any gaps. Place the cookies on a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes, in an oven on 86F, to dry the icing and give it a lovely shine. Paint the gold details on and stick on the edible gold balls, like you did with the bunny cookies.  Wishing you a wonderful Easter!  

Our top designers at Meri Meri have created two charming Easter bunny masks for you to download, print, color, and cut out - it's a great activity to do at home.

Children love animals and adventure, so having a safari party will be absolutely amazing for them! Why not transform your party room into a fabulous jungle with safari-themed music, party games and party food? We reveal some of the best decorations, music, games and tasty treats. It’s a jungle out there! Place animal prints from outside into the safari party zone. You can either draw or cut out these out on card, or use chalk. Hang sheets of green paper on the walls. Make vines out of twisted brown kraft paper or brown grocery sacks, and attach large green paper-shaped leaves. Mix some rubber snakes and jungle toy animals, or animal balloons, into your décor. You’ll love our large cheetah and crocodile foil balloons, and our fabulous monkey, leopard and zebra knitted organic cotton toys. Or, you can make your safari party really on trend by having lots of metallic fringed garlands and bright colors by the party food table and in the house! Invite guests to the watering hole to meet the “animals” and have a drink. Place blue card or blue plastic on the floor and surround it with large safari animal cut outs or print out images of animals. You can also place toy jeeps and sand here too. Serve up cups of yummy “safari swamp water” (see the party food ideas section). Jungle boogie  Music is essential to get everyone into a party mood, and it’s a great idea to choose songs that have a safari and jungle theme. We’ve put together a list of some fabulous tunes for you, check this out on Spotify. You might also want to create a roaring soundtrack for your party too. Ask all the kids to make their favorite animal sound as they arrive at the party, record them and then play them back as a soundtrack when it’s time for games – or you can use this as a game itself ‘Guess who made the animal noise’. Voice Recorder, is a really good app to try, it works on IOS and Android. Silly safari games Here are four fun games we just know kids will love to play. Monkey, monkey, tiger. Get the kids to sit in a circle on the floor. The birthday boy or girl, also known as the “patter”, starts by walking around the outside of the circle and patting the head of each child. Each time they pat a head they shout out “monkey”. Then, out of the blue, they shout “tiger” as they pat someone. The patter then runs clockwise and tries to sit down before the tiger catches them. If the tiger tags the patter then the tiger gets to sit back down and the patter starts again. If the tiger doesn’t tag the patter, then the tiger becomes the patter and the game starts again. Continue for either a time limit, or until everyone has had a chance to be the patter. Animal scavenger hunt. Buy a big bag of plastic animals, or draw animals onto card, and hide them around the house and/or in the garden. Get the kids to put on their safari hats, grab their binoculars and go on the hunt. Give them a time limit to see how many animals they can find (you can give them a list to tick off if you want too). The winners will go in order of who has found the most animals in the time limit, with prizes for everyone. Temporary tattoos make great prizes, you’ll love our Safari Trek Large Tattoos, with lots of shimmering silver detail. Termite, vulture, rhinoceros. Name the kids as “termites”, “vultures” or “rhinoceros”. Put on some music and get the party guests to move, like their animals would do, around the room. When an adult shouts out “danger” they have to find safety to protect themselves. Termites need a chair to stand on, vultures lie flat on the ground and rhinoceroses have to flatten themselves against a wall. The last person to assume their animals’ position is out of the game. The adult shouts out “carry on” and the game repeats. The person who was the last animal to find safety can now shout out “danger”. Continue until one person, the winner, is left. Sensational safari party food ideas Here are some food suggestions that are tasty and fun!  For an extra touch, serve them on our new Animal Print or Cheetah plates, with coordinating cups and napkins and pop our crocodile, flamingo or cheetah piñata party favor, piñatas, all filled with confetti and temporary tattoos with room for extra treats, next to each place setting. Zebra doughnuts. Simply drizzle black and white royal icing stripes onto the tops of ringed doughnuts to create a stunning zebra print effect. Animal print pizzas. Make your own pizzas using alternates of white, yellow and orange cheese stripes, and black olives, to look like an animal print. Peanut butter and “jellyphant” sandwiches. Cut out the sandwiches with elephant cutters. Safari cupcakes. Add swirls of frosting to cupcakes and top with plastic animals or creative paper animal toppers, like our fabulous Safari Animals Cupcake Kit, which features striped cupcake cases and animal designed toppers with gold foil and tassel details. Savory snakes. Make multiple diagonal cuts into hot dogs, three quarters of the way through, and fill the slits with ketchup, mustard and relish. Crocodile eyeballs and guts (also known as spaghetti and meatballs). Kids love gross sounding meals! Safari swamp water. Simply mix limeade, pineapple juice and Sprite or Seven Up together for a delicious green mocktail. Either mix the drinks individually, or make a punchbowl, in which you can float plastic or gummy crocodiles. Shop the Safari Animal Collection

Don’t panic if you can’t get to a famous parade like New Orleans – just have your own party! We reveal how to transform your home, your kids and create delicious festival party foods.

Make Valentine’s Day really special with a fabulous party meal for your kids. We have created a Meri Meri ‘Food of Love’ menu for you that’s easy, delicious and looks amazing! Food of Love menu Valentine’s Day food is all about stimulating the senses with the colors of love – red, pink and pretty pastels - and heart shaped meals. Why not make your own menu to put on the table so little people can read it, or have it read to them, to get their tastebuds tantilized? Starter: Tasty Tomato soup with heart shaped croutons. Ticks all the boxes – red, yummy and smells delicious! Either use fresh or tinned (or make your own if you have the time and inclination) You can also add heart shaped croutons to float on top for extra effect too! (Style alert - It’s a good idea to supply all the littlies with napkins to tuck into their tops as damage control for messy eaters! Tell them it’s what the grown ups also do when eating soup!) Here’s a simple heart shaped crouton recipe to try. It makes enough croutons to serve around 6 people. Heart shaped croutons IngredientsServes 6 1 loaf (about 10 ounces) fine-grained white bread, sliced 1/2 inch thick Salt and pepper Olive oil for brushing Directions Heat the oven to 350F. Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, or use a knife, cut out heart shapes from the bread slices. Brush each heart with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. Place on top of the soup as you serve it. 1. Party Palette Heart Small Plates, 2. Valentine Doodle Large Plates 3. Valentine Doodle Small Napkins, 4. Pink Wooden Cutlery Set, 5. Pinata Hearts Cupcake Kit, 6. Party Palette Heart Large Napkins, 7. Heart Pinata Favors Main course. Heart shaped pizzas – marvellous meat or fantastic veggie options! Buy pizzas and cut into heart shapes with a knife or cutter once they’re cooked (or if you’re feeling creative you can make your own.) Choose a variety of toppings, meat and vegetarian, so everyone is catered for. If you want to boost their veggie intake, then serve with a green salad topped with more heart shaped croutons! Desserts: Love Note Cookies and Love Heart Cupcakes. These gorgeous cookies and cupcakes look almost too good to eat! Here’s the recipe for the love note cookies, as created for us by ANNA cake couture. This will make around 25 cookies, depending on the size of your cutter. Love Note Cookies IngredientsMakes 25 7 ounces unsalted butter, softened 7 ounces caster sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract A pinch of salt 1 medium egg, lightly beaten 15 ounces All purpose flour, plus extra for dusting 18 ounces Royal icing sugar Water Add food coloring as desired Directions Place the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt in a bowl and cream together. Beat the egg in a jug and slowly add to the butter mixture, whisking until well incorporated.  Sift in the flour and mix until just combined. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill for an hour. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out the cookie dough until about a fifth of an inch thick.  Cut the dough using a heart shaped cutter and place on a baking tray covered with baking parchment.  Chill again for ideally 2 hours.  Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes (depending on the size of your hearts), or until the edges are golden brown. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before icing. For the Icing: Use the icing’s packet instructions for the basic recipe. This can be used for the writing. Use paper piping bags  (they used a PME 1.5 nozzle), or you can use pre-made piping bags, to pipe on your icing letters. Then you’ll want to add a small amount of water to make the rest of the icing into a runnier consistency needed for flooding your cookies. No need to make it twice! If you scoop some up with a spoon and let it dribble back into the bowl, you should see the icing blend back together in a few seconds. When coloring your royal icing, try and use colors that don’t contain glycerine as this will prevent your icing from drying with a lovely hard crust. 5 Ways to make your cookies fantastic Anna Tyler from ANNA cake couture recommends: 1. Don’t over mix the butter and sugar at beginning as this makes the cookies spread while baking. 2. Try not use too much flour when rolling the cookie dough out is this can make the cookies drier than they should be. 3. Once you have rolled the cookie dough and cut out the hearts, put them in the freezer for a couple of hours minimum. This will really help the cookies retain their shape and not spread whilst baking. 4. If you put your freshly iced biscuits into a very low oven, for example 85F, for 15-20 minutes they will dry with a beautiful shine. 5. If you wrap your cookies in cellophane and tie tightly, they will keep for 1 month. Here’s the recipe for the Love Heart Cupcakes, as created for us by The Vanilla Pod Bakery. They have a soft pink color and a delightful surprise of strawberry jelly in the middle! This recipe will make around 12 cupcakes, depending on the size of your cases. To make your cakes look really fabulous, use our Pinata Hearts Cupcake Kit with on-trend fringed heart and tasselled toppers and shiny pink cases.   Love Heart Cupcakes IngredientsMakes 12 6 ounces Caster sugar 6 ounces Butter, softened 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon Vanilla paste 3 Large eggs 2-3 teaspoons pink food coloring 6 ounces All Purpose flour 2 teaspoons Baking Powder Strawberry jelly For the vanilla frosting: 6 ounces Butter, softened 13 ounces Icing sugar 1 tablespoon boiling water 1 teaspoon vanilla paste Food coloring (optional) Directions Pre heat oven to 355F. Line a cupcake tray with the cases. Whisk together the caster sugar, butter, salt and vanilla paste until very pale in color. Whisk in the eggs and food coloring. Gently fold in the flour and baking powder until completely mixed. Divide the mix into the cases. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Cool. Core the center of each cake and add a teaspoon or two of delicious strawberry jelly into each. For the Frosting: Whisk together the very soft butter and icing sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the boiling water and continue whisking. Add the vanilla paste. If you want to make different colored frosting, then divide it into small bowls and add the food colorings into each and mix until blended. 3 Ways to make your cupcakes look and taste special Here are Pia Canto, Founder of The Vanilla Pod Bakery, top tips. 1. For a uniformed look weigh the batter of each individual cupcake. 2. Always use a premium vanilla paste for a delicious taste. 3. Use a star nozzle to achieve a professional looking piped cupcake. Drink choices: Love Potion mocktail and Cupid Floats Kids love a mocktail – so sophisticated and grown-up, especially if you present them with stylish straws, cocktail umbrellas and a cherry garnish! They also adore a float with candies! So, why not offer them the choice? (and if they are really well behaved they might even get to have one of each!) Love Potion Pitcher IngredientsServes 12 2 liters of Sprite 1 bottle of cranberry juice 1 bottle of orange juice Maraschino cherries (optional) Directions Pour all the ingredients into a large pitcher and stir gently. Serve with ice. Pop a maraschino cherry into each cup if you want an extra effect! Cupid Float IngredientsServes 1 1-2 scoops Vanilla ice cream Cherry soda Red licorice, love heart candies and sprinkles (optional) Directions Add a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream to a cup. Fill the cup with cherry soda. Serve with a straw, or cut the ends off of a strand of red licorice and place into the cup to use as a straw. For extra fun serve with a few love heart candies scattered on top of the foam, and/or you can add some red or pink sprinkles too.    

Children love to wear festive fancy dress or get dressed up for a special Christmas party. We reveal our best product choices to help your little people look fantastic. We’ve also got a fab festive music playlist to listen to as you get ready for the party. Festive fancy dress Whether it’s for a school play, party, or for fun dress up at home, we’ve got a fabulous range of costumes. Be an angel Our Angel Wings costume is perfect to make your little one look even more angelic! Featuring wonderful wings, made from gold flecked tulle and a gorgeous glittery gold star headband. Tulle Angel Wings Dress Up Charming Christmas Fairy Christmas fairies don’t just have to be on the Christmas tree, they can flutter around school, home and at parties too! Our White Tulle Fairy Dress-Up Set is all they need to transform. Featuring a pretty tulle dress, detachable wings, a fringed headband, and a padded star wand. Shine like a Star The Christmas star is the ideal outfit for any little person who likes to shine brightly! Our glittery silver star headdress, with an elastic tie, is presented in a stylish drawstring bag. Reverse Sequin Party Crown, Iridescent Sequin Cape & Wand,Mini Glittered Crown Hair Clip, Gold Pom Pom Crown, Laurel Wreath Crown    Christmas Royalty A crown is perfect to look like a Nativity King or Queen! Check out our pompom crown, made from gold leatherette with colorful pompoms. We also have a range of crowns with sequins. Our sequin cape is perfect to add a royal touch too. It’s beautifully crafted from an iridescent sequin lined fabric, with a pink tulle collar, and comes with a glittering silver star wand. Get the best dressed party look Let your little people get their sparkle on with our fabulous range of party dress up supplies.  Gold Sequin Antler Headband, Reindeer Cross Body Bag,Floral Deer Headband  Remarkable reindeer Reindeer accessories give an instant jolly party look. Our fabulous gold sequin antler headband will add style and shimmer to your hairstyle, or opt for an elegant floral deer headband, with lots of fabulous flowers. Add an elegant touch with our leather reindeer bag, beautifully crafted with a gorgeous red pompom nose and glittery gold antlers. Babies also have a delightful choice of reindeer accessories too, all crafted from soft organic knitted cotton, including a bonnet and booties. Silver Tinsel Bow Headband, Tinsel Bow Hair Clips,Tinsel Pompom Headband Tinsel, pompoms and glitter Make hair look party wonderful with our wide range of festive headbands, ties and clips. Adorn with our holly headband, with glorious red and green colors, or opt for our tinsel pompom headband. Tie hair back with our tinsel pompom hair ties, a gorgeous set of 8 pompoms in 8 colors. Or clip hair back neatly with our tinsel bow hair clips, in a set of 3 colors, or our glitter star hair slides, a set of 6 shimmering star clips in 6 colors. Pink Feather Party Crown, Peach Feather Capelet/p> Feathers and sequins Our peach feather capelet will add instant glamor to any outfit, or opt for our swishy iridescent sequin cape – more fun than a jacket over a lovely dress! Team with our gold sequin small duffel bag for shimmer and shine. Festive playlist We dare you to listen to our Meri Meri Classic Festive Party playlist whilst you get dressed and not feel ready to party!

It’s the scariest party of the year! If you love to get creative with party food and games then Halloween is your dream celebration

Make your Halloween party look terrifyingly terrific. Read on for spine-tingling inspiration.

The great thing about dressing up for Halloween is that you can choose a costume that really suits your personality. Here are our super favorites!

Little people adore the spectacular stripes of a rainbow and the hope of one day finding a pot of gold at the end. But, the problem with rainbows is they simply don’t happen enough! So, why not create a rainbow party for a really magical celebration? Here are our top ideas. Rainbow party ideas. First you need to transform the party room into a rainbow of color. Set the party table with napkins, plates and cups with gorgeous rainbow designs. Add ribbons, garlands, confetti and balloons. Ask your guests to come dressed in one, or all, the colors of the rainbow – a sensational way to make everyone look and feel really special. Do check out our fabulous rainbow fairy dress up kit, with a bright striped tulle dress, wings and a smiling sun wand. Rainbow party activities. 1. Create water rainbows. Fill a smooth, tall glass full of water and place on a white piece of paper in front of a window where the sunlight is shining through. Take a piece of paper and cut a slot into the middle of it, then tape onto the side of the glass so the sunlight can pass through the slot. When this goes through the glass of water it splits into different colors, so you should see a mini rainbow appear on the paper below the glass. Magic! 
Note, if the sun is hiding behind the clouds, you can do this activity in a darkened room with a torch instead! 2. Make a Rainbow bracelets. All you need is string and different colored stringing beads – red, orange, yellow, green and purple. 3. Fill a jar with a Rainbow. We love this simple art and science activity. You’ll need tall see-through containers, like small mason jars, some honey, light corn syrup, green dish soap, olive oil, water, rubbing alcohol, purple, blue and red food colorings, and a dropper. Explain to the kids that the different ingredients have different weights, which is what will make them float in the jar in separate colors (learning is fun!). Now, get ready to make your rainbows. Pour the following five ingredients into the middle of the jars, not touching the sides. First, pour in the honey. Next the corn syrup, which you’ve colored purple with the food coloring. The green dish soap comes next. Next water, which has been colored blue. Next the olive oil. Lastly, add the rubbing alcohol, which has been colored red – but don’t pour it into the middle. You want to slowly add this with a dropper along the side of the container so it doesn’t mix with the ingredients below. Source: Playdough to Plato Make a rainbow cake. It’s easy to add a rainbow of party foods to the table – think different colored fruits and vegetables (place in rows on a platter to make a rainbow shape) and bright candies. Let the centerpiece of your party table be a magnificent rainbow cake. The party girl or boy, and guests will be amazed to see the layers of colors when you slice into the cake! Here’s one of favorite rainbow cake recipes to try: Ingredients: (For the cake)3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups milk
Red, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple gel food coloring
7 disposable baking pans(For the vanilla buttercream)
3 ½ cups butter (7 sticks) softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
7 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup milk Rainbow Candles, Neon Acrylic Star Toppers, Shooting Star Cake Topper To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray the baking pans with non-stick spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Combine the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract in another bowl. Mix with an electric mixer on medium speed until the ingredients are combined. Now add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk. Mix well. Repeat with the second half of the flour mixture and milk. Divide the batter evenly into 7 bowls. Add ¼ - ½ tsp of food coloring to each bowl, and mix well. Add more coloring if necessary (Note, you must use the gel food coloring to get the intense colors that look fantastic!). Pour the cake batter into the prepared pans. Bake in batches of two to three for 10-12 minutes, or until the center has set and edges of cake slightly pull away from the pan. Let the cake layers cool completely before frosting. To make the buttercream: In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed. Mix in the vanilla extract. Add the powdered sugar in three batches, adding the milk as necessary. Scrape the sides of the bowl between each batch. Mix on low speed until mostly combined then up the speed to medium and mix until smooth. Spread around ½ cup of frosting between each cake layer. Use the remaining to cover the cake. Add a rainbow of sprinkles all over the cake if you want a colorful touch. Source: My Recipes Rainbow party bags. Fill party bags with a shimmering rainbow of gifts, like rainbow glitter iron-on patches, rainbow glasses, rainbow hair slides, rainbow stickers, and rainbow temporary tattoos. Shop our Rainbow Collection here

Balloons are a fabulous way to make any birthday party, baby shower or special celebration look sensational. For extra effect, why not decorate them to look even more spectacular? You can individualize them for the birthday boy or girl, or to fit a particular party theme. We've got four fabulous ideas for you to try.

Here are some perfect party food ideas and clever ways to make your celebrations go with a bang!

Interview with Twig Hutchinson We catch up with British design expert and mother of three, Twig Hutchinson on her cult online journal and how to celebrate Easter in style.  Elegant, understated and artfully undone, Twig Hutchinson’s style is the type you want to instantly emulate. Scroll through her lifestyle site Minford Journal and you enter a world of beautiful, eclectic finds. Whether it is a musing on the latest interiors trend or vintage-inspired sleepwear for children, every post reflects her inimitable aesthetic. Warning: you will want to buy everything featured.  Obsessed with fashion and design since she was a child growing up in rural England, Twig started her career doing work experience with an interior stylist. “From then I was hooked. I set about getting work experience at every magazine I could and carried on assisting lots of different stylists. Then I just got lucky. An editor contacted me about a test shoot I’d recently styled and it all sprang from there.” Now a renowned art director and prop and interior stylist, she spends her time sourcing items and overseeing the styling of shoots and events. “I love that I get to work and collaborate with so many talented, creative people.” “I really enjoy the crossover between interiors and fashion in my work - it means I get to indulge both my great passions!” Vintage items have become one of the hallmarks of her work. “I love the textures and things not looking too perfect. I’m equally as passionate about old French antiques as I am about 50’s and 60’s pieces and I love to mix them together, pairing distressed antique pieces with more modern shapes.”  At the same time as working on shoots and events, Twig also runs the Minford Journal, an online blog where she covers interiors, fashion and chic finds for children. Distilling her exquisite taste into conversational, shoppable posts, it is highly addictive reading. Home is in South London, where she is a mother to three (very well-dressed) children. (Aurelie 12, Benjamin 9 and Clementine, 5) Her advice when it comes to childrenswear? “I buy a few designer pieces for them but nearly always in the sale. I then mix in lots of high street pieces but try to spy out the ones that look more expensive than they are. Often that’s when the colour is muted or there’s a great subtle print. Hopefully that’s what I help to show people on Minford. My advice is: enjoy the time where you can dress them predominantly in what you love. In lightning speed the athleisure phase kicks in and then your opinion counts for nothing. Sob.” “I find the perspective of children a great leveler.” She says her children have taught her to appreciate the simple things in life. “It’s so easy to get bogged down in worrying or your adult concerns but I find the children’s perspectives a great leveler. Their excitement at nature. Their world of make believe and fantasy. Sometimes I really do think there is nothing more perfect than a walk in the sunshine with a little squishy hand held in yours.” With Easter soon approaching, we spoke to Twig about how to celebrate in style with children and her tops picks from Meri Meri. How will you be spending Easter? Easter is a really important time of year for me and my family. We go to church on Easter morning and then come home and have a big lunch, always with lots of family or friends depending on who is around. We crack open the champagne and cook a traditional roast lamb and have loads of puddings and then go into the garden for an Easter egg hunt. It really is one of my favourite times of year. How do you create a stylish children’s Easter party?  Incorporate some more grown up elements. A great example of this is using fresh flowers. Try to think of something a bit more unexpected than say daffodils and go for a selection of delicate seasonal flowers such as cowslips, hellebores or muscari in little vases dotted down the table. Also remember to mix in non-themed party ware. Meri Meri have such a great selection in their beautiful basics range. Mix that with the Easter pieces and it stops everything looking too matchy. The fun bit, let’s face it, comes from the chocolate! Ideas for easy activities with children? I think more so than any other time of the year, Easter is perfect for a good craft session at the kitchen table. If you’re hosting, it’s so easy to miss this bit. I’m really going to try and set aside some time this year where we can all sit down and just enjoy making some things together. Any creative activities are so good for you. We also will do lots of baking together. This year I’d like to nail the vegetable dyed egg thing. My eldest daughter has got really into calligraphy, so she has been tasked with writing all the place names for the table this year. How do you create a unique Easter gift? This year, rather than buying the standard big character eggs from the supermarket, I’m going to buy each of my children a vintage-style papier-mâché egg and fill them with tissue paper and mini foil wrapped eggs and tie it up with a big silk ribbon. Then we can use it again next year. Your three favourite Meri Meri pieces for Easter? The Bunny Hair Slides - I always like to keep a stash of Meri Meri hair clips in my present drawer for children’s parties. Last year I put them in Clementine’s party bags for her friends.  The Bunny Straw Bag - This was both the girls’ favourite piece from the little shoot we did. You just can’t beat a great basket. Blue Gingham Cups - I love that these are subtle and would be just as good for adults as children.   Blog: www.minford.co.uk Instagram: www.instagram.com/minford_journal   Photography by:  Caroline Irby www.carolineirby.comwww.instagram.com/carolineirby

From an egg hunt for little ones to a sophisticated spring soiree, party planning is easy with these three stylish themes Down the Rabbit Hole Bouncing rabbits and sweet pastels equal a classic Easter affair Set the Scene: Our pastel and wildflower bunny plates and cups are designed to be mixed and matched. Style them with eggs dyed into pastel colours and delicate wildflowers. Hang our playful ‘Hoppy Easter’ garland or give each guest a quirky bunny cracker to help get the party off to a lively start. Serve: Easter baking is made easy with our cute cookie cutters – just add icing for colorful appeal. Cupcakes will look extra sweet encased in striped cases and decorated with our bunny and honeycomb toppers. For a healthy party snack try small Chantenay carrots teamed with dips. Give: An egg hunt, where children fill up their bag with as many chocolates as they can find, not only provides entertainment, it also creates a memorable take-home treat. For a sugar-free activity our bunny egg decorating kit is sure to be a hit. Bunny pinata favors, filled with confetti and temporary tattoos (which can also be used as dainty egg transfers) are another winning way to skip a sugar rush. SHOP THE LOOK >     The Secret Garden Take your cues from spring for a celebration inspired by blossoming buds. Set the Scene: For a grown-up Easter get-together, look to our new range of floral decorations. Make our eye-catching chandelier the centerpiece of your table, then continue the theme with paper bunting fashioned into blooms and painterly flower plates. Touches of gold - like gilded foil straws and gold-rimmed glasses - will lend a glamorous edge. Serve: Start the party with drinks that echo the hues of spring blossoms such as gin mixed with pink-tinged aromatic tonic or rosé champagne. A dessert scattered with edible flowers is the perfect finish. Give: For a fun twist make flower arranging part of the event and send guests home with crowns or bouquets they have made themselves. Alternatively, tie posies of flowers with ribbon or twine for a pretty party favor. SHOP THE LOOK >     Once Upon a Time Who else but cheeky Peter Rabbit to enliven an Easter party? Set the Scene: A striped blue tablecloth is the ideal foil to our classic range of Peter Rabbit tableware. Plates, cups and napkins come illustrated with Beatrix Potter’s charming drawings of her much-loved and mischievous character. Partner them with clusters of small bud vases filled with dainty white and yellow blooms. A garland featuring Peter and his friends will lend a cheerful feel. For the final touch set each place with one of our fun surprise carrots. Serve: Take inspiration from Mr McGregor’s garden and serve fresh vegetable crudités. For a sweet indulgence, little guests will find mini carrot cakes or cupcakes decorated with Peter Rabbit toppers hard to resist. Give: A Peter Rabbit party bag will delight children of all ages. A sticker sheet of the famous fictional characters and mini bunny balloons make playful additions. SHOP THE LOOK >  

Make your little astronauts' dreams come true with an interstellar birthday blast-off. We’ve got some supersonic ideas just for you. Transform the room into a space odyssey Bring the awe-inspiring solar system into your home with colored cut-outs of the planets. Stick on the walls, or hang from the ceiling with ribbon or string. You can also hang up lots of shiny foil to create a space-age effect, or black sheets of card with shimmering silver foil stars. If you want to create an eerie alien atmosphere, then swap your light bulbs for blue or green colored ones - simple yet effective! We’ve got a brilliant decoration for you, such as our To The Moon garland, which features a host of bright 3D planets made with honeycomb paper, a rocket and lots of shiny stars. Make amazing astronaut and robot costumes Party guests will love to zoom around the room as astronauts or space-age robots, so set up a craft table to create some cosmic costumes (Do ask everyone you know for boxes and empty soda bottles, as you’re going to need loads!) For an astronaut costume, with a helmet and jet pack with pretend flames, you’ll need:  small boxes for the helmets, empty soda bottles for the jetpacks, scissors, silver foil, silver tape, flexible plastic tubing and red, yellow and orange tissue paper. Here are the step-by-step instructions.  For the robot costume, you’ll need big boxes for the bodies, square boxes for the heads, and smaller boxes for the hands. You’ll also need paper cups, scissors, large paper plates, paintbrushes, strong tape, pencils, and paints. Here is an excellent step-by-step. Fun space games to play One of our favorites is “Don’t Drop The Asteroid”. The aim of the game is for little space explorers to keep all the ‘asteroids’ (colored balloons) up in the air whilst the music is playing. When the music stops tell them to grab their nearest asteroid. Call out a color and whoever has an asteroid in that color needs to pop it and complete the challenge inside to win a prize. Go for silly space related challenges like ‘Do the moon walk across the floor’ or ‘Name as many planets as you can in 10 seconds’. You’ll need balloons of all different colors, and challenges to put inside them before you blow them up (or if you think balloon popping might be too noisy and scary, keep the challenges in a box for guests to pull out). For more brilliant game ideas, visit here For space themed prizes, you’ll love our Sun & Moon temporary tattoos and our Moon and Star hair slides. When playing music for games, or throughout the party, go for sensational space-themed songs. Check out our Meri Meri Spotify Space songs playlist. Create an extraordinary party table  After fun and games, it’s time to get your galactic guests to come back to earth for a space inspired meal. They’ll love our To The Moon range of plates, cups and napkins. Check out the very funky Robot plates! Delight everyone with sumptuous space-themed party foods. Our favorites include: ‘alien juice’ (fruit smoothies to which you’ve blended in some green food colouring or a few handfuls of spinach – you won’t taste the green goodness, but it’ll create a startling color); ‘space slime’ (green jello); moon rocks (meringues); flying saucers (filled pitta breads cut into UFO shapes), and heavenly cupcakes, make them look extra special with our To The Moon cupcake kit Check out here for more ideas. Finish with a birthday cake that is so amazing, it’ll almost blow the birthday boy or girl into orbit!  To save time and energy on icing, see our fabulous To The Moon cake toppers  Finally, send the tired little space adventurers off back to their home planet, happily clutching a robot party bag, filled with yummy treats and gifts. Mission impossible accomplished!

Ahoy me hearties, with a little clever preparation you can transform your house, or any venue, into a swashbuckling scene that will take the lucky birthday boy or girl’s breath away! It’s not just about buying essential party supplies such as balloons and garlands, but also getting creative with those extra special touches that make all the difference. Investigate crafts, games, foods and gifts to really rev up the pirate party fun factor! We’ve got 10 fantastic ideas for you. 1. Borrow a small boat or blow-up dinghy if you can for a real ‘WOW’ centerpiece. Little ones will adore clambering in and out, and pretending to sail the seven seas. Or, if that’s not an option, make a large ‘boat’ or several smaller boats from cardboard. This one is just brilliant. If your little one has any ocean-themed toys scatter them around the boat for extra appeal. Do take a look at our gorgeous soft-toys, including Otto and Milo Narwhal. 2. Create a treasure chest out of a wooden box and give guests maps to find the prizes. Here’s a simple one to make. Fill it with gold coins (don’t panic, chocolate ones will do!) and party favors like pirate temporary tattoos.. 3. Place blue paper on the floor to transform it into the beautiful briny sea. You can put paper plates on it and tell guests to hop from one to the other to avoid the ‘sharks’ in the water. Draw sharks on the sheets/paper, or simply let them use their imaginations. In fact, having a sea-themed room is great for fun games, like Pin The Eyepatch On The Pirate or Walk The Plank. Look here for more inspiration. 4. Every pirate needs a good telescope to look for treasure and ships to plunder, so set up a table with everything your guests need to create one. It can be as simple as supplying thin cardboard sheets to roll up and lots of sticky tape to hold them together. Or create ones that really look fabulous and are perfect to take home as a keepsake. Check out this simple step-by-step. 5. A pirate hat is an essential! For guests who haven’t come with one you can very simply rectify this. Either buy some brilliant pirate party hats or get your guests to make some (just don’t leave behind any glitter and paint as your party tidy up time will increase tenfold!). Here’s a brilliant step-by-step that will look amazing. 6. Hang on, don’t forget a pirate patch! No self-respecting pirate should be looking at the world with two eyes! Buy some eyepatches for your guests to put on or print some out beforehand and pop them on the craft table, along with some thin elastic and colored pencils, to help them create their own. This is a good template. 7. Every pirate needs a trusty sword for protection. You don’t want any of your guests to get hurt when spirits run high, so making lightweight paper swords is definitely the way to go. Once again add everything they need on to your craft table. Try this step-by-step idea that only takes five minutes. 8. Set the scene with some pirate themed music for the little sailors to listen, or dance to, whilst playing games or partying. Create a playlist, songs like What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor, Banana Boat Song, the theme from the Pirates of the Caribbean and many more…Or you can play The Ultimate Pirate Kids Party cd. 9. The party table is where you can really let the theme come to life, after all pirating is very hungry work! Transform the table with themed plates, napkins and cups, and lots of yummy cupcakes.  Check out our brilliant range.  You can get really creative with the food you serve, giving it a real ocean and pirate touch. All hands on deck for treasure map pizza! Check this out for some more yummy ideas. Don’t forget to top the pirate cake with some fabulous candles, like our sensational skull & crossbones candle. 10. Last, but not least, send the tired, but happy, little pirates home with a party bag brimming with amazing pirate-themed party favors like temporary tattoos and decorated pins to wear for days to come. Here is a selection of our favourite Pirate Party Products.

Does your kiddo love playing dress-up? Maybe they never miss an opportunity to don their crime-busting gear and play their favorite superhero, especially when it’s time for a knockout birthday party. Here are some ideas to channel your very own superpowers and transform a standard shindig into a party fit for a hero.