Sweet Girl's 5th Birthday Party

Sweet Girl had so much fun planning and decorating for her party this year. I think she enjoyed the planning and decorating just as much as the actual party! She wanted a Hello Kitty Party but it became a Hello Kitty-Dress-Up-Tea-Party instead. :)

First we made invitations with paper, stamps and ribbon we had on hand. She had the idea of having every girl bring their favorite stuffed animal or doll.
She LOVED every minute of making these!

All of our decorating was made from things we had on hand and I think that made it even more fun! I used the Pink Ironstone dishes, a platter bought from GW in the center with two tea cups and a creamer filled with flowers left over from her Ballet Recital.

(she set the table all by herself!)

I cut the paper flowers and she glued the centers on and then we hung them from the chandelier. We swagged a little tulle from my fabric stash around the bottom of the chandy as well.

I cut out Hello Kitty faces for the place cards and she drew the whiskers, eyes, nose, etc and then she wrote each girl's name on it.
Every year she tells us what she wants on her cake. I bake and ice the cake then her Daddy decorates it.
It has been so much fun to see Daddy get into the decorating (I can't draw stick figures) and then to see her face light up when she sees what Daddy has done for her.
The only money I spent on this party was for the food! We had "butterfly" sandwiches, carrots and dip, fruit and cheese shaped like flowers and cake. At this age, most little ones are going to pick at their food anyway and this menu worked out really well!
The Mommies had spinach and bacon pinwheels, cucumbers sandwiches, cheese cubes, veggies, and fruit.

I think about the money end of things like this a lot of times...it's not that we do not have the money to spend on things like a party but somehow I think Sweet Girl will remember making decorations versus me running to Party City and buying every Hello Kitty item they sell. I want to instill in her the value of money and also creativity. Who's to say that next year we won't be at a bouncy place living it up but this year, at this time in my life, it was easy to have her party in my home and to spend time making decorations with her.

~Victoria~