Princess tea party

Can a preschool-age girl avoid the princess obsession? I mean, twirly skirts and tiaras just seem to be a rite of passage these days!

Our daughter requested a princess birthday party, which then evolved into a princess tea party.

We welcomed our guests at the front door with a framed invitation mounted on white cardstock.




The kids got started on an activity while we waited for everyone to arrive. Coloring the castle, which the girls later dubbed the "Princess Club."



Now, the tables are ready. Simple white tablecloths. Folding chairs with tulle tied on back. Vases with lantana blossoms. Borrowed china cups and saucers.




Our guests sipped their "tea" (raspberry lemonade.) See the child wearing the crown above? That was another time-filler craft using faux gems and stickers.






While the kids enjoyed their tea, parents went inside to grab plates of food for themselves and to serve the princes and princesses. In the photo just above, we created "tea cups" using plastic Easter eggs and buttons (see the blog, Creativity in Progress, for instructions). Filled them up with pastel M&Ms.


Opening gifts was a hoot, especially when our son tried to steal the show with his adorable antics.



A few details on these decorations. I changed out the decorative items on these shelves in our dining room to fit the theme a bit--kinda minor, but I think it helped with cohesion. Strips of scrap fabric tied to twine made for a pretty bunting to drape from the window above the food table.




And the highlight of the party--THE CAKE! I baked a three-layer Baby Vanilla Bean Cake and my dear sister (who has taken a Wilton's decorating class) did this frosting technique. The topper for the cake was a tea cup and saucer that my daughter and I made in a pottery studio when she was 2 years old, so very sentimental. Much like this photo of us where she rested her head on my shoulder while we sang to her. *mommy's contented sigh*


Guests grabbed a favor bag on their way out the door. Basically, I cut a square of tulle, filled it with goodies like a ring, a flute, stickers, a crazy straw and some candy. Tied it with some yarn and handstamped the child's name on a piece of cardstock cut to mimic the shape of a tea bag.

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For my social butterfly of a daughter, a big birthday party is the best gift we could give her. It was a whirlwind afternoon, but oh-so-fun.

Please also see my Pinterest idea board for the party.

OLIVIA party :: Budget and where to buy

This is the fourth and final blog post about the now infamous Olivia party! :) I thought you readers out there might like to see a list of where I bought supplies and such. Where you see "free" that means I already owned the product.

FOOD & SERVEWARE

• Cherrybrook chocolate cupcake mix (36 ct)... $10, Kroger
  
• Strawberries... $6, Kroger
• Watermelon... $5, Kroger
• Popcorn... $3, Kroger
• Mini-pepperoni pizza... $8, Kroger
• Chips and salsa... $6, Kroger
• Beverages... $12, Kroger
• White Beverage Napkins (50 ct)... $2.49, Oriental Trading
• Baking Cups & Picks (100 ct)... $4.99, Oriental Trading
• Polka Dot Napkins (40 ct)... $2.29, Target
• Square Red Plates (36 ct)... $3, Walmart
• Reusable Red Kids Cups (12 ct)... $4, Target
• Reusable White Adult Cups (12 ct)... FREE
• Red & White Straws... FREE

DECORATIONS

• Red Balloons... $10 for one dozen, Kroger
  
• Red and White Polka Dot Ribbon... $2, Hobby Lobby
• Foamcore for Lifesize Olivia... $5, Hobby Lobby
• Red Pennant Banner... $7.99, Oriental Trading
• Paint and brushes for art project... FREE
• Exacto knife... FREE

ACTIVITIES

• Egg Olivia Craft... $3 for Easter eggs, Target
• Olivia Coloring Pages... FREE
• Dress-Up With Red Mirror... FREE
• Basketball, tee-ball, croquet... FREE

FAVORS

• Red Pails (12 ct)... $8.99, Oriental Trading
• Red and White Swirl Lollypops (24 ct)... $9.99, Oriental Trading

MISC PARTY SUPPLIES

• Invitations (20 ct)... $7.60, Target
• Postage (18 ct)... $7.92, USPS
• Red Polka Dot and Black Damask Gift Wrap... $2, Target
• Black cardstock for thank you cards... $3, Walmart

TOTAL= $147

We had 12 children and 16 adults (28 guests total), so I thought the party was fairly affordable to feed and entertain a crew of that size! To get all the Olivia party posts, click on the tag, "olivia" below.

OLIVIA party :: Decorations, invites and thank you cards

Inspired by the Olivia children's books and Nick Jr. TV show, we threw a party last weekend for our 3-year-old, Natalie. This was a major undertaking, so I'm splitting up the details over several installments! :) Be on the lookout for these upcoming topics...

• Food and favors
• Crafts and activities
• How I spent my $150 budget
  

Decorations: Olivia Cutout
OK, so you're probably wondering about that first photo with the adorable girl who happens to be hugging her favorite pig role model. Although my husband and I hold the patent for how to create that adorable girl, I can disclose how we created the "life-size" Olivia cutout!

It took the largest piece of white foam core I could find at Hobby Lobby, a handy 40% off coupon, and some paint and brushes already stocked in my craft closet. Oh yeah, and a utility knife that my husband begrudgingly used to cut around Olivia so the party guests could pose with her.

I started with this image of Olivia in her signature red and white stripes. I used a pencil to freehand sketch my approximation onto the foam core. Then, I used three basic paint colors--red, pink and black--and custom mixed to get some variations for the shadows and highlights. For example, tint the pink with some black to achieve the right color for the inside of Olivia's ears and her nose.

Alternatively, if painting isn't your forte, you can make an enlargement at a print shop and glue it onto the foam core. (See another Olivia party for directions on that project.)

Decorations: Paper Lanterns & Window/Wall Hanging
By now, you've probably noticed that our colors were red, white and black. As the centerpiece of the party, I hung red and black paper lanterns from the curtain rod over the food table and then suspended a frame, all using fishing line.


In a pinch, you can spray paint your paper lanterns to match the colors you're using. I happened to have a brown lantern just sitting unused in my garage (see center) and a can of black spray paint, so I repurposed it for this party.

Some of you may recognize the white frame from a previous post. My mom helped me with this project by lining the back of the frame with black damask gift wrap paper, then hot-glueing two black ribbons along the width of paper to disguise the paper seams. I cut out the initial "N" from some scrap red cardstock and glued it over the top. Very simple, very inexpensive. I liked how the paper almost looks like fabric; the way it filtered the window light was really nice, too.

Decorations: Signage
Using more gift wrap (this time red and white polkadots), we covered a yard sign and glued on a print-out of Olivia welcoming our guests. We tied a red balloon to the sign and stuck it in the front yard.


Another sign in the back yard read "Don't be a messy pig! Please recycle here." Again, I covered another sign with cardstock, wrapped some grosgrain ribbon around it and attached a print-out and a balloon.


Invitations
My idea for the party truly began when I found these red, black and white invitations at Target on clearance. I originally thought I'd use pink in the color scheme (you know, piggy pink), but I really liked the more grown-up appeal of the red, white and black--not so cutesy.


Thank You Cards
Our homemade thank you cards only took some leftover damask gift wrap glued to black cardstock and a printed sticker that matched the other party details. FYI, the typeface I used is called "Daniel." The birthday girl scribbled on some index cards that I glued to the inside of the cards along with a note of thanks for her gifts. At least I'm teaching her some old-fashioned manners in the midst of all this crafting! ;)

That's it for now, folks! Stay tuned for the rest of the party details soon. To get all the Olivia party posts, click on the tag, "olivia" below.

Polka Dot Birthday

Polka dots were the theme for my sweet daughter's first birthday. I made her invitations by printing the details on a simple flat stationery card, then I used a circle cutter to make the balloon shape and attached the striped paper behind it.

I made her a circle-cut banner, hole-punched and tied together with ribbon; it was suspended across the window in the main party area.

Her 4-inch, two-layer smash cake was topped with homemade strawberry frosting (a little runny in consistency, but what can you do when your guests have already arrived!?). Party goers were served cupcakes with buttercream frosting and pastel M&M "polka dots." Foods shaped like circles were also a hit: bowls of cucumber wheels and crinkle-cut carrots with ranch dressing and fruit kebobs of alternating cantaloupe balls and grapes.

When we had Party #2 for local friends (I know, I know...from now on I'll only throw ONE party per year!), I was able to recycle much of the decor, including the circle pendants for the windows and extra balloons.