Madeline Party -3yr- Book Favors

For my daughter's third birthday in April, we have planned a Madeline party.  Since many companies stopped marketing Madeline products in 2006, I have made most of the decorations, etc. myself. 

For the invitations:  I used a picture of Madeline hugging her dog, Genevieve, that I downloaded from a website.  I sized the picture a little smaller than 4x6 and printed them in color on white cardstock.  I then cut these to 4x6, which left a small margin around the picture.  I used sheets of vellum paper to print the words to the invitation.  Twelve little girls in two straight lines" (line 1)  "Invite you for a really fun time." (line 2).  This was done in the French Script font. 

The other information on the invitation(who what when where etc.) was done smaller in Bookman Old Style font.  These were printed and cut to 4x6 placed over the picture so it could show through and held in place at the top with a black and white checked ribbon.  I punched two holes at the top center for this ran the ribbon down through each hole from the front crossed over in the back and came back up through the holes with each end of the ribbon.  I bought 4x6 envelopes at Michael's printed the addresses in French Script font and embellished with Madeline stickers that I found on eBay.  Adorable! They ended up looking professionally done! 

For the decorations:  Most of the party will take place in our dining room so I have made enlargements of several of the pages from the Madeline book for the walls.  I am a teacher so I have access to an opaque projector which I used to project the book pages onto white bulletin board paper.  I then traced the illustrations onto the paper and used colored pencils to mimic the colors of the originals.  This could also be done with a regular overhead projector by tracing the illustrations onto transparencies then following the same procedure. 

I made the text for each page by printing out the words in the same French Script font that I used on the invitations in size 250.  I then cut these out and attached then underneath each illustration.  I used "In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines" (picture of house)"lived twelve little girls in two straight lines" (picture of the girls and Miss Clavel in front of the Eiffel Tower)"..The smallest one was Madeline." (picture of Madeline being measured by the seamstress).  My dining room walls are painted a pale yellow so these blended beautifully! 

I plan to buy blue yellow and red helium-filled latex balloons and found Madeline foil mylar balloons on eBay.  These will be on extra-long ribbon tied to balloon anchors in two bunches and extended up from the floor in two corners of the room.  The tables will be covered in blue table cloths to match the blue balloons and Madeline's coat.  The centerpiece on the main table will be an 18" replica of the Eiffel Tower that I found online.  I added a little French flag that I printed and cut out.  My daughter's Madeline doll and Genevieve will sit beside the tower.  The smaller tables will have yellow and white potted flowers with french flags stuck down in the pots. 

Outside I plan to have another bunch of balloons (red yellow and blue with Madeline mylar) tied to the mailbox a french flag hanging by the porch and a couple of Parisian street signs that I made in Word and printed onto cardstock on posts around the porch. (Place de la Concorde Avenue des Champs-Elysees and Place de la Tour Eiffel).  Hopefully some of my flowers will be in bloom by then too! 

For the food:  I have a local baker who does the cake each year.  I found a design for Madeline's yellow hat cake on Birthdayexpress.com.  I am having the design done in yellow cake with lemon filling and yellow buttercream icing with a black ribbon of icing for the band and bow.  Ice cream will also be served.  The other food I have planned is a fruit and cheese tray veggies and dip chicken fingers rolls potato salad sweet tea soda and juice boxes for the kids.  I thought this menu would accommodate both children and adults. The plates are yellow and the cups and utensils are clear. 

The activities for the children include Pin the Hat on Madeline (made from enlarging a picture onto poster board with the projector and coloring) Musical Chairs with the Madeline theme song from my daughter's CD (found on Amazon) and coloring a placemat when they arrive. ( I made the placemats by downloading Madeline coloring pages and having them printed on 11x14 paper.  I then rounded the corners using a scrapbooking corner rounder.)  The game prizes are 8" Madeline ragdolls found on eBay.  If needed I also plan to let the children watch an episode of Madeline as they wait to go home. 

Each child will take home a paperback copy of the original Madeline book(Amazon.com) a Madeline beaded necklace(eBay) and a white and dark chocolate lollipop molded in the shape of the Eiffel Tower.  I made these from a mold I found online put them in little clear bags and tied them with blue and white checked ribbon.  Each child will also receive a yellow Madeline hat constructed from a paper plate and bowl painted yellow and tied with a black ribbon when they sit down to eat.   I also plan to teach the girls some French words throughout the party (bonjour merci beaucoup au revoir).  I found some really cute thank you cards at T.J. Maxx.  They are pink and white with the Eiffel Tower embossed in gold and say "Merci Beaucoup" on the front.  I found a few of my ideas here on birthdaypartyideas.com.  We are so excited and can hardly wait for our April 7th party!