“Pres, what movie should we watch? Frozen might be fun!”
I turned it on and that was that. It had only just begun.
Elsa’s icy powers captivated her right there.
Then “Elsa’s hair” and a sparkly dress were all that she would wear.
We know you like warm hugs like us so come join us in Arrendelle.
See Olaf, Sven and Anna, too! We promise it will be swell.
So let it go! Let it go! Don’t hold it back anymore!
Shout it from North Mountain’s top, “OUR PRESLEY GIRL IS 4!”
If you know my daughter personally or have any association with my social media accounts you know for a fact that she is Elsa. As the above poem states, it just took one Frozen-viewing and she was completely hooked. True story. She wore her wig every day for at least a year (although now she thinks "it's a little itchy" IDK). She taught herself to put her own clothes on at a very early age because I couldn't get to her room fast enough every morning to put her Elsa dress on RIGHT when she woke up. And I will never forget giving my sincerest thanks to the Academy and makers of Frozen in my many dramatic, tear-filled speeches when I was pretending to give myself an award after each small victory while potty training this child. I am being completely serious when I say that without Elsa-related bribes, me passionately belting 'Let It Go' every time I put her on the potty to poop, plus a lot of prayers and grace from the good Lord she would probably still be in diapers. Bet you didn't know that Elsa had more than ice powers, eh? More like ice POOwers! And at one point when we were trying to get Baby Brother to say "mama" and "daddy" Pres chimed in and in all seriousness looked him in the face and said "EL-SA!" Have I convinced you yet? Back in 2013 when childless Matt and Katie decided on a whim go see Frozen in theaters they NEVER could've imagined how much of a role this movie would play in their lives one day.
So needless to say, it didn't take much time for me to decide on her 4th birthday party theme. She actually fell in love with Elsa well over a year ago but I had already planned her a Pooh party (one of the downfalls of planning your kids' birthday parties 6 months in advance...their seemingly passionate interests may take a DRASTIC turn over the course of a very short period of time). So that's why she was dressed as Elsa when we were trying to celebrate POOHresley is 3. But hey! Our time had finally come! And Elsa is still VERY relevant in our lives.
I was SO EXCITED to start planning this party. Considering I've seen Frozen now appx 3920 times, I had a lot of inspiration whirling around in my head. Just picture Elsa while she was creating her ice castle while casually transforming into a blue-sequined goddess with EXCELLENT hair. That's EXACTLY what I felt/looked like. Or maybe I'm getting confused with what I think was happening vs my actual reality. It's possible I was sporting my 4-day old mom bun, no make-up, and let's be real...I probably wasn't wearing pants. But, being the queen of my own castle, I threw my gloves to the wind and really went for it because THE COLD NEVER BOTHERED ME ANYWAY!
Like I've mentioned in every birthday party post I've ever made, all of the planning and hand-made details were carefully thought out and executed over 6+ months and I KNOW you think I'm crazy. I'd love to tell you I threw it all together gracefully during the course of singing one song, like some other people I'm familiar with. But as much as I like to compare myself to her, I'm just not Elsa. I mean, pastey white skin..CHECK. But that's about it. But here's why I start planning so early. So I love to throw themed parties. It brings me immense joy. But I ALSO love to be ballin on a budget. While I don't know how this translates into Arrendelle dollars, I only spend around 200 American dollars total on this whole party, including food and everything (however not including Elsa but she was a gift to Pres from my mom so that doesn't count...will discuss more later). Hobby Lobby is 2 blocks from my house (always count your blessings) so I go there ALOT! So what I do is I have a date with Pinterest and a notepad one night and I start researching and brainstorming what I want to do. Then I make a list of everything I need! Every time I go to HL (believe me...it's a lot) I grab one thing on my list with my 40% off coupon. Even if it's a $2 item. Or if it's an item that goes on sale I ONLY buy it then. So it may seem like insignificant savings at the time but it really adds up. Trust me. Food came from Kroger, Trader Joes, and Costco. I always plan my parties from 3:30-6 because it's right after naptime and convenient for our kids' schedule and it also takes the pressure off of having to provide a full meal. I like for my food to be themed as well and that's harder to do when you have to come up with more substantial food choices for 30+ people. So a few yummy snacks/treats, some kind of fruit or vegetable tray, maybe a more hearty/meaty item and cake works for me! So by the time the party rolls around I have all of my supplies at 40% off and I'm ready to get to work! And I know exactly what food to buy and where to find each component the cheapest. And I totally understand that if these kind of parties don't spark joy for you (been watching too much Marie Kondo on Netflix send help I've completely destroyed and reorganized my bedroom and my husband can't find any of this clothes and I'm going on day 5 of pretending like I don't know where my pants are anymore) then I know this all probably seems cray cray. I totally understand. I also accept the fact that I am a little bit cray cray and that is FINE! So yeah I go to Hobby Lobby like every day and I don't like to wear pants. So what? Moving on.
Okay. So lets get to the good stuff. I love for my parties to be an immersive experience that starts right when you get there. Unfortunately it was raining and washed away my chalk, but I managed to get a good pic the day before! I wanted the walkway to look like the icy fjord that Elsa freezes when she's escaping from Arrendelle because SHE WAS SO EMBARRASSED BECAUSE SHE JUST FROZE LIKE THE WHOLE COUNTRY IMAGINE WHAT THAT WOULD FEEL LIKE?! Ugh. Poor Elsa. I actually downloaded the Frozen font online (couldn't tell you where because I don't remember) to make this sign. Dedication.
So I got to decorate my church's Father/Daughter Dance a few years ago and I made it winter wonderland themed with elements of Frozen throughout. I had way too much fun. A lot of my decorations were leftover from that. Instead of getting rid of them I saved them because I knew that ONE day my daughter was inevitably going to ask for a Frozen party and I WAS GOING TO BE READY FOR IT! Nailed it.
So a few years ago I found an axe and went and chopped down some branches in my parents' forest-y backyard like a dang lumberjack. It is harder than it looks, okay!! I forgot my flannel and beard but I DID succeed. My dad helped me mix/pour concrete in a terracotta pot, we stuck the branches in and let them set. Then I spray painted the whole thing silver. So I used these at the dance years ago but asked my dad to keep them in his basement for this v important imaginary party I was going to have one day. And blessings upon us because he still had them! Their structure was questionable because bugs but they did the job. I hung snowflakes from the branches (thank you, Hobby Lobby 90% off after-Christmas sale) and put fake snow in the bottom. I actually got the snowy wreath at Wal-Mart a week ago that was part of their after-Christmas sale. It was $4!!!! I got the wooden snowflake in the middle at Dollar Tree (also a great place for decorations/inspiration when you're ballin on a budget). I just painted it white and wrote on it with Sharpie. Then I sprinkled a few half-eaten carrots around because duh Sven had been there.
So right inside wasn't that exciting but I had the song 'Vulie' from the Frozen soundtrack playing. You'd know if it you heard it. It's on the opening credits before you see the ice people. It was kinda like the opening credits of the party. I had some snowflakes hanging from the ceiling as well and this STUPID "4" balloon that would not stay inflated! This was my second one in 2 days that kept dying for no reason. Picked this up like 4 hours before the party...one day I'll figure that mystery out.
So you turn to the left and that's where all of the good stuff is. I made the icicles out of white paper. To make one I think I cut a deformed triangle, rolled it up and hot glued it shut (these were also leftover from the F/D dance years ago so I'm a little rusty on how exactly I made them). I got the snowflake hanging curtain from Amazon (also from years ago but you can still probably find them there..or at least something similar).
In the dining room I had snowflakes (HL Christmas decor) hanging from the ceiling and icicles hanging from the chandelier. The china cabinet decor came from the after Christmas sale and was basically free. I traced some letters onto blue and silver glitter paper for her name. Ice castle was from Santa so we can thank his elves for that. I also had a rotating playlist in here playing Let it Go, Do You Want to Build a Snowman, Love is an Open Door, and Perfect Day (from Frozen Fever).
For the main table I bought a big piece of blue, textured fabric from Joann and put it over a white table cloth. I decorated with snowballs (HL Christmas) and snowflakes (also HL Christmas...it bode well for me that Christmas happened right before this).
For the food I had:
Anna and Han's Sandwiches (rolls, ham, cheese, mayo. tomato)
Snow Balls (powdered donut holes from a local bakery I maybe ate appx 12 of it's fine)
Warm Hugs (Hershey's hugs)
Sven's Snacks (vegi platter with ranch)
Han's Frozen Hearts (white choc ganache-dipped strawberries with sugar crystal sprinkles and edible glitter. Also added some DIY edible glass. I used the same ganache as was on the cake but it didn't set well so I recommend just melting chocolate and dipping them in..don't add the cream for these. Although I can't believe I'm saying that because CREAM IS SO GOOD. I'll talk about the glass and ganache below)
I actually own a cake business from my house but stopped baking around when Leo was born because it became too much for me to handle. BUT I still love to bake for my babies! I researched for forever to find inspiration from elements of different Frozen cakes to see what I wanted to incorporate into my cake. After much deliberation I finally came up with this. I did 2 things adventurous (for me at least) on this cake. One was the white choc ganache drip (super easy and yummy). In a saucepan on low I melted 1.5 cups of Ghiradelli white choc chips with .5 cup of heavy whipping cream. Be sure to add a few tbsp of titanium dioxide to it when it's melted to make it go from yellowy to pure white! Magic! I let it cool for a sec then poured it on and got it to go where I wanted it to go. And I also made edible glass out of sugar! I did this once years ago for a Breaking Bad party for Matt but it had been a minute. It was super easy but looked more impressive than it was. Here's the recipe. Just be careful when adding coloring. I barely added any blue gel and it got really dark and was on the verge of turning green. Thankfully it ended up a pretty color and a nice contrast with all of the lighter elements.
For the other little table in here I put paper plates/forks/napkins (Elsa-themed little plates came from Dollar Tree!), homemade hot chocolate party favors, and a guest book for everyone to sign. I do this with all of my kid's parties with a themed book. I keep them in their keepsake box so one day they'll have all of these sweet books with notes from their favorite people from their birthdays past. I got the snowflake table runner at HL after Christmas and the silver glitter frame in the Target dollar spot! Pres and I made the stunning silver glitter tree as a craft one day.
For the party favors I got treat bags (party aisle at HL) and added diy hot cocoa mix and a few marshmallows. Then I twisted and zip-tied them shut good, added sparkly tulle ribbon and a little note that says "You're worth melting for." The back has the instructions to mix it with 3 cups of very hot water. They turned out cute!
Moving on to the kitchen. I had a simple centerpiece with $5 flowers from Trader Joe's. I got the snowflake fabric at Michaels.com (yes you can order fabric on Michaels.com. Who knew, right?). The night before the party I was inspired to make the rock trolls. I went to HL (duh) and bought a bag of rocks and a piece of paper (for the ears). When I buy super random things at stores like to make jokes when I get to the register but usually no one cares what I'm buying or why and I end up just making things super awkward, something I'm super good at. This time I was like "Well I got a bag of rocks and a piece of paper" and she was like "Okay" and then I tried to explain that it was v important that I make some rock trolls ASAP and I could tell she was like "WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS INSANE WOMAN ROCK TROLLS??" So then I left and replayed the incident back in my head 200 times and came to the conclusion that it probably would've been best to just not say anything about the contents of my basket. It is what it is. Then I picked some leaves outside to for the hair and turned them into trolls and they were one of my favorite parts. I made a "game" out of my ORIGINAL little Fixer Uppers and gave a treat bag to whoever could find one. I had 4. I think my brother took home 2 or 3 treat bags. I mean they weren't very hidden but I thought it was cute. The prize was 2 pieces of chocolate (to stuff in your face) and some white choc pretzels (snowflakes).
Also in the kitchen was another last-minute idea and that was my sauna. I found this pic of Oaken on google and just added a white vignette filter and any other softening filter I could find on Picasa to make him look steamy and printed it at home. Then I made a frame out of paper. I wanted it to look like we were looking at him in the sauna. OKAY I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS! Also, I thought the sign I put in the bathroom was funny after all of our potty-training shenanigans. But it's possible I'm the only one who thought that was funny as well..
Back to the entry way, To the right is our office and I decided to make that Olaf's summer room. I got the hanging palm tree and Aloha banner on the party aisle at HL and just blew up some pool floats we already had + dressed up our Olaf in a hat, lei and sunglasses. I had summery music playing in here softly. Like The Beach Boys, Here Comes the Sun and, of course, In Summer by Olaf.
So last but not least was the living room! This is also where all of the drinks are. Wandering Oaken's Beverage Post..And Sauna. I made the ribbon banner myself and recycled the backdrop from Bud's Flood in November (from HL). I had Hot Grog (hot chocolate) with misc toppings like peppermint sticks and marshmallows and I TOTALLY FORGOT to put out the whipped cream. The water was "Melted Snowman" and was just a pitcher of water with a carrot in it. Heh. Then we had YooHoo Big Summer Blowout! Cokes. And Kristoff's Ice. I put a few chomped carrots in front of Sven for obvious reasons and also included my original fondant Elsa that I think I spent 6 hours on that turned out to look like a middle-aged, busty woman. I have a lot of jokes I could add here but I'll refrain. After Pres told me "She looks like that beautiful princess in Shrek who turns into a yogurt (ogre) at night" I knew I had to LET HER GO. But I couldn't throw her away so I put her here. New Elsa was a much better fit on the cake. The snowflake cups, again, came from Michaels.com!
And here's a random little table in this room.
And very last was my main centerpiece. I already had the frame and fabric backdrop. I just made some tissue balls and added some snowflakes (big ones from Dollar Tree) plus a glittery "Let it Go" sign I made. I hung Christmas lights behind it which made it extra magical. But I think what really did it was the life-size Elsa in the corner (Kohl.com OR Amazon). That is until...
OMG ELSA ACTUALLY SHOWED UP AT MY HOUSE AND IT WAS MAGIC!! As Presley's birthday gift from her my mom hired THE Elsa to come to the party. Idk about Pres but I was completely star struck. I knew she was coming (Pres didn't) and I was still speechless, sweating and a bit teary. I had nothing to do with this. It was all my mom. She mentioned hiring her a few weeks before and I think it sealed the deal. Best day ever? For me at least. When I tucked Pres into bed that night and asked her what her favorite part of her party was she said "It was magic when Elsa came to my house." Ugh, gurl I know. She gave lots of warm hugs, took pictures, sang some songs and just hung out with and talked to Pres for a while. THEN she helped us sing Happy Birthday and I think Presley said it best. It was just magic!
Also, we dressed Leo up as Olaf and I will never regret that decision as long as I live. Or this PICK.
As always, thanks for sticking with me and reading until the end! I hope you enjoyed your virtual trip through Arrendelle and feel inspired to create, go watch Frozen again and/or maybe not wear pants. You do you. And a very special happy birthday to my sweet, magical girl. Pres, you inspire me every day with your quirky, fun sense of humor and your passionate love for everyone around you. God has TRULY blessed us with the most beautiful ice queen ever. We love you, Sweet P!