Party Preparation

Princess Isabella turns five

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See the latest pictures of the Danish princess, Isabella, in celebration of her fifth birthday.The cute daughter of Crown Prince Frederik and Australian-born Crown Princess Mary is growing fast.

Six years of Suri

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Six years ago today recently engaged superstars, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes welcomed their first daughter together, Suri Cruise, into the world.

A birthday party makes the difference

(right) 5 yr old birthday girl Miri Hurwitz with best friend (left) Poppy Katz.

Louise Schwartzkoff WHILE some five year olds celebrate their birthdays with jumping castles, fairy floss machines and pony rides, Miri Hurwitz's birthday party was a simpler affair. Her mother, Beverley, booked a party at a community kitchen in Bondi where the children baked biscuits to give away.

Party Preparation

Putting together a perfect party bag!

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Justine Davies When was it that party bags became the de rigueur way to conclude a birthday celebration?

Party Preparation

Tips for a stress-free kids party

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Justine Davies The words: “stress-free” and “party” don’t usually belong in the same sentence, of course. Not when it comes to kids’ parties, anyway.

Party Preparation

Overcoming party shyness

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Justine Davies Party invitations can be a source of anxiety for shy children, here are some tips on how you can ease them into social settings and help them overcome their fears.

Party Preparation

Taking the cake

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Elisabeth Lambert When it comes to having your cake and eating it too, the birthday child and their friends are seriously happy they can wolf it down and have seconds without fear of retribution. And if the cake takes the form of a favourite animal or character, that’s simply an added bonus.

Party Preparation

Party games for rainy days!

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Justine Davies You can choose the food, the friends, the venue and the decorations - but no matter how much effort you put into planning your child’s birthday party, the one thing that you cannot control is the weather.

Party themes for boys and girls

Kids parties

So often birthday party themes are split down gender lines but as a mum, and particularly when your kids are very young, it can feel a little arbitrary doing a “traditional” girls’ or boys’ party theme.

Whose party is it anyway?

Birthday girl

Kylie Orr For my eldest son's first birthday, my husband suggested we find a babysitter and go to the pub. The child would not know the difference and we needed to celebrate the fact we were still alive.

We don't want kids at our party

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Justine Davies DH's 40th birthday party will be dressy, catered formal party. We sent out the invites with a “no children” request, but my friend is really offended.

Party Time!

Joh Baker Dowdell

Joh Baker-Dowdell My eldest son, Noah, turned three on Friday and we celebrated with presents and a low-key dinner at home. On Saturday our house was overrun with almost 50 people for his party. What do you do for your children’s birthdays?

Party time - are siblings invited?

EB blogger Joseph Kelly

Joseph Kelly I’ve always found kids parties a bit of a minefield. What to bring, how to dress the kids, what sort of present to get are all issues to negotiate even before getting to the party. If one of the kids is invited to a party, can I bring their sibling?

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