Kiera's Princess Party 4yr - Royal Scroll Invite

We had a wonderful time at my daughter's 4th birthday party this year.  I used so many of the ideas found on this website, and added a few of my own.  To start, I printed the following text on parchment paper:  "Hear Ye! Hear Ye!  By order of the King and Queen, Princess XXX is cordially invited to the XXXX’s Castle to celebrate Princess Kiera’s 4th birthday!!! The royal celebration will begin at 9:00 in the morning on the 4th of September 2004. The king asked that you come dressed in your most royal attire. Upon your carriage's arrival, each prince and princess will be greeted with  royal  treasures .  The royal cook has prepared a feast of goodies and snacks for the celebration. There shall also be festivities including a royal ball, games, & crafts the excitement will heighten during the defeat of the royal piñata, and then by the arrival of a surprise guest   Please RSVP with the Queen Mom at XXX if you plan to attend this royal galaThe castle needs to plan for your arrival.  This is a magical celebration not to be missed!"  I then used a candle flame to burn the outer edges of the invitation to make it look old, and used a wax stamp to stamp a K in gold wax on the invitation.  I then rolled up the invitation, tied it with a gold ribbon, and added a small flower then hand-delivered them. 

I decorated the downstairs of our house in the following ways.  In the entry way, I used pink balloons tied with tulle all around (there was a ton of pink tulle used all around cheap and added so much).  I bought the castle entrance from Stumps and the kids had to go through that to enter the grand ballroom.  In the living room, I had a royal throne (again from Stumps), a pink covered table for the gifts, pink tulle and ribbons along our fireplace, and all of the party favors lined up.  In the royal dining room, I went crazy with pink frilly stuff tulle roped all along the ceiling, two castle centerpieces (Stumps), silver candles, silver doilies with pink paper plates on top, plastic wine glasses (dollar store) decorated with sticker jewels, silver castle confetti,  bowls of pink cotton candy (kids loved this), iridescent fluffy pink stuff everywhere.  In the grand ballroom, I had streamers hanging, and a small disco ball.  My husband and I had on matching king/queen costumes (ebay).  Upon each prince/princesses arrival, they sat in the royal throne to be presented with their treasures. 

Everyone was dressed up so cute, and we even had a few adults in royal attire.  Each little girl got a princess hat (ebay), wand (ebay), their choice of rings and necklaces (ebay, Target), and royal/treasure type candy, including a pack of gum personalized with princesses and thanks for coming to Kiera’s party (ebay).  The princes each received a knight outfit (ebay) including breast plate, shield, sword and hat, as well as a gold metal necklace.  I had several babies attend, and they each received a dragon puppet I found on clearance at Cost Plus.  Each child received a small cardboard treasure chest (Oriental trading) which I had painted gold.  These come with a pack of jewels/coins/ribbons, and I set up a station with glue, letter stickers (to put their names), and other jewel stickers for them to decorate.  This kept them busy as everyone arrived.  Once everyone was here, we went outside with our treasure chests to do the royal pinata.  Inside the castle pinata, I had a ton of gold and bubble gum coins (treasure) and other candy.  The kids put their treasure in their treasure chests. 

Shortly thereafter, our special guests arrived.  There was a beautiful fairy princess who did face painting, and she came on her white horse which the kids took turns riding.  They each rode quite a few times and most had paintings on each cheek it was a hit.  Next, we washed up and sat in the royal dining room for lunch and cake.  For lunch, we served some of my daughter’s favorites macaroni and cheese, chips, mixed fruit, and princess shaped pb&j and turkey sandwiches (used princess cookie cutters found on e-bay).  Next came the cakes.  I had made each princess a mini-princess cake.  I bought the Wilton pan at a cake decorating store, and the tiny dolls that fit this size cake.  I used the pre-made colored fondant (Michaels) to decorate the cakes each one was different.  For the boys, I used the same cake mold and fondant, and put on a cake topper crown I found at a cake-decorating store.  For the adults, I made a castle cake (found on the Family Fun website).  Everyone was amazed at the mini-princess cakes the girls were so excited.  It was my first time using fondant, but actually it was pretty easy and looked so much more professional than if I would have tried to just frost them (I had people offer to pay me to make them for their parties).  I made all of the cakes/frosting by hand (besides the fondant), and had many compliments on them.  After cake, it was time for presents.  My daughter sat on the throne and all of the kids helped her open gifts.  To wrap things up, we went into the grand ballroom, shut the blinds, and put on the disco ball.  I had a princess music CD I found on-line, and the kids went crazy dancing and spinning.  I had so many compliments on this party many people told me I should become a party planner, but really this website can take much of the credit.  My daughter is already talking about the princess party she wants again next year.