Ashley's 8th Birthday
Ashley created her own birthday party theme this year and did an awesome job tailoring all her 'favorite things' into parts of the party; stuffed animals, party games, dress-up, music, tents, outdoor play & swinging. We made a cat silhouette party sign to greet everyone at the front door.
She started with the animal theme and then created her own invitations. The first draft of the invitations was adorable but she didn't want to color that many cards. So I bought card stock and she folded the cards. We stamped the inside 'Who, What, When & Where' info and then filled in the rest. For decorations, she trimmed the front edge with ruffle edge craft scissors and added animal stickers. Voila!
Our first activity was to let all the girls decorate their own Animal Mask (tutorial). We had cat & dog faces to choose from. The girls chose sparkles, bows, stickers, buttons & glitter jewels to adorn their masks.
After everyone finished their masks we had lunch. This was a little more of Ashley's 'favorite things'. The menu included mini ham & cheese sandwiches, mini PB&J sandwiches, cheese cubes, a fruit platter, goldfish crackers, pretzel sticks & animal crackers. Yum!
Ashley was so excited to have strawberry lemonade, which is a huge sign of spring for her. I added the little peeps on a straw for a fun 'animal' twist. They turned out pretty cute but were really sticky as I pushed them onto the straws. Once there was lemonade in the glasses though the sticky sugar melted away.
After eating, it was on to the party games. Games are a must for Ashley at any party or gathering! We have done piñatas at Easter, pin-the-nose on Santa, & pin-the-smile on the sun, just to name a few. Every person who celebrates a birthday at our house has played 'pin-the-tail on something'. So, for her birthday we played Pin-the-Tail on the bunny, along with musical chairs and 'hot potato-honey badger' using a stuffed honey badger. I didn't get any good pictures of the games because I was the game DJ. I downloaded iTunes music from some of Ashley's favorite movies to use for the musical chairs & hot potato games.
The funny thing was, the girls were so excited that they blew through all the organized activities in about the first hour and a half of a four hour party. This turned out not to be a problem at all because of the beautiful weather and 6 little girls with boundless imaginations. They took to the sunny backyard with blankets, tents, dolls, costumes & stuffed animals. They only took a break when Ashley remembered the Cupcakes Brookies, & ice cream.
With a sugar rush, they ran out the back door for more fresh air playtime. Everyone went home with a Pet Treat goodie bag, a twist on my Popcorn Ball recipe. It turned out to be a wonderful party!
Happy 8th Birthday to my sweetest little girl!! I love you!
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