Arden's Favorite Things Fourth Birthday Party

If you haven't figured out by now I love to plan parties!  I enjoy the challenges of finding the perfect decor, staying within a budget, and making the cake.  I almost enjoy the planning more than the actual party. :)  I wanted this birthday to be big and special for Arden since she didn't have anything special last year.  I had a newborn and just wasn't up to it. 

I hoped to make Arden's 4th birthday unique and filled with my own ideas.  This was hard for me since practically every idea has already been done.  Pinterest will prove that.  Now I LOVE Pinterest and used some ideas from there, but I am proud to say that I did a lot of stuff on my own.  It might not have come out exactly as I envisioned, but it was fun trying!

This post will be both about the preparations and the party itself. Will I be bragging on myself in this post? Heck yeah!  I worked hard on this party and did an awesome job if I do say so myself! 

I racked my brain for weeks trying to come up with the perfect theme for Arden's party.  Initially Arden wanted a Caillou party.  BORING!  Then I thought about a fishing party since she loves to fish.  My Little Pony, Barbie, Dora, and other themes came to mind.  I just didn't want to do any of those.  I wanted to do something more original.  So I thought of an idea to feature all of Arden's favorite things!  I scanned Pinterest to see if others had done this, too.  I found one lady that did a favorite things party for her 90 year old grandma.  It was a really cute party and I copied her idea of the frame as the centerpiece.

Invitation
Now that I decided on a theme, let the planning begin!  I created an original invitation with the help of iMovie, YouTube, and Crystal's voice (because we all know I sound like a tortured cat when I sing.)
Here is the invitation.  It's sung to the tune from the Sound of Music.  I absolutely love how it turned out!  Check it out!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY8vZY2ZUJ0

Decorations:
Arden's favorite color is yellow.  Perfect!  My kitchen walls are yellow.  I like the trendy yellow and gray color scheme so that is what I chose as the party colors.


The curtains are made out of two yards of cloth and strips of fabric.  The tablecloth is also just cloth from Hobby Lobby.  The signs flanking the table are lists of her favorites.

Wooden/paper plaques featuring Arden's favorites.




the circle garland is just paper circles attached to string.  I like to use floss for string because it's sturdy.

Pinterest-inspired wall decorations.  The circles on the wall are made from an assortment of tissue paper, printer paper, and construction paper. I love how they came out. I might just leave them up!



My creation.  "Adore" in yellow

a rag-tie garland I made from strips of fabric.  Arden also wore a rag-tutu.  Arden's favorite drink is chocolate milk so I used empty Starbucks Frappucino bottles to mimic old-fashioned milk jugs.  I found the old-fashion paper straws on Etsy.  I served chocolate milk and lemonade (another of Arden's favorite drinks) 


 

The kids then used stickers to personalize their bottles.



 

Food: 

I served Arden's favorite foods:  pizza, goldfish, Cheetos, cheese, and fruit, and marshmallows.  She also loves hotdogs so I served pigs in a blanket as an alternative.

 



My creation. Caillou pizzas for the kids. Pepperoni and macaroni for his cap. Peppercorns for his face. I know, I'm awesome. ;)



Arden is attached to her baby blanket and calls it "Sweet Blankey"



Marshmallow Roses because she loves marshmallows, loves flowers, and her middle name is Rose.

 

Cake!

Arden's favorite stuffed animal is a Hallmark interactive stuffed dog named Bell. Bell is not mainstream so I tried to think of a way to implement her into the party theme. That's when I decided to make the cake look like Bell! Considering this is my first 3-D cake ever to make for a party, I think it turned out really good. Crystal and Jessica gave me guidance as I was carving it out. I scared them more than once as I made bold moves with the cake. I think they had a heart attack when I picked up and repositioned the entire head! So funny. They were so concerned that I would crumble the entire project. I know it doesn't look perfect, but not too shabby for an amateur! 

 

The making of Bell

finished product



Arden with Bell... and Bell



Another of my creations..  cake pops in the shape of puzzle pieces. Pre-icing they were interlocking to form one big puzzle. Let me tell ya these were a pain in the butt! Crystal and I had trouble figuring out how to put the stupid puzzle back together after I cut them!

The Main Attraction

What little kid doesn't want a Pony at her party?  Especially when My Little Pony is a favorite toy.  We had so much fun with this animal.  We were supposed to only have the pony for two hours.  The guy that owns the pony asked if he could drop it off the night before the party because he had to work the next day.  So we had the horse for 24 hours!  Score!  The guy gave us pink hair spray to paint the mane and tail.  Arden immediately named the pony Fluttershy and tried to put bows on its hair.  Poor pony considering she was a very obvious he.  He also pooped.  And pooped.  And pooped.  Along with neighing.  Very loudly.  Brian had plans to ride him up and down the street.  For the pony's sake I didn't allow it. 

The kids took turns at the party riding it.  They chased it around, fed it, and petted it.  It was the highlight of the party.  The bigger kids even had a chance to ride it.

 

 

Games

The kids know that when they come to my parties I will have activities planned. Immediately I was being asked when the games were going to start.  Ha! 

Pinterest-inspired fishing game.  I made fishing poles out of sticks, strings, and magnets.  I then made 30 fish out of foam and paperclips.  The kids fished by picking up the fish with the magnetized pole.  They had twenty seconds to get as many fish as possible.  They then got to choose a prize for every fish they caught.   

cheap and easy dollar store game.  Pin the Star on the Princess Wand

Pinata!

And of course there was the trusty sandbox and swingset.  I also had bubbles and a bubble machine to keep the kids entertained.  The weather wasn't as gorgeous as it was for Jack's birthday party, but it was still mild and pretty.   

 

After cake Arden opened some great gifts:

cute clothes, shoes, toys, purses, makeup, a water-spinning Cinderella, Build a Bear gift card, Barbies, My Little Pony, Rapunzel PlayDoh, handmade bows, and a remote controlled Barbie car!

In her new green shoes with her remote controlled Barbie car.

 

Party Favors

A creation of mine: pillowcase bags.  I worked hard on these bad boys.  I asked each mom to submit a list of each of her kid's favorite things.  I used tagxedo.com to generate customized word art for each guest.  I then printed them onto iron-on transfers and put them on pillowcases.  I inserted a drawstring  into each pillow case so that they became pillowcase/bags.  They can be used as a traditional pillowcase, as laundry bags, as overnight bags, or whatever.  

All of the Word Arts I created

an example of the party favors.

As a pillow

as an overnight bag

And the lovely Halle modeling it as a laundry bag, lol

Well that sums up the party.  It was a success, and as usual I was extrememly exhausted by the end of it.  It was a good exhaustion though, and I hope Arden forever remembers the party with her own song, Caillou pizza, the Bell cake, and the pooping pony.  :)  Arden told me, "This is the best birthday party ever!"  That made it worth the effort.  :)



and a random picture of brother Jack chillin out enjoying a marshmallow pop