A Belle Birthday...

This past weekend my Doodlebug turned 4 years old and her birthday party was a pretty good success. I let her pick her theme this year and Doodlebug decided that she wanted a Beauty and the Beast themed birthday party which I was thrilled with because Belle happens to be my favorite princess. I had grand themes of handmade banners and cut outs put everywhere and elaborate decor. My pinterest board was bursting with all of these incredible ideas until the weather had to ruin all of my grand plans. There was a huge storm coming in just for the party. So not only did that change the decor but I also needed to come up with a contingency plan for the kids activities that were rain friendly. So here is what I came up with...

First decor, I figured that with the new live action version of Beauty and the Beast coming out there would be lots of things to work with. Yeah, not so much they are waiting until after the release of the movie which means there was nothing with just Belle anywhere... SO, we worked with yellow and red. Yellow tablecothes with red square plates and red napkins. We bought a 10 ft by 20 ft party tent with sides and everything (an amazing deal we found for $60.00). We got yellow and red balloons to go inside the tent. But with the rain, we decided to forgo the banners and any other paper goods because they would most likely get ruined.

Second the food, we had two menus going on, one for the kiddos and one for the adults. For the kiddos we had chicken nuggets, mini corn dogs, grapes, apple slices, chips and pb&j sandwiches on hawaiin rolls. For the adults we had cracked chicken sandwiches, jalapeno poppers, pigs in a blanket, phillo dough cups with brie and raspberry habenero jam, relish tray and chips. Then for dessert we had the amazing cake that my mother made. I mean check out this picture...

She was completely thrilled with her cake and it tasted delicious too, the bottom layer was chocolate cake with marshmallow fluff filling and the top layer was vanilla cake with raspberry cream filling. The kids all loved it.

Third, the activities, since there was a storm coming, I decided to do crafts galore. I put out tons of stuff. Coloring pages, stickers, construction paper, pom poms, pipe cleaners, glitter, hats, tiaras, scissors, glue, googly eyes, popsicle sticks, glitter glue...It was a table full of fun for these kids. They all loved it. I don't know if you can tell from the picture all of the stuff on the table...

We also made our own playdough. The kids helped me do it and they had tons of fun. I got the recipe here: http://www.the36thavenue.com/kool-aid-playdough-recipe/

My mom also made sugar cookies and the kids got to decorate them with frosting and sprinkles. I did make sure to put in the note for the party that the activities would be messy :) I think I was a bigger mess than the kids though...

Overall, a very successful party in which the kids had a blast, especially my birthday girl. She was definitely happy and worn out by the end of the day. She is a very excited 4 year old. Happy Birthday Doodlebug!!! I love you!

Until next time, I am just enjoying this very tiring journey of an every day mom...