I don't know about you, but I am a Pinterest junkie. I love it. When it comes to my daughters' birthday parties, it takes everything in me NOT to create a "Pinterest Perfect" party. I want to, believe me, I do. However, my daughters are 4, 2 and not even 1. If I start creating these perfect parties now, what are they going to expect in another few years? So, for now I'm trying to keep it simple.
With that said, there is one piece of the party that I always take pride in: the cake. This year I asked Ellie what she wanted her cake to be. Her response? "I want a princess cake with Cinderella and Belle and Ariel and Aurora and Rapunzel and a castle and grass." I was sorry I had asked!! Thank goodness for Pinterest. I found my inspiration perusing the many castle cake examples pinned by dozens of other moms out there. Mine did not turn out nearly as perfect as some I saw, but Ellie's reaction told me that it was perfect to her. :)
So, reigning in my Pinterest urges, I kept the rest of the party simple. I found foam crowns at JoAnn Fabric and Craft Store and bought foam stickers to decorate them with. I put a table cloth on the floor and had a bowl of stickers for each kid
to use on their crowns. As they got started I realized we needed
somewhere to put all of the trash from the stickers, so that's what the
big blue bowl in the middle is.
I wasn't too sure how it would go with 2 to 4-year-olds, but they did an amazing job and really got into it! They also enjoyed wearing them for the rest of the party, and that became their party favor to take home with them.
Besides the crowns, the cake and a few plates and cups, that was about it for the princess theme. We added streamers and lots of balloons and called it a party. Oh, I did recreate the monkey ball-toss from Charlotte's birthday into a "frog prince" ball toss, but that's about it. I'm telling you, at this age, all they need are one another to entertain themselves!
It was simple, fun, and the kids had a blast. Although I may have set the bar a little high for next year's cake, at least I won't be renting a pony and Ferris wheel. :)
