"Let's Have a Ballerina Princess Party"
My friend mentioned the words "help", "daughter", and "princess party" one afternoon. Granted, they were probably in a full sentence, but that was all I needed to hear for my party turning wheels to get in motion. In fact, I'm not sure she even asked for my help, but I sure did volunteer it. :) We sat there and the big ideas spewed out of my mouth...I just couldn't stop it. Then reality kicked in, but I was determined not to let it damper our fun on this party! Once we meandered our way back to reality,and realized that turning the house and staircase into a castle with a moat around the front of the house and a little bridge for the little princesses to cross, was probably a little out of our league (this year) we let the fun begin. There are several reasons this made my month. But to share a few...
Reason #1: I love girly things...but do not have a little girl of my own.
Reason #2: If there is an excuse to use pink...I will.
Reason #3: I love to plan parties...and spend someone else's money
Reason #4: I thrive on a challenge to create something beautiful for little $.
Reason #5: I grew up in the studio prefecting those plie's and tendu's so adding the little ballerina touch to the princess theme would make her daughter's party ultra fabulous :)
Reason #6: You gotta love a party, whether for an adult or 2 year old...there is always cake!
We did have a couple boundaries. We wanted to do it on a small budget and we had less than 2 weeks to get it all together. Here's how it went...
1) Invitations
If you aren't hooked on Etsy yet you are missing out. The first thing I did was go to www.etsy.com and put "Ballerina Princess" in the search field. That was how we found these adorable invitations from BabyCakesArt. Once those were ordered we moved on to what little Princess P. would wear for her big day.
2) Birthday Outfit
ABC Baby Boutique is full of adorable accessories to make sure your princess shines. One of my favorites are her handmade tutu's. I ordered the Pretty in Pink Tutu and it was an early birthday gift to Princess P. Every princess has to have a handmade tutu for her Ballerina Princess Party:). The crown and a wand were found at JoAnn Fabrics for ....wait for it.....a $1!
3) Decorations
We needed to turn a dull screened in porch to a room fit for our little ballerina princess. We added some inexpensive pink fabric to the ceiling that we draped from the corners to the middle and then added some pink curly ribbon and balloons. Instant glam for little $$$$.
I designed some custom "Happy Birthday" banners with brown and pink polka dot ribbon and a little crown to add instant charm. Its amazing what you can do with a little ribbon and paper!
For inexpensive fun, you can never go wrong with some chalkboard paint. We sprayed the inside of the gates to the porch with the chalkboard paint and then added a castle and princess crown drawing to let the kids know they were free to have fun on these walls!
4) The Sweets
Add some glam to your party with personalized cake or cupcake toppers. I made these crown's with '2' and the 'P' with the crown's. Have I mentioned how much I love paper and ribbon :).
5) Party Favors
We've all had our fair share of birthday parties and we typically round up a bunch of little trinkets that go along with the theme and throw them in a bag. We decided to change that up a bit and with the same amount of money give something that might be used just a little more instead of finding their way to the garbage or under the seat in the car. :). We found princess skirts and princess wands at the DollarTree. The girls were able to dress up during the party and take them home. Plus we hung them up on the porch to add some more princess decorations.
6) Have Fun...
...watch those kids have the time of their life and capture it with some photos! Here's a photo of my Lil Man, Princess P, and her brother (and Lil Man's best bud) before the festivities were underway.
Do you have pics from a Ballerina Princess Party or ideas you'd like to share? If so, please leave a comment or send pics to inspiremecrafts@yahoo.com!
Be inspired, get creative, and have fun!
