Enchanted Party - Princess Wishing Well

An Enchanted Birthday  Step into an Enchanted World with Giselle, Robert, and Morgan. Recreate an enchanted New York City scene, a carriage ride through the park, and even a wishing well. Dress for the ball, and enjoy a unique birthday meal. Birthday party ideas for at home and away from home parties are included.  

INVITATION:   Use These Instructions to Find the Castle then lightly burn edges to give an older appearance. Begin to roll up invitation. After a few rolls throw in a small amount of clear sugar crystals clear crystal jewels found in craft stores or glitter towards the middle of the invitation. Continue rolling the invitation. Tie with ribbon and seal with monogrammed sticker if desired. When the invitation opens it will give an appearance of 'magic' much like the movie.  

DECORATIONS:  Each guest who comes to the party enters to find a beautiful wishing well. Give her a shining penny and then tell her to make one wish before dropping it into the wishing well. Tell her that at the end of the night her "hearts desire" will come true. (You can actually hide favor boxes inside so that as each guest leaves she can pull up the basket to get a favor box or other small trinket.  Wishing wells can be rented or bought for a nominal fee at craft or party stores or you can try your hand at making your own. Wishing well Items needed: Hot glue gun White fabric or white wrapping paper 2 large cardboard boxes  3 wide wooden dowel rods Twine Basket or bucket Plastic vine and flowers White string of lights   To make:   Cut off top ends of large cardboard box. Wrap and glue fabric or white wrapping paper around the outside of the cardboard box until completely covered. Can make brick appearance using gray marker if desired. To make roof cut and arrange other large cardboard box to make a 'peaked' roof appearance. Wrap and glue cardboard with white fabric or paper. To attach glue two of the dowels on each side of the inside of the peaked roof. Glue the last dowel horizontally in between the two dowels just below the roof line. Glue the dowel rods to the inside of the well. Attach the twine to the horizontally placed dowel and tie. Attach the twine to a basket or bucket. It is best to make sure that the basket and twine is long enough to sit at the bottom of the cardboard box and that the twine is not taught but has some give. The well is mostly decorative and won't be able to support the weight of a bucket or basket. Decorate with colored lights vine and flowers if desired.  To decorate the table and room use goblets gold plastic silverware and plates. Most of these can be found at party stores or at birthdayexpress.com. Wrap vines flowers and white light strands on the table and around the room to give it a princessy feel. You can use metallic pink silver and white streamers to make an entrance to the eating area. Attach the streamers to the ceiling then cascade them down and attach halfway down the wall with a flower.  

ACTIVITIES/GAMES:  If a stay at home party is what you desire read on. If the thought of decorating cleanup and planning makes you cringe there are some great ideas for you here as well that require little planning on your part Getting Ready for the Ball: In Enchanted Giselle enlists Morgan for some serious decorating help when she needs to get ready for the ball. You can transform a playroom your daughters room or any large room into a salon makeup store and dress shop. Use poster board creative fonts and clip art to make and design store signs for the different areas. Set up and partition off various areas to create the three different stores. In the salon have different wigs hair bows clips combs glitter spray and tiaras out to decorate each others hair. Have chairs and handheld mirrors setup for the girls to admire their styles. Can also enlist the help of older sisters and their friends if desired to come and do some cute princess styles on each girl. In the makeup store setup barstools and tables with eye shadow lip-gloss or lipstick nail polish body glitter glitter lotion and nail stickers. Have each girl do each others makeup in beautiful princess styles. In the dress shop setout princess dress up clothes necklaces bracelets clip on earrings and dress up shoes. After your big dress up have the girls model their new styles. Take pictures.

Play the Enchanted CD overhead and have the girls dance to it. Enlist the help of an older sibling or yourself to come dressed up in princess attire and help the girls learn to walk talk and dance like a princess. Or put on a princess sing a long DVD or dance DVD in and have the girls dance to it. TIP: To keep costs down look at your local dollar store. You may find clip in hair pieces dresses hair rollers and inexpensive makeup. Another area to look is in the clearance section at Target. Towards the front of the store they have a clearance section with $1 and $2 items. Various items rotate depending on the season but you may find some neat finds there too. Check secondhand stores or post a WANT ad at places like Freecycle to see if others have dress up clothing. See www.freecycle.org for a list of rules and to join.  Under the Lights of New York:  What a shock for poor Giselle to go from the mystical world of Andalasia to the busting New York City skyline full of tall buildings lights and looming signs. Why not enjoy watching the movie Enchanted under your own creative New York City Skyline?  This is a great idea for older girls who loved the movie but aren't so into dressups and princesses anymore. 

To create your own New York City Skyline you will need: Black butcher paper Chalk Colored or white lights Use the black butcher paper to cut and create wall length mural of skyscraper silhouettes. Cut out various sizes shapes and designs. Use chalk to create a gentle outline of the building windows or signs. Poke colored or white lights through the butcher paper at various spots or use white lights to give a starry effect to the room. Mount lights and paper to walls. Use blackout curtains or dark colored fabric to place over windows to darken the room. Place sleeping bags bean bags or other furniture on the floor to sit on during the movie. For a fun effect rent or use a projector to show the movie. Mount a white sheet or use a white wall with little texture to play the movie on. This will create a fun unique way to view the movie while a starry; New York skyline serves as your backdrop. Hint: To mount you can use mounting tape found in any hardware or craft store to fix the skyline. It won't ruin your nicely painted walls. Carriage Ride in the Park: Who didn't love the scene where Giselle steps down from her carriage in Central Park to dance and sing among a mix of colorful dancers balloons and singers? Your little girl will love to take her own carriage ride through the park. For a moderate fee you can rent a horse drawn carriage to pull you around the city or through your local park. End the ride with a picnic in the park. If it's colder weather outside you can still enjoy a carriage ride. Most provide warm blankets and materials. And during the wintertime you can often take rides past twinkling Christmas lights and decorations. End the night by getting some hot chocolate and cookies as a treat. To find a comprehensive list of carriages and websites by state go to this website or check your local phonebook. Http://www.geocities.com/debeaux1/ 

COSTUMES  Get into the mood by greeting each girl dressed in princess attire or enlist a prince to answer the door. Have girls design their own tiaras or provide tiaras in lieu of birthday hats for the girls to wear throughout the party. 

FOOD:  One of the funniest scenes of the movie is when Giselle attempts to make breakfast for Morgan. In a classic twist on this fairytale scene provide a breakfast for your meal. You can include things like: Mini muffins or mini cinnamon rolls Cereal Crown waffles with whipped cream (see recipe below) Strawberries and other fruit Juice hot cocoa or milk Serve your meal with the princess goblets and old fashioned themed place ware. During the meal a princess can come and talk to the girls about how a princess was to eat drink and act at a meal. The girls may enjoy trying to sit up straight at the table and eat patting there lips gently with a napkin and then laughing at their attempts.  Crown Waffles and Whipped Cream:  1 pkg square frozen waffles Squeezable Strawberry Jam Ready Whip White Chocolate Chips (optional) Knife Cook each frozen waffle according to package directions. When cooked cut two small rectangle shapes out of the top of each waffle so you have the appearance of three spires. With the squeezable jam outline the shape of the crown. Place dots of jam if desired at various spots on the crown and top with a white chocolate chip to give the appearance of jewels. When ready to eat serve with ready whip whipped cream.  CAKE:   Make a tiered cake of cupcakes decorated with candy flowers and topped with a bride and groom. (This was to be Giselle's wedding you know). White frosting and pink candy flowers can adorn each small cupcake for each girl. Serve with milk or hot chocolate. To save time use a ready made mix if desired. Candy flowers can be found at most stores or cake supply stores.  

FAVORS:  Inexpensive favor boxes can be found at www.birthdayexpress.com. Each favor box includes several small trinkets and stickers. Each box costs approximately four dollars a girl. If you opt to make your own use pretty purse or castle boxes found at party supply stores and fill it with lip gloss Enchanted stickers jewelry nail polish a tiara and even a small box of cereal or a packet of hot cocoa if you desire.    "