Princess Barbie Party - 4yr - Digging for Jewels

It was my daughter's 4th birthday and she had been asking for a birthday party for the past year, literally every day. So, it had to be special!! We decided on a princess Barbie theme and the rest had to be perfect. First of all I decided that it would be nice not just to have a special day for the little friends that would be invited but for all the deserving hard working moms to get a special treat as well. Therefore, we decided to have a mommy & me princess birthday party.

First of all, the invitations were chosen with Princess Barbie in the front. In each invitation was special glitter writing announcing the Mommy & Me princess party. Also, it requested all princesses be in their favorite princess attire. It also said Princess Barbie would be there "Live in person".

That was approaching and I wanted my daughter to wear the perfect princess outfit. I went to several costume places but could not find the dazzling outfit that I had initially thought would be a breeze to find. All the outfits that were her size were just too “scratchy" and poorly made. At last I remembered a special dress that I had saved in my closet from 10 years ago when I changed from my wedding gown to my party dress on my special wedding day. It just so happened to be magenta with a sparkling glitter sleeveless top. It just so also happened to come to my thigh so when I tried it on her it was floor length and only required a few alterations in the waist which took 5 minutes. Besides being so gorgeous I finally knew why I saved that special dress. It was perfect. Then I bought her a birthday girl tiara for her up do.

The whole day I prepared for the party by cooking up a storm. I wanted to be sure there was plenty of food. I made all sorts of dips ( spinach, crab, salmon, ranch, French, vegetable),chicken quesadillas, nachos, cocktail sausages, finger croissant sandwiches, vegetable trays, fruit trays, and about 10 other dishes. I even made my own homemade sherbet for the daiquiri punch. I wanted to make sure that we had lots of food like a "bridal shower" so that the moms would feel pampered and would be able to chit chat with each other as well. Finally the table was set with fresh flowers and a beautiful table cloth.

Next, I wanted a special birthday banner so I had painted happy birthday with my daughter’s name in pink and made it cover one wall where the children would have their own special table with lots of pink streamers. The balloons covered our chandelier as well. I also decorated the door with lots of pink streamers and a sign that read Welcome to the Palace. Princesses only and all others must be accompanied by a princess. One by one all the lovely princesses arrived in mostly pink or white.

For the first activity, I told them that since eventually all princesses get married we will be making veils. I had prepared 1/2 a yard of tulle for each child, a string of wired pearls, and silver ribbon which each mom help to custom make for their daughter. All the girls wore that with their tiaras. Next, we played a game in which each girl took their turn at digging for "jewels" in a plastic pink swimming pool which I had put sand in. In the sand was hidden jewel like beads and plastic gems. The girls used a strainer to collect their "gems". After the collecting of gems I had several bowls of other beads and I handed each girl a bag with a string of silver elastic and beads of each letter of her first name. The moms helped the girls make their own personalized necklaces.  Then we all got a plate of food and enjoyed each other’s company.

Next, the doorbell rang and in came Princess Barbie. This was a lovely blonde haired girl that I worked with who was only 18 and I talked into being my special surprise. She came in her floor length formal and played the part well. I had prepared a tray of about 10 nail polishes and face paint. First she posed for a picture with each princess. Then she face painted for each one with whatever they wanted. (She just happened to be very artistic as well which I knew in advance) and then painted the girls nails.  I had also prepared necklaces and rings which she gave each girl after their makeup session.  Meanwhile, my husband took the roll of film and got it developed at a hour photo center. After he brought it back I placed each photo in an individual magnetic frame which I had painted in pink. On the frame I had painted each girls name with the date of the party and I had glued a chiffon rose with petals which I found at a craft store. It was so elegant and the girls could put the frames on their refrigerator door at home.

After the makeup session we had a quick fashion show in which each princess was announced and came down the "cat walk" made with a roll of butcher paper. All the moms clapped for each princess and the girls loved it. At the end prizes (the pink cups wrapped in tulle, with party favors : different pastel  wrapped candy, hair barrettes, ties and a matching bracelet)were passed out for different categories like best walk, best dresses, best smile, etc…

Next, we played a "unwrap the gift game" I had wrapped up a present in different wrapping paper and odd shaped boxes. Each girl passed the present when the music was on and when the music turned off, the person holding the present unwrapped the gift. Then the present was passed again, the girl who unwrapped the last box with exposing the gift got to keep her prize. We did that for several rounds.

Finally it was time for the Cake. My friend just happened to take a cake decorating class not too long ago so she made my daughter a beautiful princess Barbie cake that looked just like the one on her invitation. I also had her make each child a cupcake with special pink frosting. I put 4 candles on my daughter’s cake and a candle on each cupcake so that we it came time to blow out the candles all the princesses got to blow with my girl feting to blow her candles out herself. You see every other party that we had attended, I noticed that all the kids wanted to blow out the candles and many times the birthday person didn't get to blow out their won candles because someone next to them sneaked in a blow and so the candles had to be relit several times. This time, I wanted to make sure my girl got to blow out her candles. Also, I bought the magic candles that relit so the kids got to enjoy "blowing" several times.

Finally, we had a very pretty piñata with Princess Barbie and the kids first all hit the piñata but then pulled the string on the magic string piñata. At last the party was over but everyone stayed and enjoyed the food more.