The Perfect Princesses

Every girl dreams of being treated like a princess for a day. And for one magical afternoon my daughter, Kira, got to have her dream come true. A friend from school held a spectacular party to which she graciously invited my daughter to attend. She felt like she had died and gone to heaven.

On the appointed day and time we headed to one of our local salons (with a pretty little cake in tow). As we walked into the newly remodeled salon my daughter 's jaw dropped to the floor. It was beautiful.

We were directed down a small pathway of plush carpet into a room where three of her friends sat, soaking their feet in the swirling depths of the pedicure chairs. Grins spread from ear to ear on all three adorable faces. Soon all the girls were lined up picking out the perfect shade of fingernail polish that would adorn their freshly pampered toes. After a quick buff and shaping of each toe nail a layer of perfect colored polish was applied.

Then the girls were ushered into another part of the beauty parlor to have their fingernails manicured to perfection. Again, the girls were able to pick out their favorite color of polish to match their unique personalities.

As each princess completed her transformation they were escorted into a little alcove where a treat awaited their own special arrival. Each and every girl received their own little princess that sat below a perfectly pink and purple princess crown.

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African Safari

Cake: Three teir paisley shaped cake covered in brown marbled fondant.
top teir- pistachio flavored cake with cream cheese frosting
middle teir-fresh strawberry with strawberry cream cheese frosting
bottom teir- rice krispie treats

Games:
As children arrived they made monkey door hangers and safari picture frames (purchased from oriental trading)
Safari relay race- a relay with a safari twist

Rhino Tag- each player has a balloon attached to their back end and a push pin attached to their nose. Each player must try and pop everyone elses balloons with out having their own popped. The last one to have their balloon popped is the winner.


"There is a Legend in Africa that says that any child that can ride the white giraffe will have power over all the animals..." (The White Giraffe, by )
During the winter I read to my children a wonderful story called The White Giraffe. My kids loved it! They fell in love with Africa and the animals that live there. My Izzy really took to Jemmy, the white giraffe. Emma, my youngest fell in love with zebras. And Kira was facinated by the kudu and the lions that were in the story she also felt a kinship with the main character Martine and the trials that she went through in the story.
Well we finished up the story but there facination lived on. When it came time for birthday parties all three came up with the same idea for the party, The White Giraffe.
I struggled a little with this theme at first, but once I landed on the African Safari Theme rather than trying to recreate the book, things really just planned themselves.
So pull on your pith hat and hang your binoculars around your neck and let's head out on our own African Safari...



African Safari:

Deep in the wilds of Africa we find several brave young adventurers ready to start out on a trail to unknown regions.

As the whistle blows 8 of the most fierce and determined adventurerers takes off on the trail hoping to be the first to reach it's end. One at a time they reach a ladder recklessly constructed of rope and wood. The first tenativly steps to the first rung. He finds the rope swings and sways with each movement. He struggles to the top and finds a blue birds nest. Quickly a hand is reached over the rim. A bracelet is snatched from the nest and the brave young boy descends as fast as a raindrop falling from the tree leaves.

Then quick as lightning they reach the treacherous "Crocidle Lake." All of the adventureres must find a way to cross the lake. Finally one gathers enough courage to reach out and grab the yellow swing that is the only way to cross the trecherous waters. She boldly swings across, crocidiles jump up and try to make a snack of the young girl. She lands nimbly on the other side of the lake leaving a disappointed crowd of crocidles behind. Each adventurer braves the water only to land relieved and safe on its other side.
The boys and girls continue on to the next adventure. Looming up before them is an ancient structure whose only entrance is through a pit that lies in the depths beneath its foundation. As one little boy enters through the path he finds a sand pit that is seething with spiders and snakes. He stops and looks on the writhing mass and, smiles and says with wide eyes, "cool."

Next they all climb up a metal staircase that leads to a creaky old house where they all have to climb to the top in order to get back to the ground. As they fly through the air and land safely back on the ground they are ready for their next challenge.

Next up, swinging like the monkeys. Everyone runs quickly and climbs to the top of the monkey tree and grabs onto the vine and zips through the air with a grin and a giggle. Their swing comes to an abrubt halt where they are forced to drop quickly to the ground.

Then donning a pith hat and grabbing a gun each adventurer heads off on an African Safari to see who will bring back the best trophy.

One bagged a zebra, another a monkey, and a lion too. One even shot a long necked giraffe. The young adveturerers scooped up their prizes and headed back to the base camp for more fun and games. What a day!

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Barnyard Bash!

Cake: Butter recipie cake with carmel frosting
Games:
Paper Products:

My daughter Izzy is obsessed with horses. If she could she would eat, breathe, and live horses. So it was no surprise when she turned three and I asked her what she wanted for her birthday she told me, “A horse mommy. But not a not fake horse, I want a real horse!”
“But Izzy,” I said. “Where would we keep a real horse?”
“In the backyard,” she said matter-of-factly.
“It’s too small, we just don’t have a place for a real horse .”
“Uh-huh mom. I could put it in my bed!”


Izzy didn’t get a horse for her birthday, but we did have an all out barnyard bash for her birthday.
For invitations I made a cute little barn that had a hayloft window that opened and said “You’re invited to a Barnyard Bash!” and double doors below that opened with information about the party.

The day of Izzy’s birthday dawned, and as the first rays of sunshine peaked over the horizon Izzy’s eyes sprang open. She bounded out of bed and ran through the house with a hoot and a holler to wake everyone that was still snoozin’ soundly.
After rousin’ all the youngins and forcing her poor tired parents out of bed she bounced up ‘n down with such enthusiasm as to make a jack rabbit proud. “Where’s my present’s, where’s my present’s,” she chanted with each leap ‘n bound.
In eager anticipation she tore into her first wrapped gift and pulled out, a brand spankin’ new pair of red cowgirl boots, with a matchin’ red cowgirl shirt and a pair of nifty new denim pants from Grandma. On to the next gift she hardly gave pause and found beneath its polkdot wrapping a fancy new hat fit for the cowgirl she was. She ran to her room peeling pajamas off as she went and pulled on her new getup and giggled delightedly when she looked at her own reflection.
When the clock struck high noon her barnyard bash began. As the guests started comin’ they dressed up as cows, chickens, horses and even a few hippos.

Soon a farmer came wanderin’ by and told us that some bandits scattered all his animals and wondered if there were any cowboy folk round these parts to help ‘im round up all his lost animals. Everyone grabbed a bandanna and a cowboy hat and went on a search for the farmer’s missin’ animals. Lots of cats and dogs, sheep, pigs, chickens, and loads of horses were found in a flash and taken to the barn for safe keepin’! There sure were some great cowboys and cowgirls at the party.

The farmer was so glad that he had gotten all his animals back that he sent a wild horse loaded with sweets to all his new friends. The wild stallion ran quick as the wind spilling out candy and prizes all over the ground. The kids caught on quick though and all tried to catch the horse but it was just too quick. At last it’s strength gave out and the kids grabbed the loot and headed for corners where no one could see, and scarffed down as much sugar as they could before they were found.

At last it was time to eat some good grub, pigs in a blanket and cake hit the spot!

And then our little cowgirl rode off into sunset. It was one great Barnyard bash!

Princess And The Pea

My youngest daughter, Emma, was given the nickname "Princess Emma" when she was very young, this was inspired by a very imaginative book trilogy that we read called "The Frog Princess" by E.D. Baker (highly recommend it). The star in these cute books is... Princess Emma. The character in the book had red hair that was the same shade as my daughters when she was about 9 months old, so the nickname has stuck through the past several years.

When Emma turned 2 I really wanted to run with the princess theme, we had decided to get her a big girl bed for her birthday and so the wheels in my brain started to turn and I came up with a fun theme for her party: The Princess And The Pea

Princess Paper products, decorations and favor boxes were purchased from Celebrate express.
Cake:

Games:
*Read the Princess and the Pea story to your guests, included below.
*After reading the story lay several blankets and pillows on the floor like a bed. Put a large rock under the stack and let each of your guests lay down and see if she can feel the "pea." If she can then she is a real princess. Help the princess up and give her a crown to wear.
*Celebrate the wedding with a balloon drop. My husband made a net using crepe paper and taped it to the ceiling, we lined all the princesses up and on the count of three they ripped down the net releasing all the balloons.

Refreshments:
Peas and Potato soup: make a white sauce and add purchased frozen meatballs and frozen peas, salt and pepper to taste.

The Princess And The Pea

Once upon a time there lived a prince, and this prince wanted more than anything to marry a real princess.

He went everywhere in his search for his real princess but alas he found none that lived up to his expectations.

Then one day he returned home to his castle with his mother and father, the King and Queen, and gave up on his hopes of ever marrying a real princess.

That very night a terrible storm swelled around the castle walls. The night was black as pitch. The rain pounded relentlessly on the tiled roof. As lightening sliced through the darkness a knock sounded at the door.

The old king opened the door and was shocked to find a young woman drenched from head to toe. Rain ran from her soaked cloak and seeped out from her dainty slipper shoes. She asked in a small but musical voice that she was a real princess that was lost and wondered if she could please impose upon them for a warm bed and dry clothes for the night.

The prince heard her emphasis on the "real princess" and was enthralled, the old queen on the other hand was less convinced. She decided to give the princess a test to see if she was indeed a real princess. She knew that if she was a real princess that she would of course be very sensitive, so she decided to set up a bed for her. She had her servants pull up the mattress on her bed and she placed a single pea underneath, then had the mattress replaced.
Then on top of that mattress she had the servants place 20 mattresses, then topped those with 20 eider down mattresses, and 20 quilts on top of those. The old queen smiled to herself as she helped the princess into her night dress and climb into the towering bed. The Queen thought "Now we shall see if she is a real princess."


The next morning the Queen went to awaken the princess and to see how she slept. When she climbed to the top of the bed she found the princess looking disheveled and miserable. The Queen asked the princess how she slept.

In her sing song voice the princess answered sadly, "Horribly, I don't know what was so hard in this bed but I was so uncomfortable all night that I didn't get a wink of sleep!"

At this the Queen and the Prince rejoiced, for she knew that the princess was a real princess because she was so sensitive.

And so the Prince and the Princess were married and lived happily ever after.

And as for the pea, well they put it on display in a museum for all to see.