Care Bears has been around for a while. A whopping 35 years, as a matter of fact! This means that some of their target audience are already grandparents. This makes Care Bears one of the most adorable traditions of several generations. What better way to celebrate 35 years of caring than with a Care Bear party? From Halloween costumes to birthday decorations, there are many ways to share your Cares. This article will mostly focus on Halloween party planning, because it was inspired by Fun.com’s costumes, but the ideas can be used any time.
First up: Costumes!
Halloween is nothing without costumes, as far as I’m concerned. This year, I’m headed out as Grumpy Bear. The costume from Fun.com comes with mittens and shoe covers, so I’m a pile of blue fuzz from top to bottom. Speaking of bottoms, these costumes come equipped with fuzzy tails, which I find funnier than perhaps I should. The only downside with these costumes is that they zip up in back, so you may need a bit of help getting in and out. The mittens can be slipped off, and dangle from the sleeves when not in use. Useful for when you need to eat or drink at your party.
Kids’ and ladies’ costumes are available, of course. I particularly love the Share Bear costume pictured above. With so many options available, the whole family could use Fun.com to set up a whole family of Care Bears!
Other options for costumes are less traditional and/or faithful, including pajamas, which can be worn more comfortably, but have a cutie mark which is split by the zipper, and lack mittens, shoe covers, and tails. The flip side, of course, is that one gets much more use out of pajamas than costumes.
Next up: Food!
There are many great ways to make your party food more magical. Here are some ideas and recipes for the perfect Care Bear party:
- Cotton Candy
- Rice Crispy Treats with food coloring in various colors
- Sherbet punch
~One container of sherbet + One 2-liter bottle of Sprite. Drop ice cream in punch bowl and pour soda over the top for a fluffy and fun punch. - Cake, cupcakes, or angel food cakes decorated in magical ways.
- Rainbow jello molds
- You can also color white chocolate and dip snacks in the colorful chocolate for deliciously bright food. This is a great way to serve fruit, too. Melon, strawberries, bananas, and grapes are all great options for sneaking a (slightly more) healthy choice onto the table.
Some magical ways of decorating food easily include:
- Food coloring in endless varieties of food.
~Try mixing cream cheese with small amounts of food coloring, adding color until you’ve got the right color, then mixing in sugar to make colorful cream cheese icing. For your regular cream cheese icing recipe, try using a little less sugar for a more flavorful icing, or try adding peppermint flavor for a real surprise. - Rainbow sprinkles
Image: Care Bears - Cupcake toppers, can be made with any kind of figurine, like those seen above, just remember to clean them first!
~The best part about these, is that they can be party favors without you having to go through the trouble of putting together a dozen tiny bags of things the kids will probably throw away after the party. - Rainbow-colored or glittery candles
~Remember, when you buy glitter accessories to get edible glitter.
Now for some unique party fun: Decorations
One great thing about Halloween is the ease of purchasing decorations that are easily altered for party decorations. Here are fun and easy decorations, including ones which are easier during the holidays.
- Artificial spider web = clouds
~Try adding temporary color hair sprays (outdoors) to color the web to add fun color and sparkle. - LED string lights hanging these cool-running lights behind colorful “clouds” is another way to brighten up the party room, especially if you’re using a naturally dark room for the party. These allow you to change the colors in a huge array.
- Colorful streamers, banners, and tablecloths are staples, but there are sometimes good sales on such things during the holidays.
Remember, when you’re decorating, to be creative. Picking out Care Bear specific decorations combined with more generic ones will keep the theme focused, without staring at 900 pictures of Funshine Bear.
Celebrate as much as you like.
With 35 years of Care Bears to celebrate, you can bring our magical friends into any celebration, whether it’s Halloween parties or Christmas ornaments. Make your own, or buy officially licensed* merchandise to make each celebration exactly how you like it.
How do you celebrate? Let us (and Care Bears) know:
@CareBears
#35YearsofCaring
@TerminallyRory
*Officially licensing merchandise is important, because we always want to support the creators of the things we love, and buying unofficial merch takes money from the folks who bring us joy, and puts it in the pockets of folks preying on our passion.
Fun.com provided a Grumpy Bear costume for the purposes of this post.
