Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Rachel's Ballerina Birthday!

Rachel is four now! And, we had fun celebrating her birthday ballerina style! We got home from Colorado the day before her birthday - but had her party a few days later on Saturday. I made the decorations and planned most everything while in Colorado - here's the result!

Oh, before we start on the party - here is the beautiful Birthday Girl!!! These photos are copyright JC Penney:

I have to say that I never dreamed ballerina party ideas or supplies being so hard to find! We had to get creative with things to pull this off as there just wasn't much out there to support our theme.

First, for the invitations - I found these on Target clearance two or three years ago and assumed that at some point one of the girls would want a ballet party. Aren't these cute?!


Next, I began working on decorations - I found this template and cut out about a zillion of these little girls! Then, I glued tulle for skirts on every other ballerina and a pearl on the crown on the other half of the girls. These made a cute garland in our dining room!

Then, I enlarged the template a bit and cut out some more ballerinas and glued them to wooden skewers and stood them up in a little jar of sugar on the table.

Here are our little ballerinas ready for the party! Our girls wore their recital costumes and we had a couple of extra outfits to share. Plus, borrowed a couple more costumes from another ballet friend!

While guests were arriving, we invited them to get dressed as a ballerina and enjoy some Angelina Ballerina puzzles that my aunt found at a yard sale!!

The first activity of the party was this ballet shoe craft. I used the invitation as a template and some free cardboard that came to my mom's office in a box of stationery. And, punch a few holes in the top to tie ribbons in. Then, I provided glitter, sequins, crayons and stickers to decorate them.

After finishing up the craft, we enjoyed reading this new
Ballerina book that Rachel opened on her birthday!

Next, we played another Angelina game I found at Goodwill! It is a board game - but I just skipped all of that and pulled out the deck of cards. On each card it had another ballet movement and the character showed how to do it! I had each girl draw 2 or 3 (or more if they wanted) cards and then do their dance moves!

After doing that for a while, it was time for cupcakes! I had made these before we left for Colorado and put them in the freezer to simplify birthday time when we got home! Some homemade pink frosting and cute princesses and we were all set! I really thought about making little ballerinas for the top of the cupcakes - but Rachel saw these at Hobby Lobby and at $2 it was a simpler solution than making little ballerinas! I didn't get any pictures during this part - I'm good at pictures before a party but not so much during a party!


After cupcakes, she opened a few gifts from her friends.
Rachel exclaimed over everything and declared it perfect!
She had a great time!

And, for the budget-conscious mom - I can say that I stuck with my $50 Birthday budget and that included food, gifts, paper for decorations, games, etc...

Happy Birthday Rachel!

25 comments:

Ginger said...

Wow! Those Penney's pictures really capture her spirit.

Anonymous said...

Looks like a great party! She is so cute!
Kelly Erdel

Wendi said...

Great party! Simple, yet fun. You always do a great job!

Mom said...

Sweet party for our sweet birthday girl. :) I'm glad Pepaw could be there to share the festivities. We love you, Rachel! Love, Grammie

angie said...

Amazing that you pulled off this party shortly after returning home!
Since I have a dancing daughter with a birthday in September, I looked closely at all of the details.
It is neat how God provides even in the minute details--finding puzzles and games at second-hand prices.
Did you serve any food that aligned with the theme?

~katie~ said...

Darling photos and darling decor! All the special little touches go so so far...thanks for sharing your creativity! Happy Birthday to Rachel! Our daughter will be 4 at the end of this month! :-)

*carrie* said...

Such a cute party, and an even cuter girl!

Intentional Living Homestead said...

Wow...what an incredible party. Your daughter is absolutely the cutest...you are truly blessed and she is blessed to have you for a mom.

Heather's Blog-o-rama said...

Monica....what a sweet birthday party. I had fun looking at all the photos. You put such thoughtful detail into everything...very creative. When you mentioned that you purchased the ballerina shoe invited a couple years ago in anticipation of a birthday like this...well, that's just smart :) :) :) Loved all the photos, everything...my two favorites were the table all decorated and ready to go...loved the colors and all the hanging decorations..I also loved that same table photo with all the girls dressed up in their ballet outfits and working on fun birthday crafts etc...It all looked really magical...even for a big girl like me :) :) if I'm ever blessed with kids, I'll remember great ideas like this!!! You're such a good mom1!! Have a great week. Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather :)

Shelby said...

As always Monica such a beautiful party. You do such a fabulous job! I would hire you if you lived in PA.

Shelby

Amy @ Keep'n The SunnySide said...

What a beautiful birthday girl! Great decorations Monica.. I'm sure everyone really enjoyed the princess party.

Unknown said...

You give me hope for planning my DD's upcoming birthday. I'm returning home from vacation 2 days before her party. We're doing a pink, cowgirl, farm party.
Your ballerina party is beautiful and I'm sure I'll be copying a few of your ideas in a few years.

Heather at Hearthside said...

Great job Monica! I am sure she will look back on this party fondly, and when she is old enough, she will understand all the effort you put in. Beautiful daughter, beautiful party!

Jill said...

Happy birthday Rachel!! What a delightful little party! I LOVE planning parties for my girls too.
This turned out really nice.
Blessings,
Jill

Kimberly Kovach said...

Looks like you had a lovely party with a lovely little lady. She is quite photogenic.

Debra said...

So cute!! I just love the ballerina templates you cut out. I will file that idea away for next year. :) Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday Rachel ! She is so cute in these photos ! And you are a sweet and crative mom ! My third daughter will be 4 in October !
Cinzia from Italy

Blissful & Domestic said...

what a perfect idea!

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

You are a brave woman to let all those little kids use glitter in your house! LOL.

Very cute party ideas. I'm glad your little ballerina had a wonderful birthday!

Lorie said...

It all looks so fun! The ballerina garland is my favorite! I don't think I posses enough patience to actually even ATTEMPT that! It is soo cute! I am going to feature it on my blog tomorrow!

KJ@letsgoflyakite said...

I found you via Be Different, this is an amazing party! You will all remember it for years to come.

holly said...

Oh, what a cute party. I love all the decorations! Have you seen those nutter butter ballet shoes alittleloveliness makes? They would go so cute with this party!

KasiaJ said...

Lovely! What a sweet party for your little one.

Amanda Ward said...

so cute, thank you, thank you, thank you for posting! I am also doing a ballet bday party and am shocked at how little there is out there! Love the paper doll/ballerinas!

Balletstuff said...

Love the fact that you did this all on a budget - will be featuring this blog on www.balletstuff.com.au - This site was set up by a mum who did not want to spend heaps on dancewear. Thanks for showing us how to make something special on a budget