Princess Barbie Party - 5yr - Treasure Chest Mix and Match

For my daughters 5th birthday we had a princess Barbie party. 

Invitations were first written on unbleached parchment paper (looks old without the tea) I wrote the info then burned the edges.  I then rolled them in purple wrapping paper tied with curling ribbon and inserted a mini rose.  Each was then hand delivered.  Guests were asked to dress in royal garb, and to my delight all did. 

I had a treasure chest I had made out of a cardboard box, used attached box lid but rounded the top with tag board, stuffed inside (between box lid and rounded tag board) with newspaper to make it sturdy and decorated outside with the straps and lock.  It turned out great.  It was filled with extra outfits, jewelry, feather boas, etc.  I even made some kings robes out of red felt trimmed with black and white faux fur.  The kids, even though already dressed up loved to mix and match.  My daughter was dressed in a pretty purple dress I had found online (actually a flower girl dress).  

Her dad made a throne out of scrap wood, I painted it pink and stapled red fabric stuffed to make the seat and back comfy.  Every child got their picture taken on the throne and it was sent in the thank you. The birthday girl also used throne to open presents and it really made her feel special. I used red material to make a red carpet from garage door to throne which was centered in backyard.  Also had two castles made out of cardboard, one to walk through when entering and one we made out of a display box for the kids to play in, I painted the inside with a knight and royal portraits with funny faces.  The outside looked like pink bricks with vines all over it and purple flowers to make it look more feminine.  I used our outdoor copper fire pit as a fountain and put a frog with a crown on his head in it. The kids were told to make a wish and toss in a coin (provided).  

For activities I put jewels from orient. Trading in a sandbox and got dollar store sifters for the kids to sift out enough jewels to glue on their paper crown (also from oriental trading).  I had made mini doll cakes for each child; base frosted them in purple and pink and had all sorts of sprinkles and icing in disposable bags for them to decorate.  I wrote each child’s name on the plate and later served the dolls as birthday cake, in addition to the Barbie cake I had made for grownups to eat.  We also played pin the kiss on the frog prince.  I had painted a frog on tag board, and then made lips out of construction paper.  Each child had their own set of lips with their name on it.  The lips had double sided foam tape on them so as each child went I undid the tape and they stuck it on.  They were blindfolded.  (tip: use a sleep mask instead since it has elastic band you don’t have to keep tying blindfold) Each child got a prize for this game but to award the winner the person who got closest picked a prize first, next closest second, etc

All different prizes I had gotten on clearance throughout the year.   We also had a Barbie slipper scavenger hunt.  I purchased mini pink slippers off a wedding site.  Each child was given a colored sticker dot.  All the slippers were scattered in yard but child had to find 5 slippers with their color (I had stuck colored dots on the bottoms).  A couple slippers had princess stickers and those were bonus ones for an add. Reward.  This was a great game and challenging because they had to flip over a lot of slippers to find their colors.  The stickers worked well because I didn’t have to hide the slippers. Also everyone was a winner. The last game was a tea party race.  They had to navigate through an obstacle course holding a tea tray.  If they dropped anything they had to start again. One at a time and once through they got a small prize.   

For the food I served fruit arranged in a tower formation like you see in banquets. Also juice boxes, punch, veggie tray, and other formal looking party finger foods.   

For decorations in add. to castle I made banners hanging from dowels with a shield and the letter K for Kelsey.  Silk flowers were arranged on tables, streamers and tablecloths were all done in purple and pink with Barbie happy bday banners on them.  This party was a huge success and I was so happy to have done all the work seeing my daughter and her friends have such a blast.  Each child was sent home with a goodie bag.  It contained stick on earrings, bead necklaces, Barbie stickers and a ring pop.  The gift bags were shaped like little purses with flowers on them.  From oriental trading, very cute!  Were a big hit.