Tonya Coleman here from Soireé Event Design, and I’m back with the “Trend Alert” where I share with you some of the hottest trends in party planning! Today’s guest post is all about setting up self serve Tween Party Bars a fabulous addition to any Tween party!

Throwing a party for a tween is hard! They are at that age (between 10-12) where they are in between being a young kid and a teenager.  They don’t want “baby” themed parties anymore, they want a bit of independence and they definitely don’t want mom hanging around during the party.  So what do you do?

Set up Tween Party Bars which are self-serve activity stations that the kids can do and enjoy on their own. To pull this off in true Tween Scene style, make sure to create a party space transformed just for them in a not-so-kiddy theme.  The look and feel should be grown up, yet age-appropriate and trust me, your kid and her friends will think you are a total rock star!

START WITH A TWEEN THEME

Here I created this “Kitty-licous” themed party for my own daughter, Faith who turned 10 this year. She told me she wanted a “cool” kitty themed sleepover party which meant no cutesy kitty designs. So I designed this printable collection with a more teenage glam feel that she and her friends LOVED! The “Kitty-licious” printable collection is now available in my shop here.

TRANSFORM THE PARTY SPACE INTO A TWEEN HANGOUT

The room was transformed into a “Kitty-licious” hang out area complete with custom cheetah print table linens, floor pillows and LED twinkle bling trees. Don’t forget the music… have an iPod preloaded with Tween appropriate music and let it play during the entire party. Now you’ve set the scene… Now what will they do?

Sleepovers are all the rage among tweens so keeping a group of kids busy for hours is a must! Here are some ideas for Tween Party Bars that you can incorporate into your Tween’s next party that will keep them busy for hours!

TWEEN BEAUTY BAR

Setup a Beauty Bar with custom makeup cases, DIY cat collars and glitter tattoo artist. The kids LOVED this! The makeup cases were personalized with each guest’s name and filled with items for each guest like glow-in-the-dark bracelets and headbands. To make this bar even more interactive, the girls made their own bling Kitty collar necklaces. Click over to my blog for this super easy DIY tutorial. For that extra special VIP touch, I hired a face painter who came and did glitter tattoos on the girls. They felt like total ROCK STARS!

TWEEN DRESS UP BAR

I love setting up Dress Up Bars with items that match the party theme. Here the girls dressed up in cheetah print tutus and headbands. To make this bar interactive I supplied a plain tank top for each girl with fabric markers and embellishments like sequins and rhinestones so they could design their own shirts.

TWEEN NAIL BAR

Setup an area that the girls can do their own nails or each others. It was so cute watching the girls take turns giving each other manicures late into the night! Be sure to set out multiple nail polishes and for that extra girly touch be sure to have lots of nail stickers on hand. I also included a few manicure hand soak bowls and brushes to bring in that grown up feel.

TWEEN FAVOR BAR

To amp up the cool factor, I like to personalize the favors with printables whenever I can with each guest’s name. They love it and the look is custom and high-end. Here I personalized plain denim purses by attaching a button with each guest’s first initial on them. I also personalized the diaries by adhering a custom printable label with each guest’s name. The diaries were not only take home favors for the girls, but also provided lots of entertainment for the night. They stayed up until the wee hours of the morning writing in their diaries.

KITTY BOWL COOKIES & MILK BAR

The girls went crazy over these! As a surprise late night snack, I reused the dining table and setup a Kitty Bowl Cookies & Milk Bar by placing custom designed iced kitty and pawprint cookies in girly kitty bowls embellished with pink rhinestones down the table. These were just as yummy as they are gorgeous! The girls ate these up right away! Set out a carafe of strawberry milk, some glasses, striped paper straws and you’re done!

TWEEN CANDY BAR

Every tween party I do has a candy bar. Kids at this age love it! I simply set out one of each item for each guest and tell them there is one for each of them and that they can help themselves. The next morning, the bar was surprisingly in tact…T he girls filled up their denim bags with all the leftover sweets the next day to take home with them. I love to personalize the sweets with printables to match the theme like creating these custom labels for the cotton candy and bag toppers for the custom kitty cookies made by the amazing Sugar Cravings.

TWEEN SCENE GIFT BAR

At this age, tweens want a little independence, so I created a gift opening area designed just for the birthday girl where she and her friends can gather to open her gifts. The additional room decor also provides for great photo ops! Here I used a huge full length mirror, shaggy rug and VIP director’s chair personalized with my daughter’s name (using a removable printable).

TWEEN BREAKFAST BAR

The next morning, I set up a Breakfast Bar with items the girls could make themselves using only a blender and microwave… perfect for tweens. Frozen pancakes are my go-to breakfast item! They are fast, yummy and only require a minute in the microwave to make! To add a special touch to the pancakes, I had the girls make their own flavored syrup out of jelly that is super easy… only 3 steps! (Click over to my blog for my Jelly Syrup recipe.) To finish off the bar, I put out mini muffins, fruit parfaits and items to make their own smoothies. I must say that watching the girls make their own breakfast was hilarious and super fun for them as they were laughing and having a blast the entire time.

I hope I’ve inspired you to use some of these Tween Party Bar ideas in your next party. All of these ideas can be customized to fit any theme.

Want to see more party inspiration and Look for Less tips? Click over to my blog here for more!