Princess Party

My little girl  is turning four.  Sigh.  Growing up so fast!  And of course, what does a four year old little girl want?  A Princess Party!

I don't believe in elaborate birthday parties for kids.  As mentioned when I posted about my son's Lego Party, my policy is cute, fun and SIMPLE.  So that's what I aimed for with this party.  (Though I will admit that simple can be relative...this may not seem simple to everyone!)

Food

Pizza, Cupcakes and Apple Ginger Sparkler

Decorating Crowns

Simple.  Exactly what it sounds like.  The kids did this while they waited for their face painting turn.
Crowns (Michaels), Stickers, Foam Stickers and Glitter Glue (DollarTree), Monograms (cut from Stampin' Up! glitter paper using my Silhouette, Victorian font for girls, AdLib BT for boys), and some crayons

Face Painting

Man, I am no pro at face painting.  But it was good enough for the kids!  Mostly butterflies.  A couple flowers.  And then for the two boys in the mix, a frog with a bowtie and the Batman symbol.  :)
Face Painting Kit (Michael's)

Pin the Crown on the Princess

I just blew up a picture of Sleeping Beauty in Photoshop, then worked a little magic to remove her crown.  Then I printed it out in sections and pieced it together (not well, might I add...made some mistakes in proportion when I printed.  Oh well).  And printed and cut out a crown for each little munchikin to "pin" on the princess.  Just used a length of sheet (leftover from making the fabric banners for the B&H wedding) as a blindfold.

Kiss the Frog

My version was not nearly as beautiful as my inspiration, but not too bad, considering I used a box knife, packing tape, butcher paper and two Costco diaper boxes!  The lip shaped bean bags I made using pink felt and my serger, then filled with rice rather than beans.

The Missing Slipper

This game I also borrowed.  So easy.  I picked up the pair of heels (they even look like glass slippers) from a local thrift store.  Then at the party I hid one and told the kids "Oh no!  Cinderella has lost her glass slipper!  Go find it!"  Cue 9 3-4 year olds running through my basement, looking for a shoe.  :)  This was actually the favorite, they asked to play this over and over.

Favors

 Princess treat bags (DollarTree), Princess Crayons (DollarTree), Princess Stickers (Zurchers), Princess Notebooks (Zurchers), Bracelet (DollarTree), Ring (Zurchers), Wand (Zurchers), Candy bracelet (I got at Zurchers but the packaging said Oriental Trading), misc. candy.

When I put my daughter to bed that night, I asked her what her favorite part of the party was.  She ended up listing everything, and then giggling as she realized that said, "I liked all of it!"  :)  I think it was a hit.

Linking up here:

{M} Twigg Studios-Skip to My Lou-The DIY Showoff-Mad in Crafts-Marvelously Messy-Making the World Cuter-Sew Can Do- C.R.A.F.T.- Keeping It Simple-Creating My Way to Success-All Things Fee-Craft-o-Maniac-Boogieboard Cottage-I Should Be Mopping the Floor-Momnivore's Dilemma- {T} Yesterday on Tuesday-Tip Junkie-Sugar Bee Crafts-Funky Polkadot Giraffe-Hope Studios-My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia-Home Stories A2Z-Primitive and Proper {furniture only}-Elizabeth & Co.-Coastal Charm-Ladybug Blessings-Homework-New Nostalgia {W} Simply Designing-Someday Crafts-Creations by Kara -Sew Much Ado-My Girlish Whims-Savvy Southern Style-Seven Thirty Three-Polkadots on Parade-Ginger Snap Crafts-DIY by Design {Th} Cherished Bliss-The Brambleberry Cottage-Beyond the Picket Fence-A Glimpse Inside-Domestically Speaking {paint only}-A Creative Princess-My Repurposed Life {F} Today's Creative Blog-Thirty Handmade Days-Romantic Home-Remodelaholic-Shabby Nest-WhipperBerry-Finding Fabulous-Naptime Crafters-Chic on a Shoestring Budget Decorating-504 Main-French Country Cottage-Truly Lovely-Miss Mustard Seed {furniture only}-Simply Sweet Home-Craftionary-Lil' Luna-The 36th Avenue {S} Reasons to Skip the Housework-Funky Junk Interior

Baby shower for C

Okay guys, can I just tell you HOW EXCITED I am to be an Auntie?!  Between the two of us, my husband and I have 6 younger siblings, but because we got married young (22!  and every year it seems younger!)  and none of them did, we have had the ONLY kids on both sides of the family.  Until now!  We've had three siblings get married in the last year and  half (M&M, B&H, A&B) and now we're getting a niece!!!!  I've waited so long!!!

So anyway, all of my husband's family was in town over the weekend because his sister came home from her mission for our church.  Couldn't miss the opportunity to throw a baby shower for my first niece!

I went with a coral and teal color scheme.  Coral because that was one of the wedding colors B&H used, so I had decorations I could use from the wedding!  Teal because I used my great-grandmother's china, which has a teal border around the edge.

Invitation

Designed in Photoshop.  Hot Air Balloon from the digiscrap kit By the Light of the Moon by Etc. by Danyale

Decorations

My favorite part from the B&H wedding was the fabric banners I sewed, and I've used them a few times since.  They are so festive and fun.

I also used the flowers from the centerpieces, added a few in teal, and hung them from the ceiling using fishing line.

Last but not least, I hung teal balloons with fishing line.  Used the marble trick (stick a marble inside before blowing up and tying off, thanks Hungry Hungry Hippos) so they would hang down straight.

Food

We all know that's what this is really about, right?  Everybody comes hoping for great food!  And rumor has it...I delivered.  :)

The menu

Savory:

Antipasto kabobs (recipe coming!)

Cucumber boats

Chicken Salad on croissants

Veggie Tray

Sweet:

Crepe bites

Cheesecake pops

Mint brownies (recipe coming!)

Pistachio & Pomegranate Dark Chocolates

Cherry & Almond White Chocolates

Drinks:

Coconut Limeade (recipe coming!)

Apple Ginger Sparkler

Entertainment/Games

I am not big on cheesy games.  So it's always interesting trying to find something fun and cute but doesn't trigger my gag reflex.  Here's what I came up with:

As the guests arrived, they each gave Mom some advice

and wrote a birthday wish for baby, to be opened on her birthday at that age.

With food, each guest took an ice cube with a little plastic baby frozen into it.  Once the ice melted and the baby was free, they had to shout "My water broke!"  The first few people won a prize.

After we finished eating, we played the Name Game.  Ahead of time, I looked up the meaning of the names of all those attending.  Then each guest wrote down a guess at the meanings of all those names.  I found that most of them didn't even know the meaning of their own names!  But I told them to get creative in their guesses, because they could get a point for a correct answer AND the momma to be would give a point for her favorite WRONG answer.  This turned out to be a hit!  Everyone really enjoyed it.

Then we moved onto opening presents.  Before each present, I asked a question, and kept tally of points.

Questions:

Who came the furthest to be here?

Who has the most kids?

Who has lived in the most different states?  Cities?

Who had the longest labor?  The shortest?

Who has the most siblings?  The least?

Who has known mother to be the longest?

Whose birthday is closest to the due date?

Whose birthplace is closest to where the baby will be born?

Who has had braces….the longest?

Who is the shortest?  The tallest?

Who has the biggest feet?  Smallest?

 At the end of presents, the winners got to pick a prize.

Prizes

There were two kinds of prizes.  Body wash (thank you B&BW semi-annual sale!) and a loofah with a tag that said "From our shower to yours!"

And a pedicure kit with either nail polish or a foot repair cream with a tag that said "You nailed it!"

Favors

As a thank you for coming, each guest got a little bag of my famous homemade honey caramel popcorn.

And that's that!  I don't get the chance to have parties like this or make food like that very often!  So this was a lot of fun for me.

I'll be back later to tell you a gross story.  Stay tuned.  :)

Linking up here:

{M} Twigg Studios-Skip to My Lou-The DIY Showoff-Mad in Crafts-Marvelously Messy-Making the World Cuter-Sew Can Do- C.R.A.F.T.- Keeping It Simple-Creating My Way to Success-All Things Fee-Craft-o-Maniac-Boogieboard Cottage-Between Naps on the Porch-I Should Be Mopping the Floor-Momnivore's Dilemma-The Girl Creative {T} Yesterday on Tuesday-Tip Junkie-Sugar Bee Crafts-Funky Polkadot Giraffe-Hope Studios-My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia-Home Stories A2Z-Primitive and Proper {furniture only}-Elizabeth & Co.-Coastal Charm-Ladybug Blessings-Homework-New Nostalgia {W} Simply Designing-Someday Crafts-Creations by Kara -Sew Much Ado-My Girlish Whims-Savvy Southern Style-Seven Thirty Three-Polkadots on Parade-Ginger Snap Crafts-DIY by Design {Th} Cherished Bliss-The Brambleberry Cottage-Beyond the Picket Fence-A Glimpse Inside-Domestically Speaking {paint only}-A Creative Princess-My Repurposed Life {F} Today's Creative Blog-Thirty Handmade Days-Romantic Home-Remodelaholic-Shabby Nest-Lovely Crafty Home-WhipperBerry-At the Picket Fence-Finding Fabulous-delicate CONSTRUCTION-Naptime Crafters-Chic on a Shoestring Budget Decorating-Fingerprints on the Fridge-504 Main-French Country Cottage-Truly Lovely-Miss Mustard Seed {furniture only}-Simply Sweet Home-Craftionary-One Artsy Mama-Lil' Luna-The 36th Avenue {S} Reasons to Skip the Housework-Funky Junk Interior

Lego Par-tay

My darlingest oldest child turned six a few weeks ago.  Sniff sniff.  And he's starting KINDERGARTEN next week!  It's the beginning of the end!  He's practically graduating and leaving me tomorrow!

But I digress.

We threw him a rockin' Lego party this year.  I have a policy on small children's birthday parties: cute, fun and SIMPLE.  So his party was not the elaborate toast of Pinterest.  But it was cute, it was fun, and it was just the right amount of simple for me.

To start with, here is the invitation:

We built that 6 ourselves from my son's extensive Lego collection, then I photographed it on our kitchen table with no special lighting.  Brightened up the colors a bit in Photoshop, then added the text.

Notice we planned on an hour and a half.  That's 'cause last year's water party was two hours and we were DYING by the end of it.  Kids required entertaining far more than they did when we were little, I'll tell ya that!  :P

Anyway, we had just a few activities. Building and racing cars. Cake and ice cream.  Opening presents.  Pinata.

I ordered a random bulk mix of Legos and 10 sets of wheels on eBay.  The random mix was terrific.  (The wheels were perfect too, exactly as pictured.)  My boy and I sorted out the pieces into categories (double wide flat, single wide flat, double wide regular, single wide regular, curved slanted pieces, bigger flat pieces, miscellaneous transparent pieces) and then the day of the party, each kid got a set of wheels and then they each got to be creative and use the random pieces to build their cars.

My husband built a simple but awesome track out of scrap MDF and particle board we had in the garage, leftover from various other building endeavors.  So as the kids finished, they raced their cars, and once everyone was done, we had our official races.

And of course, everyone needed a first place ribbon (cut from this Silhouette file, stamped in the middle with this Blue Ribbon set from Stampin' Up!, and adhesive bar pins added to the back).

Then we had cake

Yes, I know my icing job is lumpy and bumpy.  But the kids all identified it as a Lego nonetheless!

and ice cream and opened presents.

Last, but not least, the kids took turns whacking a pinata in the front yard as parents began to arrive.

Cute, fun and simple.

Last but not least, I firmly believe in sending thank you notes.  And sending them the old fashioned way.

Printed these off on cardstock and cut them into postcards (cheaper postage, you see!  Perfect for a kid's thank you notes).  My son wrote their names (I wrote their addresses), he wrote Thanks (then I wrote the message he dictated) and he signed his name.  Excellent team work.  :)