a Party fit for a Princess

I really debated having a birthday party for Jilly this year.  I knew she'd love it (and I'd love planning it), but she's still young and I was not interested in hosting a party full of whining, crying girls.  So I made it simple- we only invited 5 girls, just planned some basic activities, and had it on a Saturday when Bryan and my mom could be there to help.  We had a few tears, but for the most part it went really well, and Jilly loved it.

Naturally Jilly wanted a Princess Party so all the girls come dressed up.  We painted their nails, read a princess book, and decorated wands (I hot glued foam crowns onto dowels and let the girls decorate with jewels and foam stickers- I didn't get many pictures but they were cute and so fun to make.)  Then the girls had a princess lunch of heart-shaped pb&h sandwiches, apples, and popcorn.  We played Pin the Nose on Olaf, Princess Says, and turned on music to let the girls dance and play Follow the Leader.  Jilly opened her presents and then we ate cake- a strawberry cake with white frosting and strawberries on top- her very specific request.

Jilly still talks nonstop about how she had her friends over for a party and has already requested a chocolate cake for her birthday party next year so definitely a success!

^ We got this cake plate for our wedding and it has been at my parents' house for 7.5 years because it would never have survived a trip out west.  So fun to finally get to use it!

^ suuuper blurry but how amazing is that Olaf Bryan drew free-hand?

Garden Party

I am in charge of the activities for the Relief Society in my church.  This month we had our annual Garden Party.  It was a ton of work, but I had a lot of fun planning a party on the church's dime. :)  Things were really crazy in the moments before the party so I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked to.  


We went with a summery theme- lots of pink, orange, and yellow.  The tables had bright tablecloths with white gardenias as the centerpieces.  I made a few pennant banners and we found some cute yellow lanterns at the dollar store.  We served Italian Sodas, which were so yummy and fun.  Luckily there was extra syrup so they will be making an encore at future activities!

The rest of the food was a-mazing too.  Someone in our ward is a caterer and he grilled chicken for us, the women signed up to bring salads, and for dessert we had lemonade pies.  We made them with raspberry lemonade and put cool whip and a raspberry on top (after I took the picture of course.)  These cute cups were from the dollar store

One of the best parts of the night was the Photo Booth.  I made fringe banners from this tutorial and hung them on the trellis (not that you can see them in this picture.)  The props were from here and here.  (Thank you pinterest!)