Caroline's Princess Party

{NOTE: virtually all photos in this post are by Heather and Amanda, who most graciously came and photographed the party so I could discharge my other queenly duties during the party. I LOVE the photos and am very lucky to have such great friends!}



As I've mentioned, a princess party was inevitable for Caroline's 4th birthday. No other theme could possibly suit her quite as well. Once the theme was settled, I ordered some paper printables from an etsy seller recommended by Heather and Amanda, and at that point the party pretty much planned itself, as all I had to do was cut out a bunch of stuff (with the help of David and my parents at various points -- basically if you found yourself resting on my sofa for more than 5 minutes and were over the age of 10, I handed you scissors) and try to keep the darn house clean on the day of the party, which is always the hardest/worst part of having a party.



I guess I did make the tulle tableskirt for the dessert table. It basically involved tying strips of tulle around a ribbon fastened to the top of the table. As long as you didn't look at it too closely or breathe on it too heavily, it did the trick (the trick being "look 4-year-old-fancy").

I also took some pink spray paint to an old mirror that had been languishing in our storage room. Amanda had the really cute idea to hang a mirror behind the dessert table, which got me thinking about this old mirror that had been hanging in our bathroom when we bought the house, and the pink spray paint I had just bought in a fit of DIY enthusiasm. I figured I could hang the mirror over Elizabeth's dresser after the party.




Cupcakes:



These are some of the star cookies that Amanda and I decorated (we also did princess crowns for the goodie bags):



I give us a solid B+/A- (well, I'm sure the A- ones are Amanda's and mine are the B+s.). We definitely got the feel for "piping" consistency versus the "flooding" consistency. Just need to work on keeping a steady hand.

Cake pops:



I really struggled with these this time because I just could not get the candy melts to thin out as well as I wanted them to, which made dipping a challenge. I was glad that I worked on these after the kids were in bed because I'm pretty sure that I had a few choice words for those candy melts.

Tissue pom poms:



By this point we pretty much have these in every color and could rent them out (and David could teach a class on how to make them). I doubt when he signed up to marry me that he ever could have guessed all that would entail - studying Martha's pom pom tutorials, turning the house upside down looking for monofilament, covering floral foam with scrapbook paper - I seriously have the best husband ever!)



I was really worried about having enough activities to keep the girls busy. I started out by making the party 30 minutes shorter than the last one we had here - best move ever! We then set up various princess-themed activities designed with the primary goal of running down the clock making sure the girls had fun. Thankfully, we had the beautiful princesses Belle, Ariel, and Cinderella come to the party to help the girls with the activties and generally make the party magical for everyone:



No princess party would be complete without some princess costumes:



And of course, primping and spinning in front of mirrors comes naturally for Caroline:



Tiara decorating for the ball and princess mirror decorating:











Coloring Castle:









Hunt for the Crown Jewels:



Jacob and Elizabeth helped me dye the rice pink using this method -- we had SO much fun! There is something ridiculously fun and tactile about digging in dried rice; definitely a good rainy day activity!





Snow White's Sweet Shop, where the girls decorated their own cookies:







Our littlest party princess, Amanda's daughter MM:



Belle's Beauty Shop, where the girls could get their faces and nails painted by the princesses:



Cinderella giving a manicure to Rosemary, Heather's sweet little girl, while her sister Piper looks on:









And this one is worth repeating:



Once Upon a Time story hour:













MM, by now adorning some serious bling, reaches for the balloons:



Happy Birthday Girl:



Happy Birthday Girl Sister:



One of Caroline's friends kept calling Elizabeth "Big Caroline" which Elizabeth said "kind of freaked me out."

Blowing out the candles:



Snow White enjoying her cake and ice cream:



Elizabeth making her own royal fun:



Saying goodbye to the princesses:







Caroline and Elizabeth with Piper, Rosemary and MM:



With my baby:



I think that Caroline really had a ball at her princess party. She got to do all of the things she loves the most (pretend, crafts, dress up, dance, and eat sugar) with her friends and {most of} her family. I really cannot thank my sweet niece and her friends enough for playing princess for the day - it really made the party extra fun and memorable for the little girls (who were still talking about Belle, Cinderella and Arield the next week). And I can't thank Heather and Amanda enough for taking these beautiful pictures that will allow us to remember Caroline's 4th birthday forever.