Rainbow Fairies Party -8yr- Fairy Quest

My daughter loves the fairy books by Daisy Meadows, so for her 8th birthday, I threw her a rainbow fairies birthday party. 

INVITATIONS:  I found an image online of the rainbow fairies flying over Fairyland castle, which I put at the top of the invitation.  Below that I printed: Queen Titania and King Oberon hereby invite you to their Fall Ball to be held at Fairyland Palace ___(address) to celebrate ____'s magical 8th birthday. (date and time).  Please notify the Royal Secretary if you are unable to attend. Or by Rainbow mail (email address).  We would be delighted if you can attend!"  I printed these on white cardstock which I matted on rainbow colored paper and tied with ribbon. 

DECOR: I made a fairy lights garland out of tulle white Christmas lights ribbon and silk flowers that I hung around the front door.  I strung balloons in the rainbow colors to make a garland and hung that between the posts on our front porch.  On the front door I made a sign that said "Welcome to Fairyland Castle. Please come in."  In the front room where the girls came in to wait I made it look like a ballroom.  I hung pastel pink fabric across the archway making it look like curtains and tied them with long pink ribbon.  I made fairies from silk flowers and pipe cleaners and hung them with fishing line from the ceiling.  In the great room around the corner I used streamers in the rainbow colors and made a rainbow "pathway" along the wall leading out the back door to the patio.  In the kitchen I made tissue paper pom poms in the 6 rainbow colors and hung them in an arc above the island.  I used the rest of the crepe paper streamers and strung them in the windows around the table.  I made a happy birthday banner and hung that up in front.  I made a cloth table runner in the rainbow colors and put that on the table along with chocolate gold coins and rainbow-colored candy (like Skittles) in glass bowls on the table as well.

ACTIVITIES:  I tried to follow the storyline of the Rainbow Fairies books in the activities I planned.  I dressed up as Queen Titania with a BK crown I recovered and a wand made with a dowell and rainbow ribbons.  When the guests arrived I had my 11-year-old daughter help them make up a new fairy name for themselves and write it on their nametags.  We had music and encouraged them to dance and act like fairies.  I greeted them as Queen Titania welcoming them to Fairyland Palace.  During my speech Jack Frost the villain came out of an adjoining room accompanied by lots of fog and cursed the king and queen and expelled the rainbow fairies to Rainspell Island in the human world.  My husband played Jack Frost; he dressed all in white and used our fog machine to make him "appear" in the room.  The wording he used was straight from the books.  I explained that we'd have to go to Rainspell Island to rescue the Rainbow fairies before Jack Frost's goblins found them or us.  The way to the Island was to follow the rainbow (the streamers on the wall). 

The girls followed the rainbow out to our patio where I had a game waiting.  I printed pictures of each fairy from the internet which I laminated to last through the games.  The first fairy we had to rescue was Ruby the Red fairy.  I tried to create games that followed what happened in the book.  So I put about 10 black plastic cauldrons I had leftover from a Harry Potter birthday party the year before on the patio upside down.  In one of them I hid the picture of Ruby.  In the other 9 I hid silly instructions for the girls to do.  Each girl took a turn looking under a cauldron and either found the fairy or they had to do the silly command such as play patty cake with the birthday girl or sing the ABC's in your best opera voice.  THey liked this game. 

After they found Ruby they followed the orange streamer to the next game to rescue Amber the Orange fairy.  I had them take along one of the cauldrons to hold the fairies in once they found them since this is what happened in the books.  I hid Amber in a large conch shell and put it in our sand box.  I added additional conch and smaller sea shells and told them they had to rescue Amber from the shell.  They looked and looked and had a hard time finding her.  I guess I put her too far in. 

Next they followed the yellow streamer to rescue Sunny the Yellow Fairy.  For this I blew up 12 yellow balloons and glued black streamers in rings around them making them look like bees.  In one of these I hid Sunny.  In others just blank paper to throw them off the track since you could see throught he balloons.  Them I tied them with string to the underside of our trampoline so they hung around the frame just a foot off the grass.  I had my 11 year old daughter dress up in yellow and black and made her a bee headband with pipe cleaners and black pom poms.  I had her sit in the center of the grass under the trampoline and she was to put stickers on the girls when they attempted to grab the balloons telling them they were "stung".  If they got stung only the birthday girl could remove the "stinger".  On my signal the girls were to try to grab a balloon and pop it without getting "stung" by the Queen bee. 

This game went too fast because my helper wasn't clear on her duties.  But it worked out ok anyway.  Then they followed the green streamers to rescue Fern the Green fairy.  I had written a rhyming poem as a clue to Fern's whereabouts laminated it then cut it into 12 or so puzzle pieces.  I froze each piece of the puzzle in an ice cube along with green paper leaf punches.  The girls had to melt their ice cubes until they could remove the puzzle piece put the puzzle together and decipher where Fern was hidden.  I had hidden her under a green bowl behind a big bush in a nearby flower bed.  When they found her they followed the streamer to Sky the Blue fairy.  I had them line up in 2 lines and they had to do a relay race consisting of a sommersault hopping on one foot walking like a crab etc. which then led them to a kiddie pool filled with water and blue Easter eggs.  I had hidden Sky in one of the eggs and they had to choose an egg open it and hopefully find the fairy.  I hid my daughter in the largest egg, but my daughter was smart and chose that one first so the game ended too quickly.  Once Sky was found in the book they had to revive her by doing some magic.  So I had them take the "fairy" put her in a bowl and sprinkle blue star confetti and blue feathers on her to save her. 

Next they followed the indigo streamer to find Inky the Indigo fairy.  In the book they go to the Land of Sweets to rescue Inky.  So I put a sign on our back gate saying "Land of Sweets" and decorated with leftover stuff from a Candyland party a few years ago.  I made suckers and peppermint candies from large cardboard rounds clear cellophane wrap dowells and ribbon.  I lined the walkway to Land of Sweets with giant suckers and hung giant colored candies from the trees.  I hung signs that said "jelly bean fields" on the fence.  I gave each girl a small paper sack in rainbow colors for candy collecting.  In each bag was a list of the required candy and the amounts they had to collect to win.  On the lawn I had scattered several different kinds of candy; I got most of it from the dollar store.  ON "go" the girls tried to be the first to collect the specified candy.  When they thought they were done I had them come to me for a check and then the winner got to play "hot or cold" to find where I had hidden Inky.  (she was behind the Jelly Bean Fields sign).  They all got to keep their candy and bags.  Lastly we followed the purple streamer to rescue Heather the Violet fairy.  On my computer I printed pictures of different carousel horses and each girl stood on one as we played musical horses.  The winner got to punch through a purple tisse paper-covered box where Heather was "trapped".  This is the closest I could get to the story in the book.  When all 7 fairies were rescued we returned to the house for dinner presents and cake and ice cream.

CAKE:  I made a 6-layer rainbow cake which is found all over the blogosphere but I think originated on The Idea Room.  I frosted it white rimmed it in Skittles and then I printed pictures of the 7 fairies and Fairyland Castle and mounted them all on BBQ sticks (shish kabob sticks) which I stuck into the cake to make a scene from the story.  It turned out really cute.  Dinner was a rainbow buffet.  We had strawberries ham cubes cheddar cheese cubes sliced oranges pineapple chunks cornbread squares and honeybutter broccoli green pepper slices green and purple grapes blue jello jiggler cubes and juice in purple cups.  I used rainbow plastic plates from Ikea and wrapped colored flatware in napkins and rainbow ribbon. 

FAVORS: in addition to the candy bags the girls got with the Inky game I made each girl a ribbon and bead rainbow bracelet.  I hate spending money on trinkets that I know will just get thrown away so I try to do one meaningful useful item.  Then we had cake and opened presents.  This party was a lot of fun to plan and carry out and the girls all seemed to have a good time."