Wizard of Oz Birthday Party

I know it might be hard to believe that a 2 year old would be obsessed with the great classic, Wizard of Oz, but ever since her grandfather introduced the movie to Isabelle last Fall, she has been fascinated and in love!  It was no surprise that Granddaddy let her watch it with him (and I do agree with him that it's one of the best movies of all time), but I must say I was surprised at her reaction.  Ever since that day she has been talking about Dorothy, pretending to be the scarecrow, and singing with a silly voice like the Lion.  She laughs about the flying monkeys (still scary to some adults), idolizes Glinda the good witch, and wants me to act like the Wicked Witch who chases her around the house cackling, "I'll get you my pretty!"  Night after night I had to sing her the "rainbow song" or the "scarecrow song" at bedtime.  This girl was hooked. And of course I ran with it.

Her fascination never wavered, so when it came time for me to start brainstorming about her 3rd Birthday party (6 months before the date, of course), a Wizard of Oz theme came to my mind first!  I've been dreaming up ideas for quite some time now since I am all about a good birthday party.  

And I don't get to entertain adults as much as I'd like these days (for reasons like A. I work too much on weekends and just want to go to bed at 8 pm on Saturday night, B. no more than 2 couples can comfortably fit in our toy infested tiny house, B. it costs too much money to provide the amount of alcohol our friends will go through, C. children don't sleep well when they're 5 feet away from adults staying up and drinking the amount of alcohol we can't afford to provide, D. I hate hangovers, and E. I really hate hangovers, cleaning up a messy kitchen, and entertaining 2 children all at the same time).  Ok, now we just sound like alcoholics;).

So I get really excited about kid's birthday parties!  YAY!

 I considered getting Isabelle her very own Dorothy outfit, but then came across an incredibly talented seamstress who smocks the most gorgeous outfits and dresses for children.  I stumbled upon her on Etsy and was pleased to learn that not only is she in Charlotte, but I have met her since she works next to my mother-in-law at Friendship Trays!  She made a beautiful custom dress for Isabelle, featuring all of the Wizard of Oz characters.  Isabelle adores her dress!

I made this lovely entrance way to the backyard (don't you love the trash cans) complete with a yellow brick road, a rainbow of balloons and the witch's feet under the house.  The orange balloon popped a few minutes before the party started and I almost made Brian run to the store for a new one (that's how anal I am).

Here I just covered a pair of my own shoes in sparkly red fabric, filled them with stuffed socks and wrapped them with stripes made from black electric tape!  I was so excited to show them to Isabelle, but this definitely freaked out the little overwhelmed birthday girl.  When I saw her worried face I immediately pulled them from the house and showed her that we did not actually land on a person's feet.

Thunderstorms were in the forecast for the afternoon of the party, so I was a little nervous about setting things up too early.  And I was very nervous that we'd be canceling the party at the last minute because there's no way 18 kids and their parents are fitting in our house at one time!  I finally decided to chance it and drew the yellow brick road out on our concrete patio.  Then of course a storm blew through and washed it all away, ending about an hour before the party.  So I drew it out a second time and got a double dose of a back-bending workout for the day!  It's all about the details!  We got VERY lucky with the weather!

Just before the party started, Glinda appeared!  My wonderful sister-in-law's sister, Lindsay (new nickname, Glindsay) was so sweet to humor me and wear a Glinda costume at the party so that the little girls could visit with a real live princess.  Isabelle was a little confused since she knows Lindsay well, and wasn't used to seeing her wearing a pink sparkly ball gown and tall crown.

During the storm I was stuck inside waiting for it to blow over and decided at the last minute that Isabelle needed some ruby slippers so I found a pair of her shoes and wrapped them in sparkly red ribbon - viola!  My little Dorothy even had her own little toto to carry around.

I made Glinda wands (silver painted dowels attached to silver glittered wooden stars) for all the girls and little Wizard hats for the boys since I didn't want anyone to feel left out.  Gotta love glitter.  I found some just the other day in Collier's diaper.

What little girl doesn't love a wand?

I filled our yard with some activities and stations, including the witch's castle (our little slide)...

Lion baggo

The bouncy house was a "flying monkey zone" and the swing hanging from a tree limb was the "twister ride".  

Thanks to grandparents for taking care of Collier and especially for my dad taking on the role of photographer while I was hostess!

And at last, the cake.  When I saw these adorable figurines online I decided that they needed to be a part of the cake, so I made my edible version of the Emerald City.  And I couldn't resist making a little house with the witch feet underneath.

It was so much fun seeing Isabelle's reaction to everything!

Lemonade colored with a drop of green food coloring to make Emerald city juice!

Animal crackers for a snack - Lions and Tigers and Bears (oh my)!

I made an art table with wizard of oz character coloring pages, rainbow crayons, glitter glue (Izzy's alltime favorite) and homemade Dorothy dress-up crafts.  I designed the Dorothy picture, then cut out lots of little blue gingham dresses, tiny ruby slippers and little Toto baskets!  Time consuming, yes.  But   making these crafts was so fun for me and I knew Isabelle (and hopefully her little friends) would love it.

This was "pin the heart on the tin man".  I made my own tin man from stainless steel pots and bowls I had in the bakement, complete with funnel hat. The hearts were backed with little magnets for easy pinning!

Isabelle (and her friends) likes the bouncy house most of all!

Of course I had to offer lollipops from the Lollipop Guild.

Here's Isabelle's big birthday gift from us - an adorable playhouse (that her Daddy began assembling just 1 week before the party...gulp).  

One of our other last minute projects...in the hour after the storm ended and before the party started, Brian put together this fabulous scarecrow! 

Izzy's cousins, Betsy Grace and Sutton happily cooking in the playhouse.

Collier with Ellie

I was so relieved the sun came out for our party and it wasn't even too hot!  

Me and Izzy with her aunt Laurie, "Glindsay", and the lollipop that was stuck to her tongue till I cut the cake.

I read a short Wizard of Oz story using Isabelle's favorite pop-up book and the majority of the kids actually sat and listened!

For dinner: chicken nuggets (Izzy's favorite), mac and cheese bricks, spinach brownies (brain food) and rainbow fruit.

Cutest kids ever!

Izzy and her buddy, William.

Time to cut the cake!

Rainbow layers inside!

And since I'm all about desserts, I made some "melting witches" for guests as well.  Chocolate covered mini ice cream cones filled with mint chocolate chip ice cream!

The favors: ruby slipper cookies, rainbow crayons and Glinda bubbles (tied with ribbon and Wizard of Oz rings).  

Yep, I'd been planning that one for months.  And maybe somewhere deep inside I had started planning it since I was a young kid;).

I have been so flattered that a few people have suggested that I start a side business planning kid's birthday parties.  That sounds like a hoot!  I would have a ball.  When I win the lottery, I'd love to have a side business.  For now it's cakes that are paying our mortgage and the hundreds of hours that I'd put into one kid's birthday party (like I did for my own) have to be devoted to my cake business and my family.  

For the record, I do not plan these birthday parties because I'm trying to outdo anyone or compete with other moms.  I am not trying to win any blog awards or fill pinterest boards.  I do this because I love seeing my daughter's face in amazement walking around her own backyard.  I know she's just three and the only memories she'll have of it are from the pictures I've posted.  I know that none of the other kids have any clue what the games and decorations mean (well, actually one friend is equally obsessed with Oz!).  You might think that cakes are my creative outlet.  I'm sure they are, but a majority of the time, making cakes is just my job.  And sometimes I need a creative outlet from my job!  

After parties such as these I always wish I had more moments to chat with friends or sit and watch my daughter play.  I was busy being a hostess and it always flies by in a flash.  But I feel very happy and fulfilled and I think my daughter and her little friends do too.  

The fun was not over.  I had the Glinda costume for one more day, so you'd better believe I was going to be a princess too.  The next day, I surprised Isabelle after her nap and came in singing one of her favorites, "Come out, come out, wherever you are...Come meet the new lady, who fell from a star!"  (Yes, I always wanted to be on Broadway.)

I had one last Wizard of Oz gift for my little dress-up queen.  Her very own Glinda costume!  Funny thing was that she had no interest in trying it on (for the first time in her life she didn't want to dress up like a princess).

I was sad that we couldn't get any pics with matching Glinda dresses before I had to return my rental.  But we spent the afternoon dancing around together on the yellow brick road and that was fine by me.

As itchy and uncomfortable as the dress was, I have to say it was pretty fun being a princess for a day!

The next morning Isabelle's inner-Glinda came out at last.