Averie has MANY princess outfits, but she wanted to wear her ballet outfit. We quickly modified it by adding the long, tulle skirt.
I debated whether to buy or make the cake. There is a great little bakery near-by that makes delicious cakes. I decided to save some money by making it myself. My plan was to make a layered butter cake from scratch. I made the cake and let it cool, then when I attempted to put the top layer on, it fell apart. It wasn't really salvageable so I quickly made the top layer from a box mix. Rather than an elaborately decorated cake, we went simple and I think it turned out rather well.
Averie admiring her cake. She LOVED the tiara on top!
Decorating was really easy. I bought plastic table clothes from the dollar store, cut each into three strips and draped them from the light fixture. We made tissue paper pom-poms to hang in the center. Averie had fun sprinkling confetti all over the table (which, by the way, ended up all over and I'm still finding pieces a week later). I took this picture rather hastily. The kids were just starting to arrive and I wanted to get a "before" picture.
Justin did a wonderful job of arranging the Knight's chest armor and swords and the Princess tiaras and wands. Averie watched out the window as her first guests arrived.
Carson loved it too!
As each guest arrived I took a picture of them with their Princess or Knight accecories. As we waited for all of the guests to arrive the kids watched "Enchanted". We then played a game of Memory. I had photos of like items printed and we placed them face down on the ottoman just like a Memory game. The goal was to match various Disney Princesses to their Princes and match other royal items like crowns, thrones, swords, shields, etc...After two games of Memory we had a treasure hunt. At the end of the hunt the kids found the treasure but it was guarded by a dragon (pinata). They had to "slay" the dragon before they could reach the treasure.
After the pinata we had cake then Averie opened her gifts. Since the party was after lunch, we had snacks (punch, apple slices, chips and dip, carrots and cheese) and, of course, candy and more treats.
While we wrapped up and waited for parents to pick up the kids there was a lot of sword fighting and the poor dragon was torn to pieces!
I found this cute idea online... marshmallow lollipops (marshmallow dipped into white dipping chocolate and decorated with sprinkles), they were pretty but not a big hit with the kids. I, on the other hand, LOVED them... very addicting!
The "after" mess. Pictures don't do it justice. The floor was sticky from spilled punch, confetti all over and black pieces of tissue from the pinata ALL over the living room! It was well worth it!
For Thank You notes we ordered stationery to match the invitations. We printed a picture of each of the children to include with the thank you note. We had so much fun!
