Location, Location, Location:
Parties are all about the venue and I knew, right from the beginning, I wanted to have the party somewhere unexpected. My niece, the Big Little, is a die hard Directioner and she had her heart set on a One Direction party. I was willing to go along with that, but she shot down all the out-of-the-box location ideas I had. (I'm not going to divulge them because I might sell her on one or two of them in the years to come.) Eventually, she decided she wanted to have the party at a roller skating rink and my heart, quite literally, broke in two. I had to respect that it was her birthday, however, so I admitted defeat and began researching roller skating rinks in the area. I caught a break when I discovered none of the rinks would allow us to bring our own decorations. We couldn't even bring our own cake! If my niece hadn't been so set on a One Direction theme, we may have been forced to suffer through a dull, conventional skate party. As luck would have it, though, my niece was more dedicated to her One Direction theme than she was to the idea of celebrating her birthday on eight wheels and she was willing to abandon the idea. I knew I had to come up with something truly exceptional if I was going to sell her on one of my radical ideas, so I thought long and hard about all the things she likes and the idea of having the party at Barnes and Noble sprung into my head.
The Big Little had been harassing me for months, begging me to buy her an American Girl box set (please note: at this point, she didn't even have an American Girl doll, so I can't even fathom what she wanted this box set for), so I used that to sell her on the idea. She already had some American Girl books (she loves to read) and that seemed like the better focal point, rather than the dolls. And, of course, whenever I think of books, I think of Barnes and Noble. So, I pitched her an American Girl: Write Your Own Story party set in Barnes and Noble. She wasn't sold at first, but I could see she was willing to entertain the idea, so I pushed forward with it, snowballing ideas at her. By the end of that week, I had the go ahead to start planning.
First stop, Barnes and Noble. I'd never heard of anyone having a birthday party at Barnes and Noble before. That's why I was in love with the idea, obviously, but I wasn't sure they would allow it. When I inquired at the customer service desk, I got a flat out "no" from the associate there. I'm not the type to be turned away so easy, though, so I began writing my letter to the manager in my head. On my way out, I stopped at the register to pay for my books (I find it very difficult to go into Barnes and Noble and leave empty handed) and ask for the manager's name so I would know to whom I should address my letter. I never imagined the general manager would be working at eight o'clock on a Sunday night, but she was there! The cashier called her to the front desk and, in less than a minute, she told me it was okay to host the party there. I could go on and on about how wonderful the management and staff treated us throughout this entire process. They provided the tables, the chairs, and the necessary space-- All free of charge! Of course, I wanted to make sure I made it worth their time and effort, and I'll show you how I did that in just a bit.
Next time, we'll take the pictures before we eat the cupcakes with the teal frosting!
*For the love of your sanity, do not-- I repeat, DO NOT-- allow your child to pick an off-the-wall color theme like teal!* Teal comes in a variety of shades and computer image quality can vary so, even if you find what you're looking for in the right color online, there is no guarantee that it will look the way you thought it would look when it's delivered. Luckily, everything I ordered was usable, but it was nearly impossible to find the right color in stores. I had to order nearly all the decorations online. If you have a child, like my niece, who just has to have it their way, this is where I got most of my stuff. When I couldn't find what I was looking for, I made it myself.
Wilton makes a teal frosting and the Michael's nearest me sells it. I used it here. I couldn't find cupcake toppers, or wrappers, so I made them. I used a cookie cutter for the stars and a template I found on Google Images for the wrappers.The print was a copy of Robinson Crusoe I found online. I probably could have found something better, but I was pressed for time and it was the first thing I came across. I dyed wood toothpicks with Wilton dye and hot glued one between two stars to make the cupcake toppers. I trimmed the cupcake stand with rhinestone ribbon. The baking cups I used on the cupcakes weren't perfect, but they sufficed. I'd planned on covering them with the wrappers I made, but I ran out of time.
I bought two pieces of unfinished wood and wrapped them. One, you see, is wrapped with official American Girl paper. I found mine at Michael's, but you can order it online from the link I provided. I don't think it was worth what I paid for it, even though I did get half off because I had a coupon. So that it wouldn't go to waste, I used it to make a garland of origami stars. I spent DAYS making those stars! My mother was gracious enough to string them together for me at the last minute because I ran out of time. It took her about an hour and a half and, in the end, it was just something strewn across the table. I think it looked great, but I'm not certain it was worth the effort. We sprinkled black confetti stars on the table, along with some I made myself using a paper punch and the Robinson Crusoe print out I referenced earlier. The table runner is plain craft paper laid over a plastic table cloth.
*Always, always, always order your balloon bouquet in advance!* I was almost late to the party because I was standing in line at Party City waiting to get balloons blown up. I waited forty-five minutes and there were only five people in front of me. When I left, there were about twenty people behind me. If I had ordered them, they would have been ready when I got there and I could have just grabbed them and left. Also, I should have arranged these better, but I was rushing. I'll me sure to layer them a little next time.
I found this vase at the dreaded Walmart while I was there looking for something not even party related. I just happened across it and it was the perfect color, so I bought it. It cost $10, but it was worth it because I carried it around with me everywhere, using it to make sure the colors matched. It was the very first thing I bought for the party. I jazzed it up a little with the rhinestone trim I put on the cupcake stand. I wanted to use it at the party, so I decided to put the balloon bouquet in it.
I went hunting for teal tissue paper at the last minute and finally found some in a multi-color pack at Target. I couldn't find it online, though, so there's no link. Sorry. But I used it to wrap the turkey sandwiches. The ham are wrapped in black. I placed the sandwiches in plastic baggies first, to protect the tissue paper. I topped each with a paper star, pinned down with a teal toothpick. The box they're in is covered in teal fabric I found at Joann's, but can't find online. I wrapped the outside of it with the teal rhinestone trim. Beside the box is the tin holding the lettuce and tomato. I didn't have time to find something more snazzy for it.
On the table, there are two wooden signs. One says "DREAM BIGGER", the other says "BE YOURSELF EVERYONE ELSE IS TAKEN". I was strolling down the aisles at Michael's and happened across them. I couldn't find them online, though. The only cost a few dollars a piece and went perfect with the theme. I loved them and the Big Little can keep them forever!
As a keepsake, I framed one of the invitations and asked each quest to sign it. This invitation took weeks to make but, after three trips to the printer, I was satisfied with the result. Later, looking at it, I decided I would have made a few more adjustments, but it was too late by then. I used Microsoft Word to make it, so it didn't take any specialist equipment. Even with barely adequate computer skills I pulled it off. A template of the cover of American Girl magazine can be purchased for invitations, but I was proud of what I accomplished on my own.
The invitations were sent out in long envelopes wrapped with ribbon.
Activities:
Each girl received a canvas book bag as she arrived at the party (I used them later as the girl's goodie bags). We put out markers and stencils for the girls to decorate and personalize while we waited for everyone to arrive. I'd known at least one of the girls was going to be late, so I wanted to give her a chance to get there and this seemed like a fantastic way to do it. Even if the other girls had finished decorating their bags, no one would really have missed anything. I bought the bags at Michael's for a fair price. I bought the fabric markers there too, although, I ended up having to buy more from Joann's later. *When it comes to fabric markers, you get what you pay for, so just cough up the $20 for the expensive ones.* I abhor Walmart, for a million reasons, but if you can't find what you're looking for, they're sure to have it. So, this is where I bought the stencils. They were relatively cheap and I had a wide selection to choose from.
This picture was snapped just as out last girl arrived. (The Big Little looks so happy!)
My sister (the Big Little's Mom) is shown here, helping one of the girls.
I wanted to get my money's worth from those fabric markers. Here, the girls are using them again.
Of course, any time you have a book themed party, you have to make bookmarks. I spent hours on Pintrest throughout this party planning process, so it was natural to turn to the site for bookmark ideas. I found several. Lucky for me, I tried them first and discovered none of them came out the way I hoped. (Again, this is why we practice craft ideas ahead of time.) In the end, I kept it simple by buying plain bookmarks and assorted ribbon, and letting the girls decorate them with stamps, stickers and those expensive markers we talked about earlier.
In the middle of the table, you see "Happily Ever After" ribbon! A great find for our party theme!
The Food:
The Goodie Bags:
I'm a firm believer in feeding children healthy foods but, on special occasions, I feel no guilt in allowing them to indulge. The girls had sandwiches, fruit, chips, pretzels, cookies and brownies. We provided sweet tea as well, but most of the girls were still drinking their Starbucks by the time we get around to eating.
My niece had seen all my preparation for the party, so she wasn't at all impressed by what she found in her goodie bag.
After the girls finished decorating their goodie bags, we stuffed them with all their goodies and set them to the side. Each girl received a copy of the latest American Girl magazine (bought at Barnes and Noble), two American Girl books I found on clearance months before the party, stickers, a pen and a pencil, and a $15 gift card for Barnes and Noble. Barnes and Noble didn't charge me anything for having the party there! I wanted to make sure I made it worth their while. I bought the gift cards themselves online, but they were all spent in the store. I bought nine American Girl magazines there and nine vanilla bean frappacinos from the in-store Starbucks. In total, I spent spent about $200 at Barnes and Noble for the party.
Since the invitations were patterned after the cover of American Girl magazine, I decided to put it on the cover of American Girl magazine. With the help of a little spray glue, each girl received an altered copy of the magazine in her goodie bag.
One of the American Girl books in the goodie bags was More Lists. The girls spent a little time filling out the lists before we ate our cupcakes.
Before the girls left, they were allowed to run lose in the kid's section to spend their gift cards.
AAAAAND, the Auntie of the Year Award goes to...
ME!
