a bunch of fairies
the first official friend birthday party for eve. a big time fairy party. despite the lack of sleep the night before and the few things that i just didn't have enough time or hands to finish, it was great. we stuck to inviting four of eve's closest little girl friends- out of ease and apartment size- and i'm so glad we did; with parents and a couple little siblings, our place was packed.
forgive the photography, with both chip and i engaged in the partying, and the photographer (chip) feeling a bit under the weather, several shots that i would have loved to share just don't exist. so, some we'll do retroactively and others, you'll just have to read about.
we'll go chronologically.
invitations by chip. complete with a little cartoon of fairy eve.
decorations. i love the lens on my camera. except when i want to get a room shot; then i get frustrated at it's limitations. working with what we've got, here are some glimpses of what the place looked like. i made the pom poms using this martha stewart instructional. chip suspended the balloons (can you tell that the balloons with lace ribbons aren't floating on the ceiling, but mid-air? they are.) and together the effect was kind of magical. i almost want to keep the pom poms up. so fun and kind of strange just floating there.
girls enter. immediately (or as soon as i can get eve to stop repeating "it's my birthday!") they are given their very own magic fairy wand. painted and glittered wooden dowel and bead. ribbon hot glued to dowel, dowel slid (from bottom of dowel up) over the ribboned dowel and secured with some more hot glue. with some great classical dancing music playing, the girls danced and waved their ribbons around. flight of the bumblebees was the favorite song by far and at the end the girls ended up with all their ribbons tangled together in a giant knot and giggling like crazy.
snack time.
fairy skirts are handed out. eve freaks out because she wants one with a yellow ribbon because yellow matches her hair. plus, i made her take a green-ribboned wand so she was already a little miffed. negotiations took place and all were happily outfitted. watching little girls dress up is so fun. ruth has no time for the fairy skirt i made for her- she has commandeered eve's birthday gift from chip's parents- a fairy princess dress.
treasure hunt- hunting for the final thing needed to transform all the girls into fairies. put together and led by the fairy treasure master chip. with great clues like "without ribbons you're a fairy slouch. but don't worry; look on the couch!" the girls had a great time running from spot to spot and collecting all the items needed to make their very own fairy crowns.
crown making. finally putting to use the massive amount of beads i randomly bought at costco several years ago. and, i love pipe cleaner and ribbon.
lunch. lemonade with fresh strawberries, yogurt covered pretzels and raisins, popcorn, cubed mozzarella and cheddar, grapes (two colors as specifically requested by birthday fairy), strawberries, blueberries and apples served with three different dips: cream cheese mixed with marshmallow fluff, lime curd, and cream cheese mixed with brown sugar and almond flavoring. not surprisingly, all the girls wanted the marshmallow fluff dip on their plates- i had colored it a light pink which was apparently more appealing than the very pale green of the other two choices. peanut butter and jelly for the fairies and turkey tea sandwiches (raisin walnut bread, cream cheese mixed with scallions, turkey and fresh basil leaves-- amazing and again courtesy of barefoot contessa) for the adults.
cake/cupcakes. eve was not willing to accept just having cupcakes, so in addition to the coconut mini cupcakes i made a little 6" cake to stick the candles on. it seems there's some sort of adjustment that should be made when using cupcake batter for a full cake (more oil?) but i don't know it so the cake was hard to frost- so crumbly on the sides- but still delicious. as all the girls pointed out, there were a lot more than four candles on the cake, but knowing eve's fear of fire i was sure she'd be requiring the help of her friends to blow them out so i loaded it up. eve wouldn't go closer than 10" to the cake.
present opening. her little friends were sweet and generous and eve was appreciative. we've already put all the gifts to use several times over.
fairy jumps. i don't know who started this, but the girls were going nuts and we're okay with jumping on the couch as long as it is orderly and shoeless. plus it was a fairy party- they had to get some flying in somehow.
take home goods. all little fairies left with their magic ribbon wand, fairy tutus, crown and a few of these lollipops i made on friday. blueberry and green apple. i have a suspicion that i put too much citric acid in the green apple, so their flavor might be more accurately described as "grossly sour, with a hint of apple," but i'm going to call this first venture into candy making a success anyway, because i know for sure that the blueberry is yummy.
and i think i'll call our very official and very first friends birthday a success. especially since chip, after sleeping for several hours post-party, did all the dishes.
eve's favorite part? "finding lots of things and playing with her friends, her fairy friends."
Monday, March 17, 2008 at 12:15PM
Reader Comments (16)
Amazing and adorable.
I think instead of delving into the world of learning how to make amazing things myself, maybe we should just live near you and I will hire you (apparently after also striking it rich!)
I am in awe! You guys must be the artsiest and most creative people I know. You make my attempts at being craftsy look so sad... :)
oh, I wish I could have been there. It is so beautiful and so magical. Everything looks perfect Katie!! so fun!
wow. absolutely perfect!
i love the pompoms and the fairy skirts and wands. the food and cake look delicious too. oh and the lollipops! i think you get mom of the year award for that party!
Oh Katie, that is just the most adorable party ever. Everything looks so perfect!! I don't blame you for wanting to leave the pom poms up - they look awesome. :)
Mom of the year! That sounds sooo fun and cute! I'm glad she had a great day.
the barefoot contessa, which one is it? when i looked into finding it, i see there is a cookbook and also one that is called barefoot contessa everyday. thanks katie!
I guess I shouldn't feel so badly to have missed it, considering that my little boy wouldn't have been invited anyway, but come on! Don't you need a little elf at a fairy party? I would have loved to have seen it in person (it looks amazing) but I'll have to settle for these photos.. at least I can now imagine it in my head! (And, oh, it looks like so much fun!)
i knew it! i knew it would be great. i could comment on it all but for now i'll just say you continue to be an inspiration.
Everything looks great!
I just bought new lollipop molds from getsuckered.com, since my old one's are in bad shape. If you haven't seen it, check them out. I only make them for Valentines - but where do you get blueberry flavoring?
Completely adorable party.
fantastic job Katie, I just may take all your ideas and do a party for Chloe. Looking at the pictures, Chlo wishes she could have been there! (me too!)
Adorable!!! Katie, you and Chip are so talented! That is the best fairy birthday one could ever dream of! (And the menu sounded downright magical!) PS- Cakes v. cupcakes. Usually you need a little more soda or baking powder in a cake because it's a heavier amount trying to rise than in the little cups. When adapting a cake recipe into a cupcake recipe we usually half or sometimes even omit the rising agents (esp. if using self-rising flour, my BFF of the gluten world.) So-- I need your address.
Katie! Wow! What a cute party! I'm glad Eve loved it so much because she will be invited to another one in about a month. Apparently, princess Lucy is preparing a party for all the princes and princesses in her kingdom. I, her lovely handmaiden can only hope to pull one off half as cute as yours.
What an amazing fairy party! Your photos are actually really beautiful. The costumes, the food, the decorations: everything looks perfect!
What an amazing party. You get the supermom of the year award hands down. Chris, his sister, and I were all talking about how talented you are!!!! We all read your blog. I don't know how you get it all done and still have energy!
You Rock!
Love, A
Oh, to have your energy, Katie! And you're how many months pregnant?!? All I have to say is a-MAZ-ing. Bet Eve will dream about her magical party for years! :) Love ya, cous!