Four. A Purple Princess Party.
THE DETAILS
As we started picking out fabrics and decorations for the party, Clementine chose purple. YES! Bye, bye pink...there's a new color in town.
For the entrance to the back yard we used giant foam board to make a simple castle silhouette.
Party Decor
One crazy chandelier. Our amazing neighbors let us use their yard again and to my surprise when I went to their yard sale the weekend before the party there was a giant chandelier hanging from the tree. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was SO perfect for the royal ball. As it turned out, no one bought it and they kept it up for the party! I made a fresh daisy flower chain and hung it along with pearls and ribbons from this chandelier. 15 yards of purple tulle draped from chandelier to ground to sort of set a space for the table.
We rented a kid sized table with chairs, a silver candelabra (every castle has a candelabra!) that I used battery operated, orange flamed led candles in, and two pieces of black and white dance floor (what's a ball without a place to dance?)
We found purple shimmery fabric for a tablecloth and more glittery tulle accents than I know what to do with (and will find glitter in our house forever). A magical, slightly cheesy (but not if you're 4) iridescent table cloth from party store cut in half served as a topper for the cake/make up table and the other half for "curtains" near the unicorn pinata. Latex helium balloons with one giant unicorn (princesses really like unicorns I heard and the little miss went crazy for this balloon in the store so I caved) and regular balloons hanging down from the tree branches with ribbon and streamers were fun blowing in the wind.
Dress
Clementine wore her new Rapaunzel dress that she received for her birthday from her grammy. She started off with a wig that was braided with flowers and ribbons but it kept falling off while moving about and one thing's for sure: a princess has to dance, so off came the wig.
She told her dad he was Prince Charming.
Our good friend, Danielle, has always captivated Clementine. She's convinced she's a princess and has called her Princess Danielle for as long as I can remember. She, with her long brown hair and dark eyes, dressed up as Jasmine for the party and was nice enough to sweetly make up the girls' faces. The girls loved her!
And me? Well, I was going to be a queen but then decided on a magical fairy godmother. I made a few "improvements" to an iridescent sparkly vintage dress, put too much glitter on my face, tied my hair up with a bunch of sparkly tulle, carried a magic wand and bibbidy bobbidy boo I could make your dreams come true, or at least pretend to. It was my slightly 80's Madonna-esque version of a fairy godmother.
The princesses came dressed in their favorite dress and I had made princess party hats for them out of sparkly purple paper with tulle and ribbon coming out of the top. They looked super cute with them on. I also found iridescent heart and star shaped wands in the dollar section of target in guess which color? Lavender! So, I had to get them, it was meant to be. They looked pretty sitting on the table, too.
Activities
Make-up and Face Paint- When the girls first got there they danced around a bit and then one by one went over to Princess Jasine who made them ready for the ball! Next to the table I hung up an ornate mirror with a sign over it that said 'Mirror, Mirror on the Wall' so the girls could get a look at themselves. It also made for some cute pictures.
Decorating Boxes- What princess party would be complete without gems? I painted heart shape balsam boxes sparkly purple and the girls decorated the tops with gems. This kept them busy so everyone could get their make up and face painted AND now they had something to put their pinata candy into to bring home.
The Royal Ball- What do you get when you mix a silver hamper from ikea decorated with tulle and labeled with a sign that said 'Royal Ball' with three lightweight playground balls? A few giggles at the pun and a fun time trying to toss the balls into the basket.
Poison Apple- Kind of like Snow White's version of hot potato. Pass the shiy red apple around the circle and when the music stops whichever princess held the apple could take a bite (or pretend to) and fall into a deep sleeping spell. Don't worry, the fairy godmother was there to sprinkle a little magic fairy dust on them to wake them up. (Clementine chose a kiss from Prince Charming)
Cinderella's Hidden Slipper- I hid one of Clementine's "glass slippers" and the girls looked for it. When one of them found it they took a turn in hiding it. This was ongoing throughout the party and it took me until the next day to find it after whoever hid it last!
Freeze Dance at the Royal Ball- The princesses hit the dance floor while the music played, when the music stopped I chimed in with my best impression of a clock striking twelve and they ran off the dance floor (a la Cinderella) and froze. Repeat. This was SO much fun and could've gone on for a very long time if it wasn't time for cake!
Pinata- Unicorn with pull strings. Always a hit.
Snacks, Rice Krispie Wands, and a Castle Cake
The party was from 2-4 so I just had some simple snacks (veggies, cheese and crackers, nuts, popcorn, etc.) and lots of PURPLE FRUIT! I even found blueberry lemonade- purple drinks, too!
For the cake I bought the Wilton Castle Cake kit and just went for it although my cake decorating skills are nothing to write home about. I made the cake and buttercream frosting from scratch but I did buy already made purple frosting. I needed a few shortcuts! Instead of frosting and sugaring the tower tops I just used the scraps of purple sparkly paper leftover from the hats. My first stacked cake! I was actually really proud of myself and Clementine loved it!
The day before the party I made a pan of Rice Krispie treats and cut them ino stars using a cookie cutter. I dipped one end of a Wilton long cookie treat stick into melted chocolate and pushed it into my star making it a wand, then I drizzled a little chocolate over the treat and added a few purple nonpareils. I wrapped them in cellophane bags and tied them off with a few pieces of that shiny metallic basket filler stuff you can get at craft stores. They were very fun and the girls each went home with one.
Surprise Balls
I have always loved surprise balls so I decided to make them as a party favor. I started with a small rubber ball and a little message that said, "We had a Royal Ball- Thanks for coming!" and wrapped it in a long strip of crepe paper. You keep wrapping and adding small treats until the end result of a small ball. Our surprises included unicorn stickers and tattoos, a purple wishing stone, star confetti, a jewel ring, and a sparkly gem. The real fun is in the unwrapping of the layers to find the little treats as the confetti spills out. Sadly, I have no pictures.
A tired princess poses from her window in the tower
We held up the little miss Rapunzel Clementine for a picture in her tower. I beamed when she told me it was the best day EVER. I guess that means we lived happily ever after.
