Cowabunga, Dude! Ninja Turtle Birthday Party

One of my favorite stores in the US is Hobby Lobby.  It is a great place to find all sorts of crafting supplies.  Then there is also Michael's and for the odd craft, Home Depot.  Well, I have a very crafty friend, Paula, who threw an amazing Ninja Turtle birthday party for her son.  Actually, I don't think this generation of Ninja Turtles say 'cowabunga' anymore, but that comes from my days as a young mom.  Anyways, I helped her some with the party, and here is how it was done-- with no Hobby Lobby!

Paula saw a nunchuck idea on Pinterest.  They were made from pipe insulation.  She didn't think she would find pipe insulation in a hot country like Oman, but we found it here!  In the Ghubra part of Muscat.  

She bought 8 6-foot lengths of rubber pipe insulation for 300 baizas each, or 78 cents!

Then we did some more exploring in Ramez Shopping Center.  Ramez is located just past Muscat, in Seeb.  Or close to it.  You take the Sultan Qaboos highway past the airport and City Center Seeb and take the Seeb exit.  You will see a McDonalds at that exit.

I call Ramez the Omani Wal-mart!  But you never know what you will find day to day.  It makes it like a treasure hunt of sorts.  And know that if you see it, you better buy it.  It may not be there next time.  I went to Ramez with Paula because I am helping with Staff Appreciation for my children's school.  I was hoping to find something for that.  I didn't, but it was still a good trip.

Big pots

Now you will always find lots and lots of teacups.  Very reasonable prices.

Home decor items

Here is the biggest selection of disposable pans in town.  Good to know if you are throwing a big party or school event.  Or need trays to make turtle backs for a Ninja turtle party.  :)

There were a few party items.  Here is all you need for a bilingual birthday party!

And a book on teaching your child English.  I have to say, I have overheard Omani families where the dad is speaking to the young children in English and they answer back.  Impressive!

 So ends our trip to Ramez.

Now is the time to make the nunchucks.  I cut the pipe insulation to size, and wrapped the end in the closest thing to duct tape.  Then Paula poked a hole all the way through, for the rope to go through.  Well, the rope wouldn't go through.  In the US, we would have bought a yarn needle to thread the rope though.  That might be available in Muscat, but we didn't know where.  So we ran to Millennium Hypermarket, to see what, if anything, we could use.

Paula spotted these zip ties, and they worked perfectly!  Since they were stiff, she threaded them though both sides of the tube, and I tied and trimmed them.

That gave us a very secure way to attach the rope.

Paula tied the fancy knots, and voila!  The finished product is even better than the original.

(Random picture.  As I was uploading nunchuck pics to my blog, I included this one.  This is my view from my lunch table the other day, at the Al Bustan Ritz-Carlton in Muscat.  Gorgeous setting!!  Although there is a good reason all those outdoor tables were empty.  105 degrees that day!)

Back to the party.  I told Paula that if she was going to all the trouble of making nunchucks and turtle backs, she needed masks too!  She cut out the strips and I cut out the eye holes.  Paula bought the fabric at Gafoor.  If you haven't heard of Gafoor, it's Muscat's answer to Jo-Ann's Fabrics.  It has fabric and lots of craft items.  Located sort of between the Turkish House restaurant and Radisson Blu.

Here is the 'sewer'.  The kids had to crawl through the sewer before they became Ninja Turtles.  They received their turtle backs, masks, and nunchucks.

These serving trays made perfect manhole covers.

The long cardboard tubes once held fabric and also came from Gafoor.  They were used as the bow staffs, another of the Ninja Turtles' weapons.  See the stack of turtle backs?

Here is Marquita, one of the fearless moms, modeling the back and nunchucks.

Cupcake decorations were printed, cut out, and glued on toothpicks.

Hats off to Paula, for pulling off such an creative and ambitious birthday party!  It was fun helping out!