Hello again! I am just DAYS away from giving birth to our third child. But before I have my hands even more full I wanted to get on here to talk about our sweet Princess Presley's super fun birthday party we had a few days ago! My technical due date is January 13, although my baby is measuring a little farther along so we're not entirely sure. BUT I'm being induced on the 8th so at least I can see an end in sight! I AM GIGANTIC! Presley's birthday is January 19. Instead of throwing her party with a newborn in tow I decided to do it a little early. Like 3 days after Christmas early. It's been crazy trying to put away Christmas/organize{what feels like} hundreds of new toys after the holidays, clean the house and redecorate for the party in just a few days but the Lord sustained me and we got it done. It helped having everything made and ready to go many weeks in advance. And now my house is super clean (hardcore nesting probs) and covered in baby equipment. And it's giving me hardcore flashbacks of my first 2 and making me realize how FAST time flies! Like HOW is my first baby already five??? I can't believe 2020 brings Kindergarten for us. I'm in complete denial about it. Like I'm positive I'm going to need to be enrolled in a mental institution when August gets here. Which reminds me that we should start budgeting for that ASAP. Ugh. Why they gotta grow up. Now that I'm completely off topic, I'm going to get back on track and actually tell you about her party!
The day after her last Elsa party P came to me and said, "Mom, next year I want a Rapunzel party. With LANTERNS hanging from the ceiling!" And thus we've been planning it ever since. I have been so excited about it because Rapunzel is CLEARLY the greatest princess of all time so all of my wildest dreams were coming true.
As always, I started by sitting down with Pinterest and a piece of paper and sketching out my favorite ideas. After that I make a list of what I need to make and another list of what I need to buy. I put the buy list in a note on my phone so I can always have it with me when I'm out. This is how I keep my parties so cheap! If I see something on sale or I have a coupon I can buy it right then! Basically making everything at least 40% off. Including food this whole party was less than $200. And we had TWO!
Now that Pres is older she wanted to start having friends over. Before we just did a big family party. Since our families are so large we couldn't possibly fit everyone in our house at the same time. About 30-35 people come to the family party so we decided to do a small friend party the day before that one. It really wasn't a problem since the house was already decorated. We invited 5 friends from church and had lots of fun, themed activities. I'll get to that in a minute.
For the family party I just do a Facebook event invite. I have to text a few people separately who don't have FB but this is the cheapest/easiest option and everyone gets reminders and can RSVP right there. For her friend party I sent an actual invitation in the mail. I had a shutterfly code and got 10 for free, I only had to pay like $8 shipping. They turned out super cute.
Here are some pictures!
For the entrance I made a long braid out of 3 yellow table cloths! This was so cheap. Like $3. You can get tablecloths at Dollar Tree (note that they have an awesome party supplies section- I get almost all of my paper goods there) or Hobby Lobby for $ 1 each. I just braided them together (I got 2 shades of yellow) and tied them together with a cute purple gingham ribbon I found at Hobby Lobby. I also hung up a "WANTED Flynn Rider" flyer I found on Google images. I just printed this off and taped it to cardstock to make it more sturdy. For the front door I got some yellow yarn and made a long braid. I weaved it through my wreath that was already there, added a cute bow and a paper sun that says "Climb In." For the paper suns (I cut out quite a few of these) I just found a Tangled sun on Google, pasted it in a document, made it the size I wanted, printed it out and traced it onto yellow cardstock. You can also buy these already made on Etsy for around $10. I was going to do that but decided to save a few dollars and do it myself.
For the entry we, of course, hung lanterns we made out of purple cardstock. We had a new Joann open in town (best day ever!) and I went opening day to score so many awesome deals for the party. I got a lot of things and think I spent $13. Their cardstock was like 10 pieces for $2. I just cut each piece into a rectangle and hot glued it into a lantern shape. Then I glued some of my yellow suns to the fronts. To hang them I hot glued ribbon to them in differing lengths. I made 10. I thought about stringing lights over the ceiling as well but ended up nixing that idea.
One of my favorite aspects of the party was the tulle hair! I bought an entire bolt of yellow tulle at Joann. With my coupons it ended up being about $20. I think I got around 30 yards. I just weaved it through the house as far as it would go starting in the entry. I used a combination of curtain rods and command hooks to hang it.
Here's the dining room! I wish the lighting was better for pics in here but it is what it is.
I bought my balloon arch kit (these are surprisingly SO EASY to assemble) for Bud's Flood last year and have used it at every party since. AND I WILL NEVER STOP! It is so versatile and really fills the room/makes a big impact. I typically use about 50 balloons. I really put my $2 pump I found on clearance at Walmart a few years ago to work. DO NOT TRY TO BLOW THESE ALL UP YOURSELF! My husband almost passed out doing this last year. Invest in a cheap pump. You'll thank me. No helium needed. I buy my balloons at Hobby Lobby because they have so many colors to choose from at about $2 a color. This time I used light pink, darker pink, light purple, clear and yellow. I also added some fake flowers to make it more princess-y. I prefer real ones but thought it'd be easier to plan for if I just went fake this time. I got 2 bunches at Hobby Lobby when they were 50% off. One bunch of pink and one lavender-esque bunch of purple. I bought way more but returned them because I didn't need them. But warning. If you use fake flowers watch out! They have wire in the stems and if the cut ends touch a balloon wrong they will explode without notice. I was hoping all of the times I was scared out of my mind with the abrupt explosions would jumpstart my labor. But to no avail. On top of this I actually bought a bag of defective balloons which would pop at random. This was horrifying. I finished building this at night when the kids were at grandmas. In random intervals throughout the night a balloon would pop while we were asleep. a horrifying sound to be jolted awake by every hour. I think Matt wanted to killed me by morning. When we woke up only the dark pink balloons were gone! The other ones were fine. RIP. So I bought a different bag of darker pink at Michaels and all was well.
For the table cloths I used a light pink cloth one I made for Presley's 2nd birthday that has definitely come in handy ever since. Or you could buy one. You could even use a $1 plastic one! I got the dainty, sparkly purple overlay at Joann (appx 3 yards). And I added the pink polka dot runner I also made for her 2nd birthday.
I made another braid out of yellow table cloths for the centerpiece! With this one, however, I braided in some battery-powered twinkle lights. I got these on Ebay for like $4 but they had them everywhere at Christmas time. Maybe you have some lying around. I tied it at the end with the purple gingham Hobby Lobby ribbon and placed a few flowers on top. I found the flowers at HL in the paper crafting aisle near the paper/sticker section. They were 50% off and I think $2. I actually bought 2 packages of these and turned one into hair accessories for Pres. I glued them to bobby pins so she could wear them in her hair.
My food was super low key. Mainly because I didn't have the energy to do anything high maintenance. This was the main place the kid and family parties differed. Other than the activities.
Friend party food:
Max's apples (just a basket I found in my attic with apples in it)
Paint brushes (pre-made rice krispy treats dipped in white chocolate dyed purple (I used Ghirardelli white chocolate melts) and stuck with a popsicle stick. I already had the cute little pink ribbon bows (HL) so I glued those to the sticks as well.
Pascal's Puffs or Popcorn (huge bags at Trader Joes for only $2!)
Juice Bags
Frosting-less cupcakes (got the cute sparkly wrapper covers at Joann- Wilton brand)
Sprinkles in artist dishes (to decorate their own cupcakes with)
Family party food:
Max's apples
Pascal's Popcorn/Puffs
Paint Brushes
Mother Gothel's Garden (vegi platter served in an iron skillet)
Rapunzel cake
DONUT TOWER (my fav part duh)
For the cake I bought the Rapunzel doll at Target and just built the dress around her out of cake, buttercream and fondant. Warning that the YouTube videos make it look so easy but it took about 6 hours and I said more bad words than I'd like to admit. But I was happy with the outcome and Pres loved it so that's all that matters in the end, right!? I also actually baked the cake and cupcakes 2 weeks in advance, wrapped them up and froze them until needed. This was super helpful when it came party time. And the cake tastes just as good!
The donut tower, however, was my personal fav food item. I just got a cube of foam from the floral aisle at Dollar Tree, covered it in fabric, and stuck a large dowel in it from HL. I already had the pink silicone ice cream cone to stick on the top. You could also use a regular ice cream cone. I used about 2.5 doz donuts from a local bakery in the end. I had to keep adding more to the top because the weight of the donuts kept squishing the ones at the bottom. So every time I walked through the room there was more space at the top. Lol at the donut pancakes at the bottom. But whatever. Still delicious. You could also just make the dowel smaller if you don't need as many.
I got 2 boxes of rice krispy treats (16 each) for the paint brushes. OR you could make your own. That would be way more tasty. But I liked how these were super low maintenance and they'd all be the exact same size. I only ended up using one bag of Ghirardelli white chocolate melts. If you want to make different colors I'd buy at least 2 bags. I used every bit of it for the 32 treats that I dipped. And I only dipped them a little bit each.
For the other table in the living room I just did my usual. I always set out a themed book for everyone to sign as a guest book. My kids each have a keepsake box where I put things like this. I also put plates/napkins/silverware here. And since the cake was smaller I decided to make another one just in case. It's a 3-tiered 6 inch cake (same as the Rapunzel dress one). Surprisingly the dress cake fed everyone with a few pieces to spare. So I wrapped this one up and froze it for us to have on her actual birthday in a few weeks. I've always wanted to see what would happen if I did this so this a perfect time to test it.
I decorated it with a sparkly gold table runner (found in the wedding section at HL for $10), another "Wanted Flynn" flyer, a spare lantern, and a "Best Day Ever" banner I found a few years ago in the dollar spot at Target and have been hoarding for this very moment. I got the paper mache "5" and yellow yarn at Joann and hand-crafted it. It took a lot of patience and glue but it happened. Once it was covered in yarn I added a few paper flowers from HL and a mini strand of lights. I have like 5 boxes of these when I stocked up after Christmas last year when they were 90% off at HL. I got the lace-wrapped jar at Michaels in May and the flowers came from Kroger. I made the plates to look like frying pans. Little did I know that the children at the party would turn these into an activity and start using them as actual weapons. A battle ensued in the living room. Things I didn't see coming. But they turned out cute and no one got hurt. I got the black plates at Dollar Tree and just cut out handles from black cardstock and hot glued them on at the bottom. Super simple. Lastly, I got the cute BEST DAY EVER rosegold metallic napkins on Amazon. I splurged and spent $9 on these after I hand-stamped about 50 napkins just to wake up the next day to see that the ink had bled and they looked like pink napkins with fat purple blobs in the middle.
The kitchen was simple. A purple plastic table cloth with a pink runner I made many years ago. I got the gold glitter castle 2 years ago on clearance on Michaels.com. I think it was $2-3. I found the Happy Birthday banner in my party supplies bin in my attic! I was organizing it (part of my hardcore nesting problem) and remembered I made it for Presley's 2nd birthday! It was a cat-themed party but I used gold, purple and pink colors so it was perfect! I also found a matching "Presley" banner I used in another room. I'll explain what's on the table in a bit. But for the family party it was empty. The yellow tulle hair was draped through this room as well.
I decorated the bathroom just a bit.
And here's the living room! Also where I keep the drinks because we have a bar.
For the mantle I painted this super simple picture onto a piece of foam core board. I hung yet more table cloths to the ceiling to look like curtains. I nailed them up on the side edges into the trim of the built ins (in an unnoticeable location) then I just used tape to attach the rest.
I made this sparkly sun banner from cardstock and ribbon and the Ruffians and Thugs sign from a plaque I found on the wood aisle at HL. It was already on jute for hanging! I got the streamers (who knew gold streamers existed!) at HL and taped them up as a back drop. The pink lights were 66% off in the after Christmas sale at HL. I made the paper sign about the magic flower and decorated it with little gold flowers I found in the Christmas craft section at HL as well. For the actual magic flower I just bought a white Christmas lily at Joann and painted it + added some glitter. I also curled some gold wire to put in the center. I ended up having to glue it to the dowel because it didn't come with a stem. I got the glittery ribbon at HL and tied it around the vase I already had. I had plans to wrap more battery-powered lights around the flower but I forgot to keep out my lights from Christmas and they were already put away in the depths of my attic. You can also see in the top right corner where the tulle hair ends. It almost made it around the entire circumference of my downstairs!
For drinks I had Coke, Diet Coke, water with lemon and "Magic Flower Juice" that was SO GOOD! It is called Pineapple Lemonade Punch and I found the recipe here. Instead of making homemade lemonade as suggested I used Milo's lemonade and it was just as tasty. After it was too late to order I thought about adding glowing ice cubes. That would've been a cool feature to actually have it light up.
This is the other pink/purple/gold banner I had made for a previous party. This was a fun game that P played with her friends. Pin the nose on Flynn. I found this picture again on Google images and just enlarged and printed it out. The nose was already missing. I got a piece of beige cardstock and cut out a few crazy noses. Each girl went twice and they seemed to really enjoy it.
Lastly, here are a few fun activities I had planned for the friend party. Since it was only a few girls (6 including Pres) it was really manageable and they had a lot of fun.
We started by painting some wooden flower frames I found at the Dollar Tree! I also found individual princess paint sets there. They painted them then I set them aside to dry for the rest of the party. I had them paint them on top of paper plates to keep their spot clean. I took a group picture and am going to give them each a printed picture to put in them as soon as I get them developed.
Next, they decorated gold paper crowns! I found these cute sets in the party aisle at HL. Each crown came with it's own jewel sticker sheet but I bought a lot of extra stickers to go with them. They had some really cute ones in the craft aisle at Dollar Tree. I also added some fancier ones from Hobby Lobby. I wrote each of their names on their crowns to mark their seats.
Kind of last minute I thought of the idea to have them decorate their own braids! I made each of these out of yellow yarn, pink ribbon and hair clips. I already had these supplies on hand in my craft room so this didn't cost me anything. They were super easy to make, just kind of time consuming. They then decorated them with flowers and more jewels.
Lastly, since Rapunzel is an artist I thought it'd be cute to have them decorate their own cupcakes! This also solved my problem of not wanting to make 2 fancy cakes 2 days in a row. I think they enjoyed doing this a lot more than if they had been pre-made. I found the paint dishes at Michaels (they also have them at Dollar Tree) and filled each spot with different fancy sprinkles and a few fondant flowers I had made before. I got the cute sprinkles in little 99 cent Wilton packets at Michaels (and I had a 20% off coupon so they were about 80 cents each). They had so many to choose from and 1 packet of each was more than plenty. I picked out little diamonds, crowns, flowers and purple nonpareils. I also let them ice their own.
After all of the activities they played pin the nose on Flynn, opened gifts then they went and played in her room. Honestly I think the last part was their favorite. Just being free to do what they wanted LOL. But I think they definitely had fun doing my structured part too.
And here are a few pics from her family party! I found this cute chameleon costume in Leo's size at Target after Halloween for TWO DOLLARS! I was very proud of this find. All of the people at the party who hadn't seen the movie (ahem like at least half) kept asking me why he was dressed as a lizard. But that's besides the point.
We had SO MUCH FUN celebrating you, Princess Pres, and can't wait to do it again in a few weeks on your real birthday! This time with a new baby brother or sister in tow. I know you'll be amazing, just like you have been with Leo. We love you so much, Sweet P!