Angelina Ballerina -4yr- Ballet Class

My daughter wanted to have an "Angelina Ballerina" party for her 4th birthday.  After a search for premade Angelina items came up empty, I decided to make my own.  Also, after discussions with my daughter, I learned that she wanted the party to be as much about ballet as it was about the specific Angelina character. 

For the invitation, I copied a picture from one of my daughter's Angelina books of the mice having a ballet class.  I backed the picture in pale pink paper and printed the invitation on the reverse side.  I put the invitation in small vellum envelopes with the picture showing through on the front and printed the recipient and return addresses on the computer in a fancy font.  The main activity of the party was a ballet class.  I hired my daughter’s dance instructor to teach a 20 minute class. 

The invitation, stated:  One of the party activities will be a ballet lesson.  Your child is welcome to wear a leotard and tights and to bring ballet shoes.  I knew most of the children were taking a dance class at the time; for those who were not in a class, I offered to let them wear one of my daughter’s leotards.  The colors for the party were pink and white (to match the girls’ pink leotards and white tights).  We used simple decorations of pink and white balloons and streamers.  I borrowed a long, low table and chairs from my daughter’s preschool.  The table was decorated with a pink table cloth, pink paper plates and cups, ballet confetti, and pieces of curled pink and white curling ribbon. 

The cake on a stand served as a centerpiece.  I also used the party favors (rhinestone tiaras and tulle ballet skirts) as table decorations.  The tiaras (found inexpensively online) placed at each child’s place added elegant sparkle and the skirts looked beautiful tied around each child’s chair.  The skirts were very easy to make and required only basic sewing skills:  each skirt required one yard of tulle which I folded in half lengthwise and then in half again.  I put pastel colored silk flower petals inside the fold of the skirt and then stitched the back seam.  I then sewed a gathering stitch along the long unfold edge, gathered the skirt and then stitched a wide pink satin ribbon for a sash.  I made a Wilton doll cake where the doll’s torso is put into a skirt-shaped cake. 

The frosting was pink fondant with tiny pink drop flowers decorating the skirt and the doll’s hair.  I used the premade Wilton fondant and found it so much easier to use than the made-from-scratch kind.  Once all of the children had arrived, we had a short story time during which my husband read an Angelina book.  The adults then helped dress the children in their ballet skirts and the class began.  The dance instructor, who was used to working with children of this age, did a wonderful job. 

After the class, the children sat down for lunch (pizza which we had delivered) and cake and ice cream.  The gifts were then opened. 

The last activity was a piñata.  I found a ballet slipper piñata online, and since there was a large number of children (twelve), I bought two so the children did not have to wait too long for their turn.  The piñatas were filled with candy and stickers. 

I gave each child a goody bag for collecting their treats; once all the piñata contents had be picked up, I tied each bag with ribbon and a label preprinted with the child’s name and an Angelina picture.  The party was a great success.  All of the children loved the dance class and the parents thought it was fun, unique idea.