Angry Birds Party

Angry Birds. Is there any kid out there that doesn't know and love these cute little characters? My kids and their friends are definitely all fans. So today we hosted an angry birds party. We invited around 10 friends over and along with a snack table we had two super fun, and much enjoyed bird activities. The first was a craft.

Beforehand I crocheted a ball for the kids to use as a starter. Then the kids got to decorate the birds how they wanted. We used puffy craft pipe cleaners for the the beak, craft feathers cut into 1 - 1 1/2 inch pieces for on top, and google eyes. The kids glued the pieces on with tacky glue. After they made their birds we set up some blocks in a tower, and they threw the birds at the tower to knock it over.

The other game was a bean bag toss. Ahead of time I made a pig bean bag for each child coming. The kids took two boxes we had laying around the house, taped them together, and cut holes in each one. The best way to cut cardboard is to use a serrated steak knife. I have one that is designated as a cardboard cutter that I keep with my craft supplies. In our house the kids draw the lines, and an adult does the cutting.  The kids threw the pigs at the target. I think we started the day with a point value assigned for each hole, but that quickly went out the window and it turned into just a free for all tossing the bean bags.

And what party is complete without a cake?

Directions to crochet a ball:
- Chain 4
- Connect the ends together making a loop (one way to make a magic circle)
- Using the center of the loop single crochet (sc) 9
- Building on top of what you've done sc 9
- Double up in each space on the next row, making a total of 18 sc
- sc 18
- Double up in every other space, making a total of 27 sc
- sc 27
- sc 27
- sc 27
- Do a reduction sc stitch in every other space, bringing the circle down to 18
- sc 18
- Do a reduction sc stitch in every space, bringing the circle down to 9
- Stuff the ball with cotton
- sc 9
- Do a few reduction sc stitches to fill in the hole
- Tie off yarn and hide ends
**An affordable place to look for stuffing is in the home goods sections of a department store. You can pick up a cheap pillow for only a few bucks. Cut it open and use the filling for your crafts.

Directions to make a pig bean bag:
- Draw 2 circles on your fabric of choice. Pick something that doesn't ravel, like felt, or in this case I used fleece. I traced a bowl from the kitchen to make my circles round, and not weird.
- Out of the same fabric cut an oval for the nose and 2 half circle pieces to be ears.
- In white fabric cut 2 circles to be eyes.
- You need a sewing machine for this step. Set it on a zigzag stitch, medium width and close together. Sew the nose just slightly lower then centered on one of the original circles by sealing the ends. Just before you finish sewing the whole nose place a little stuffing inside, then seal it up.
- Sew the eyes on in the same way, except no stuffing. You now have a completed face piece.
- Take the face piece. Lay the ear pieces on top the face, facing inward so they're laying on top of the eyes. The edges of all pieces should line up.
- Lay the remaining circle on top of the pile.
- Sew through all layers, leaving an opening of about 2 inches.
- Turn the bag right side out.
- Fill with 3/8 cup dry beans. Little ones work great. You can also use rice or popcorn kernels.
- Hand stitch the opening closed.