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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

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August 27, 2013

Hosting a Detective Birthday Party Picnic

One of my favorite things about having an 8 year old is how her interests and tastes have begun to influence mine.  She’s reading cool classic Nancy Drew books (which I never read as a kid), introducing me to music that I totally love, and her favorite colors inspired a room re-do in our house.

Detective themed birthday party invitation

She has also developed a pretty clear vision for what she wants in a party and this year’s vision called for a summery picnic with turquoise and yellow decorations, a mystery to solve, and a picnic-worthy cake (although my husband lobbied her hard for a chocolate one)….a perfect Detective Birthday Party Picnic!

Nancy Drew detective birthday party invitation

The invitations foretold a “mystery” at the party and the party details were typed in a tiny font, only legible with help from the enclosed magnifying glass.  We also included response cards for the guests to mail back with options for them to personalize their picnic.  I’m pretty sure the response cards were among her favorite elements of the party.  We stalked the mailman for weeks and she pounced on the turquoise envelopes anxious to see who was coming and what they were going to eat.

centerpieces

We gathered Queen Anne’s lace the night before and added them to some Trader Joes flowers to create the flower centerpieces.  Balloons, tissue poms, and gingham bunting highlighted the picnicking spot.

party table

Poufs

We blasted Britt Nicole as the kids hula hooped, sack raced, and had fun with detective Mad Libs.

sack races

As soon as it was time for cake, the kids discovered a small metal suitcase with a ransom note and a turquoise hourglass.  The cake & all of the plates, utensils, candles, etc. were missing!  Suddenly they were transformed into mini sleuths receiving case files, notebooks and mini clipboards.

 The hourglass was flipped and the race was on.  Would the birthday girl get to blow out her number 8 candle today?

The clues were hidden in balloons, tennis balls, climbing webs, field goals and street signs.  They incorporated decoding skills, invisible ink, and homemade scratch tickets.  Each sleuth held a tool in their case file that allowed them to help solve a specific clue and solving each clue required a fair amount of teamwork.

 

discovering clue 9

 

Detectives

An hour later (it took twice as long as expected!), the sweaty yet triumphant detectives returned, with the mystery solved and the cake safely recovered.

cake with candles

After reviving with cake, they relived their sleuthing exploits and had fun trying on secret agent disguise kits from their favor boxes, which also included a hand selected mystery book.

Favor Box

favors

Secret Agent Disguise

After waking up at the crack of dawn to help make picnic lunches and sprinting around after clues in the hot sun, the birthday girl was pretty spent.

Disguised

The only mystery remaining was what she’d plan for next year.

balloon

Host a Nancy Drew Mystery Birthday Party! Full of ideas and details!

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29 Comments Filed Under: At the Kids Table, Children's Parties Ideas, Crafts, Family, Good Ideas, Kids, Parties Tagged With: birthday parties, kids parties, parties

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Comments

  1. Mary says

    August 27, 2013 at 6:41 AM

    Absolutely a beautiful and fun-filled party. Your creativity astounds me!

    Reply
    • Julie says

      August 27, 2013 at 12:04 PM

      Thanks so much, Mary! Your encouraging words were a little gift to my soul this morning.

      Reply
  2. Marty Walden says

    August 27, 2013 at 6:54 AM

    Stunning pictures for a fabulous party! What a lucky kid!

    Reply
  3. Jill Flory says

    August 27, 2013 at 7:23 AM

    This is one of the cutest birthday parties I’ve ever seen! LOVE!

    Reply
    • Julie says

      August 27, 2013 at 12:03 PM

      Thanks so much, Jill! And I just adored your post…I’m beginning that crazy adventure for the first time starting next week–your words & honesty encouraged me more than you can imagine!!

      Reply
  4. Judy says

    August 27, 2013 at 12:25 PM

    That’s a pretty spectacular party. What a lucky girl!! I bet everyone had a blast.

    Reply
  5. MDR says

    August 27, 2013 at 3:55 PM

    Adorable party! Wish I still had an eight-year-old!!! Vanessa’s Mom

    Reply
  6. Kim @ Sand & Sisal says

    August 27, 2013 at 5:12 PM

    Oh my goodness Julie! This is one of the most beautiful, stunning, and creative parties I’ve seen in ages! I’m dying to know where you got those poufs or if you made them. BRAVO!!!

    Reply
    • Julie says

      August 27, 2013 at 8:35 PM

      Thanks so much for your kind words & encouragement, Kim! I found a Martha Stewart Pom kit at Marshalls that happened to be the perfect shades of turquoise for the party. I’ve used her pom kits before and they create such lovely, full poufs…much better than ones that I’ve made on my own.

      Reply
  7. Claire @ A Little Claireification says

    August 27, 2013 at 6:56 PM

    Wow. I have all boys but I DID read all of the Nancy Drew books growing up and this is an AWESOME party idea!! Thanks for sharing this Julie!! Pinning!

    Reply
  8. Karen Schulz says

    August 28, 2013 at 12:18 AM

    I loved Nancy Drew and Trixie Beldon mysteries when I was a kid

    Reply
  9. Maryann @ Domestically Speaking says

    August 28, 2013 at 1:20 PM

    How fun… I loved reading Nancy Drew books when I was a kid and now my girls love them too. What a fun party idea!

    Reply
  10. Amanda @ Dixie Delights says

    August 28, 2013 at 1:34 PM

    You did it again! Another absolutely adorable fete!

    Reply
  11. Michele R says

    August 28, 2013 at 3:55 PM

    I love your idea of taking a book and bringing it to life as a birthday party! Absolutely wonderful!

    Reply
  12. Suzanne of Simply Suzannes at Home says

    August 29, 2013 at 8:05 AM

    Suzanne of Simply Suzannes at Home

    Oh my heavens! I don’t think your party could have been any more pretty or perfect!
    I love themed parties . . . and this one is so beautiful! Great job!
    Love your photos too!!
    Thanks so much for sharing,
    Suzanne

    Reply
  13. Heather says

    September 1, 2013 at 6:18 AM

    I used to read Nancy Drew too! Great party idea – everyone looks like they had a fun time!

    Reply
  14. capturing joy with kristen duke says

    September 3, 2013 at 10:23 PM

    SO adorable, love the details!!

    Reply
  15. Donna says

    September 12, 2013 at 6:49 PM

    Absolutely love it!

    Reply
  16. Caitlin Smith says

    April 17, 2015 at 10:39 AM

    Thank you for this post. I LOVE your creative ideas and would like to follow this (with adaptations for my daughter) for her upcoming 11th bday party. I wonder if you could please share the details of the clues/cake hunt? I’m particularly interested in the series of 10 clues and the activity that they did for each one. I can make out a few from your post, but I’d love to know them all!
    Thank you so much for your inspiring post. Not being a natural at doing this stuff, but a natural at appreciating it, I’m learning from you and hoping to create a birthday party that my daughter and her friends will remember fondly together!
    Warmly,
    Caitlin

    Reply
  17. Silvia says

    July 23, 2015 at 6:46 AM

    Hi, Julie! I loved your party and ideas! My daughter just decided she wants a mystery slumber party for her 12th birthday next week, so I’m trying to find tutorials and ideas online (unfortunately I’m not the creative kind…). The kits avaiable for purchase requires mores guests than we’re having, so I think I’ll have to do a mystery by myself. Could you share the details of your clues, so I could try to adapt them? Thanks!

    Reply
  18. Jen Ross says

    July 24, 2015 at 9:54 AM

    Loved everything about this party. My daughter is having a detective party soon and I would love to have some more details on where you printed the invitations and more info. on the clues. Such great ideas!!!

    Reply
  19. archana says

    August 17, 2015 at 10:46 AM

    Lovely idea and post !
    Could you send me the clues , I would like to use them for my son’party.

    Thanks
    Archana

    Reply
  20. j says

    October 4, 2015 at 5:25 PM

    hello – great sharing! i love your ideas!! I too would love the details to the clues. as well as the DYI scratch cards, red lenses for the decoder….
    thank you!

    Reply
  21. Liz says

    June 14, 2016 at 6:17 PM

    Love this! Would you mind sharing the clues?

    Reply
  22. Emily says

    June 28, 2016 at 6:40 PM

    Hi,
    What a wonderful party! I would love to do something like this for my daughters who are turning 9. Is this a party package I can purchase?
    Thank you!

    Reply
  23. Catherine Koysza says

    February 21, 2018 at 5:33 PM

    My daughter loves Nancy Drew and is dying to have a party like this! Did you share the details of the clues and your different tools to use? If you’re sharing them, or if I could purchase them, I’d love to get them to help with our party!

    Reply
  24. Amanda says

    June 5, 2019 at 6:53 PM

    An amazing birthday idea! We are doing a science party this year, but my daughter just got into Nancy Drew, so maybe next year!

    Reply

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  2. HomeGoods | Say Farewell to Summer with a Labor Day Celebration says:
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