Partying With The Princesses

Morgan really loves Olivia the Pig (books by Ian Falconer and Nick Jr. Cartoon) so for her 3rd birthday we decided to throw an Olivia the Pig Party for her and 10 of her closest girlfriends. I always said I would never do character parties but this is the 2nd year in a row for her...last year was Abby Cadabby. I like to create the party decor rather than purchase the character supplies at the party store. I usually choose two or three colors that match the character and go from there. We went with black, red and white for Olivia the Pig. The Olivia the Pig V-Day party on HWTM was a huge inspiration for this party.

I love creating a sweets or dessert table, although I'm not sure why I do it...I know the parents of the little guests don't like all the sweets for their kiddos. I just think they are so beautiful and a great way to add flare to a party. I am going to have to start thinking of some healthier foods for the next round of parties...I'm afraid people are going to stop coming with all the cupcakes, cookies, cake pops, candy, etc. that are served.

The party was in March and still cold outside. I have an empty room in my basement (just haven't gotten around to furnishing yet) so I decided to hold the party in there. It was a little small but worked out well. I planned a two hour party with a craft activity, a game and also a bounce house in the back yard. We also had lunch and cake and desserts. It was fun, but exhausting entertaining 10 little girls under the age of 5.

Here are the details...

The Party Room

The Cake Table

My favorite local bakery, Cornerstone Caterers, made the cake.

The topper was purchased on Amazon and is actually a bobble head doll.

I made the water bottle labels. The water bottles were served with lunch. I think it is always fun for the kids and the birthday girl to have customized water bottles. It is also a great way to highlight the party theme. I love the twist top water bottles from Poland Springs. They are perfect for little kids and spill proof because the actual cap cannot be removed. I take off the labels and replace with my own using scotch tape...super quick and easy.

I used red lunch bags that I found at Target to pack each guest a little lunch. This made passing out lunch to each child super easy. I served macaroni and cheese in individual containers. I used ziploc containers from the supermarket. I created a round label which fit perfectly on the top to tie in the theme. The small red bags were leftover from V-Day treats and I used them to hold chicken nuggets. Each lunch bag also had a small red apple as well but it didn't make it into the picture. The label on the bag said "Dinner with Morgan" after the book, Dinner with Olivia, which I read to the girls just before serving lunch.

I tried to serve treats that also coordinated with the party colors. I included M&Ms in red, black and white, red strawberries, red heart peeps (from Valentine's Day), and Red Twizzlers, cupcakes and custom cookies. I designed the toppers for the cupcakes and the party circles used to dress up the jars I used to hold the treats.

Yummy #3 Cookies from Andrea's Goodies on Etsy.

I made this feather boa wreath which I hung above the dessert table. I used this tutorial on Heavenly Blooms to make the wreath. It was super easy...but not super inexpensive.

This cluster of honeycomb balls and daisys hung on one wall in the party room. I used party circles on the centers of the daisys.

I had a large Olivia the Pig in the corner of the room to serve double duty as a photo prop and for Pin the Bows on Olivia. I bought the Olivia Giant Wall Decals from Birthday Express and put the large one on a large cardboard box. I then cut around the decal with an exacto knife. It worked out great and the kids loved posing with it.

I decorated the TV we have mounted in the room to resemble a theater and had Olivia playing throughout the party.

I made party hats using heavy scrapbook paper and ribbon. I embellished the birthday girl's party hat with red feather boa.

I set up a table in our living room as well and the kids colored Olivia coloring sheets that I printed off of the Nick Jr. Website as we waited for everyone to arrive.

Once everyone arrived, I read the book, Olivia by Ian Falconer, to the group.

There is a part in the book where Olivia paints Picasso style on the wall using black and red paint. For the craft, I bought a small canvas for each guest and gave them 5 minutes to paint Picasso style as Oliva did. It was a very messy craft!

While a cleaned up the craft the kids went outside to jump in the bounce house and play for a bit. Then it was back inside for Pin the Bows on Olivia. I attached double stick craft dots to small red ribbons and let the kids try to pin the bows on Olivia's ears.

After the game, I read another book Dinner With Olivia, before serving lunch with Morgan.

After lunch it was time for cake. We sung Happy Birthday to the birthday girl!

When the party was over, each guest went home with an Olivia Activity Book and a Crayon Roll made using Olivia Fabric. I got them custom made from My Kids Boutique on Etsy. I placed both in a large celophane and tied it up with ribbon and a black and white swirl Lollipop.

The party was a success and Morgan had a blast. She still talks about her Olivia party almost daily and it has been 4 months.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BIG 3 YEAR OLD SWEETHEART!

MOMMY LOVES YOU!

XOXO

P.S. Morgan's Outfit was a Custom Pillow Case Dress with fabric featuring images from vintage Olivia books. It was made by Wonderfully Made on Etsy. I paired it with black crop leggings and red Converse sneakers. Super cute!

We had our little Molly christened when she was 7 months old...a little later than I would have liked, but it seems a lot harder to get around to doing things when you have three kiddos. She was Christened on February 6, 2011 at Resurrection Church in Rye, NY. Both of my other daughters were Christened there as well and they were Christened in the gown I wore at my own Christening. Since I waited so long to baptize Molly, the gown no longer fit so she got her very own gown. Her Godparents are our very good friends, John and Jennifer Degl. I planned a very small celebration at our house after the Christening. The only guests were the Godparents, Grandparents and Uncle Jeff. I still wanted it to be a nice party so I created some printables and a dessert table. I chose the colors pink, white and silver and included crosses to go with the Christening theme. The event was actually on Super Bowl Sunday so I chose a menu that would go with watching some football.

Molly's NEW Christening Gown hung on the wall in the party room until we got her dressed. Her grandmother, Patty, bought it for her.

After we dressed Molly in her gown I hung my gown that I wore and my other two daughters wore when we were baptized in its place so it could, at the very least, make an appearance that day. My Godmother had it handmade 34 years ago.

The party food was set up on the kitchen island and on the dining table which I pushed against the wall. The menu included Penne Alla Vodka, Cosi Signature Salad, Jalapeno Poppers, Mozzarella Sticks, Prosciutto and Mozzarella, Buffalo Wings, Grandma's Pizza, and a 4 foot Italian Combo Hero.

I love my apothecary jars! I always try to fill them with something to match the party colors. This time it was Hershey's Kisses, Yogurt Covered Pretzels and White Cheddar Popcorn.

The dessert table included kid-friendly treats and sweets for the adults too. I tried to keep everything in the pink and white theme.

I created a banner on the front of the table using scrapbook paper that I cut into cross shapes.

The cake was from my beloved Cornerstone Caterers...love their cakes!

Kids love fruit, but it is even better on a stick! These were a huge hit! I slid grapes onto wooden skewers and topped it off with a strawberry.

I found Pops Cereal snacks in my grocery store. The pink is strawberry flavored and the white is vanilla. These were a hit with the kids too!

These are actually Brazillian Brigadeiros. Find the recipe here. I made the pink ones by adding Strawberry Flavored Nestle Quik. The white ones were made by leaving out the Nestle Quik called for in the recipe. I rolled them in sugar so they would sparkle. These were gone in 10 seconds flat.

I found these cheesecake bites in the freezer section at Target. Talk about delicious!

I created the water bottle labels to add to the decor.

These were Hershey's Chocolate Bars which I wrapped in coordinating paper and added a party circle so it would match the table display.

I even found Pink Champagne...how perfect!

I got custom Cookie favors from Totally Scrumptious Cookies on Etsy.

I even staged the utensils and napkins.

I found these hanging daisies at Party City in the Wedding Section. The colors were perfect, but I added party circles to the center to tie in the Christening theme.