My Princess Turns 4!

I have now fully accepted to blog posts just aren't going to get done when I'd like for them to.  But better late than never!

My angel, Isabelle, turned 4 in July and as usual, I got super excited about planning her birthday party.  This year it was all about her calling the shots.  She told me she wanted a princess party several months before July, and lucky for me she stuck to the plan.  

I've learned to embrace the princess obsession, even though I spent a few years making princess cakes for little girls, thinking "ugh, please not my child one day."  But here we are.  Along with the rest of them, my daughter is utterly obsessed with princesses (which includes all things sparkly, fancy and as girly as it gets).  Every Disney princess has won her heart, but of course the most coveted princess dress, that of Frozen's Elsa, is the one she has been begging for.  After spending many hours searching for the perfect Elsa dress (and losing one to a fraudulent Etsy transaction), I finally found one the day before her party at Morris Costumes.  And the real reason we went there was to find myself a princess dress to wear to a party, something I was much anticipating!  Ok, ok...half the reason I had kids was to relive my childhood!!

After much thought and consideration, I decided to keep the party small and simple.  A tea party with a handful of her closest friends and cousins, so that everyone could sit at one table together and small enough so that I could tell parents to drop off if they want.  And of course, it was Isabelle's choice to be ALL GIRLS!  She has a lot of girlfriends though, so it was still hard to keep the size under 12!

We decided to have it at my parent's house, where there's ample room for lots of little girls to run around and nice large (fancy) dining room for everyone to have "tea" together.  

And for the much anticipated cake.  I thought about asking Isabelle what to do for the cake but got a little worried that she'd insist on something far too extravagant.  I went on with plans to make a princess (out of gumpaste) to look like her, complete with a full gown made out of cake.  I've done so many princess castles, and decided it was time to do something a little different.  At one point I became so curious and finally broke down and asked Isabelle what kind of cake she'd like…just to see.  She said "cupcakes with Belle rings on top."   I could have just gone to Harris Teeter.  

I had the most fun decorating this cake, including every little detail from the tiny star wand to the little gap-toothed smile.  And on the morning of her party, I brought Izzy down for a viewing.  It was the most gratifying moment and one I'll never forget (hopefully many more to come)!  She was in awe!   

We decorated with lots of pink and purple (her favorite colors of course!).

And set the tables with real porcelain teacups, and a cute little princess themed sticker scene for the kids to decorated while waiting for lunch.

I ordered tiny princess tote bags and personalized each one with their names, then filled them with tiara sugar cookies, stickers, and nail polish.

 I have such fond memories of having birthday parties in this house when I was a young girl, so it was very special to have one for my daughter here!

We started off the party with jewelry box painting and decorating.  I got small wood boxes from Hobby Lobby and painted each one light pink, then provided stickers, glitter glue and paints for the girls to go crazy with.

Our next activity was princess makeovers in the princess castle tent.  I crammed into the tent (with that gigantic Cinderella dress) and had each child come in one at a time to get made over. I gave each girl a tiara, necklace, sticker earrings and a matching ring.  Then I completed their look with hot pink lipstick!!  (Part of the reason we did this before lunch was so that the parents wouldn't be horrified when they picked their child up, because it would rub off by then!)  It was a little freaky seeing these small innocent girls all jeweled up, wearing lipstick.  But they sure did love it, and that's all that mattered to me!  Well, maybe I should have reconsidered the color choice.

4 going on 18!

I instructed each child to kiss the frog after lipstick was applied, but I guess they didn't think that was such a fun idea!

 For lunch we served pink lemonade tea, tiny cut-out shapes of PB&J, mini pizzas, and turkey and cheese wraps.  

They barely ate.  I think they were saving up for cake!

The prince finally arrived!

After lunch, we had a splendid dance party!!

 The happiness was contagious and I was on cloud nine watching these precious, beautiful little girls!

 I might have gotten a little into it when Let it Go came on.  It's a damn good song.

I am so thankful to have this girl in my life.  She will always be my princess!