Shopkins Birthday Party
If you're familiar with the title of this post, you automatically have my sympathy. For some god forsaken reason, Shopkins exist. They exist, and they make little girls go crazy for them. I knew I was officially a parent (and just older in general) when our daughter became obsessed with these little characters and I could not get a grasp on what they are.
Since roughly February, our now 4-year-old became set on having a Shopkins birthday party. Her birthday is in July, so being the ever-so-niave mother I really banked on her changing her mind. I mean, five months is a long time for a 3 1/2-year-old maintain the same opinion, am I right?
No. No, I am not right. Not when it comes to Shopkins.
It's not that there's anything wrong with Shopkins per se, it's just that, as Husby puts it, they're just "stuff". If you aren't familiar and still landed on this page, let me shed some light. Shopkins are these tiny little characters in the form of various items we buy. So from food Shopkins to baby bottle Shopkins to high heels to purses, you name it they pretty much have it in the form of a Shopkins. In fact, there are over 250 different Shopkins on the market right now, and a new batch comes out every year (maybe even more frequently?!)!
The most ironic thing to me is that they're based off these two-minute youtube cartoons that our daughter had never even watched before deciding she loved the toys. Some of these "episodes" made their way to Netflix where I finally caved because I just had to know the story behind all the rave.
It didn't help. They still make no sense to me. The episodes make no.sense.to.me.
Alas, none of that is what this post is about. This post is to help all you parents out there in the same boat as me! If your child is downright obsessed with these 1/2-inch tall toys, and you fear you might be throwing a Shopkins party in your future, this post is to provide you some inspiration! The bright side to Shopkins? Since the entire line is made up of characters of items we buy in real, adult life, it makes throwing a themed party pretty easy. Other than the ability to make a few crafty things, it's almost like the line was created just for the purpose of parties in the name of Shopkins.
So take a look, and if you want any tips on how anything was created, just send me a message or comment on the post and I'll get you all the information and templates you need because, of course, I saved every template I created for the party 😊
For the really good stuff, scroll to the bottom of the post for the recipes on the best food items at the party, like the watermelon punch made from real watermelon and birthday cake batter popcorn. O.M.Gooooodness.
Funfettti Cake Batter Popcorn
2 bags microwaveable kettle corn
1-1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1/4 cup canola oil
1-1/2 cups yellow cake mix
1/3 cup rainbow sprinkles
Pop the popcorn, following packaging instructions. Transfer popcorn to a large bowl, being careful to pick out all of the unpopped kernels!
Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between until chocolate is fully melted.
Stir canola oil into the melted chocolate until smooth.
Add cake mix to the chocolate. This will be thick, but mix until well incorporated!
Drizzle the mixture over the popcorn and add half the sprinkles. Use CLEAN fingers to toss everything together until evenly coated.
Spread the popcorn onto wax paper-lined cookie sheets to allow chocolate to harden & sprinkle with remaining sprinkles on top.
Let popcorn harden on the counter, or for a fast method, pop the cookie sheets in the fridge for 5-10 minutes!
Watermelon Lemonade Punch
8-qt. container powdered lemonade
1 seedless watermelon
Prepare 10 cups of lemonade according to package directions and set aside.
Cut the watermelon in half, then spoon out chunks, saving some for garnish if desired.
Add the pieces without seeds (the white seeds are fine) into a blender & blend until smooth.
Pour the blended watermelon through a strainer to catch just the liquid.
Repeat until you have 6 cups of watermelon juice.
Mix the watermelon liquid with the lemonade and let chill for at least four hours!
Tip: If you have time, spoon out the chunks of watermelon the night prior and let it sit in a bowl in the refrigerator, covered. You'll wake up to a lot of watermelon juice just from sitting overnight!
And if you made it this far in the post, I'd like you to know that on top of everything, my computer is dead-set on autocorrecting "Shopkins" to "Choppiness". So I've literally typed the work Shopkins three times more than necessary to get this post done 😂.
