Pink!!! -4yr- Strawberry & Cream Cheese Sandwiches

For my daughter's 4th birthday party, we had a PINK PARTY theme.  EVERYTHING was pink, from the invites to the food.  We had an all-girl party, but this could be tailored to include boys as well, possibly by letting them wear red, etc. and handing out some boy friendly party favors. The best part about this party was the Price!  With careful planning and effort, it was a relatively inexpensive party to throw, but looked like a million bucks, and had huge impact!  With a color theme, the visual impact is so strong that the budget is really versatile, you could go completely over the top, or keep it simple with a great effect. 

THE INVITATION: The invitation was a chain of 5 paper dolls holding hands, each about 3.5 wide x5 tall all wearing pink paper dresses in different shades and patterns from the scrapbook store with a differently patterned pink bow on each head.  On the second doll in I placed the wording..."THINK PINK!  It's a PINK Party for (Child's name)!  Please come and Play (when and where) and WEAR PINK!"   The envelopes were light pink and I designed the name and address labels for each individual girl with the cutest swirly hot pink lettering (I made sure that it was still easy to read for the mail delivery) on white labels that were then adhered to the envelopes. They were the cutest invitations that I've ever seen when they were finished.  People were calling me after they received them and gushing! 

DECORATIONS: The girls were the first part of the decorations because they all showed up in all pink dresses and outfits.  It added so much to the whole theme and they absolutely loved getting dressed up!  Some girls were in nicer dresses with gloves etc and others just wore pink tees with pink pants or skirts (my daughter wore one of her pink dress ups)  All of them looked great and it looked fantastic to see them all under the canopy in pink pink pink!  We have a freestanding canopy in the backyard so we moved it to the center and covered it with all shades of pink tulle fabric that draped from the pitch down to each column.  We tied it with huge pink bows on each corner and let it drape and flood around each post.  We filled the interior with helium balloons in all shades of pink balloons matte and pearl.  We trimmed some of the strings to be shorter and left a few long to hang down and curl above the table. 

We hung paper lanterns (from Pearlriver.com) in different sizes and shades of pink running over the center of the table. We also hung string outside of the canopy crisscrossing the backyard and hung more pink lanterns in different shapes and sizes.  We scattered the grass with pink balloons.  We had a long kids size buffet table that we set  up under the canopy and covered with a hot pink plastic table cloth. I made a scalloped runner to go down the middle of the table out of a light pink plastic tablecloth...super cheap and it had huge visual impact. 

I used hot pink scalloped place mats on the table and I also stapled them around the backs of the kids size chairs and wrote each child's name in puff pink lettering on them.  On top of the dark pink placemats I used light pink paper plates and placed the party hats on each plate.  Down the center of the table I bought many varieties of candy that is all pink or pink and white.  (you can get special colors of m&m's online or at most party stores) and I put each variety of candy in narrow glass cylinders at different heights. 

At the very center was the cake stand that I made out of hot pink plastic plates hot glued to sturdy hot pink paper cups that were turned upside down.  It was two levels the bottom was the dinner size plate and the top plate was a salad size.  Around the edge of each plate I glued a pleated light pink cotton fringe that I bought at the ribbon store (like you might put on the bottom of a skirt).  Absolutely darling when finished and surprisingly sturdy... it has been borrowed and used for two other parties since. I made strawberry yogurt cupcakes (recipe can be found from Betty Crocker it is the best!) with strawberry yogurt cool whip frosting then sprinkled with dark pink sugar crystals and arranged on the cake plate.  

THE PARTY HATS:  These were the cutest things I have ever seen and not excessively expensive to make I bought plain pink paper party hats and put the first letter of each child's name in light pink pearly puff paint at the center of the hat.  I trimmed each hat with a hot pink maribou trim that I bought at the ribbon store.  They were absolutely darling and the kids loved them! 

ACTIVITY:  I found pink beads jewels and charms at the craft store and gave each girl a clear plastic box with their initial dotted on the top that contained ribbon and beads.  The girls made bead jewelry that they took home with them.  We had planned a few backup activities but the kids really wanted to just run around and chase the balloons around the backyard so we sat back and let them play. 

PARTY FOOD: I served cream cheese and strawberry jam sandwiches cut into hearts and flowers with pink lemonade to drink and strawberries on the side. 

PARTY FAVORS:  In pink polka dot cellophane bags we put some pink and silver hershies kisses pink bubblegum dum dum suckers pink pencils with maribou tops  light pink (kid friendly) nail polish and pink bonnie bell lip balm.  All tied with curly pink and shiny silver ribbon. 

THANK YOU CARDS:  I hung up a big piece of pink paper on the fence and took a picture of all of the girls together in their pink outfits with the pink balloons all around them.  I labeled the picture at the bottom in pink it read…"(Name's) PINK PARTY Date".   We sent the picture to each girl with a thank you note.  Most of them still have it framed or hanging in their room.  Mom's said it was a definite favorite party for their little ones and they still remember and talk about it over two years later! 

It took a lot of pre-planning but was worth every effort.  It was so memorable and so much fun.  The pictures are priceless!  My daughter wants to do another one this year but after looking on this site I want to try all of the other fun ideas that we've seen!"