Special Sweet 16 - Photo Collage Invite

Special Sweet 16  My daughter's Sweet 16 was extra special as it came on the heels of motor vehicle accident that could have taken her away from me in a heartbeat.

Fortunately all 5 teens were wearing their seatbelts and all survived..so this "Sweet 16" I planned in earnst! Make every moment count! I began with the invitation...(front)my favourite little girl picture of Michelle..in pink..when she was 2 with Scrapbooking numbers and letters to add a glittering pink and silver touch to the card which read...Sweet 16. On the back of the invitation was a collage of little girl pictures of Michelle. On the inside the receiver read about a special surprise "Open House"in honor of Michelle's Sweet 16.  Michelle said she really didn't want a party but asked to have a few friends over instead. I said sure. She told the girls I would be picking them up afterschool that day.

Perfect...my plan was in place! I had arranged a limo to arrive at her high school to pick the girls up and take  them on  a video scavenger hunt. I had bought wine glasses and painted them with Sweet 16, got sparkling apple juice for the limo, candy neclaces for each girl and a little Mermaid keychain for each girl(Little Mermaid was the cake and decoration theme as Michelle at 3 and 4 had wanted to be the Little Mermaid when she grew up).

We had made one posterboard for the limo driver to hold outside the school "Michelle Jenkins and Friends". Another poster was in the limo that they would need to use later on their videoscavenger hunt..."HONK, Michelle is Sweet 16 today!"A video camera was also placed in the limo. I wrote out 5 different poems in Dr. Seuss rhyme. Each enveloped was numbered..ie:Open me First, Second... The first envelope comtained the information the girls would need to understand the mission ahead of them...to uncover the clues in each poem in envelopes 2-5. The hunt took them to her Elementary school where they had to find teachers and or administrators and sing a Mermaid song of the choosing to them. Everything had to be videotaped. Then it was to find another who was celebrating a birthday on the same day...this took them to the dentist office..then to a street cornor in downtown to get 16 honks from passing cars.

Throughout the hunt Michelle had to collect 16 signatures from strangers and 16 pennies for good luck. They were given a time limit of 1 hour and told to have fun! Everything had to be videotaped!  Upon returning home I took pictures of them in the limo and with the driver and girls then it was inside for pizza and cake(Mermaid). We sat down and watched the video and it was PRICELESS to say the least. Everyone of the girls enjoyed the party as much as the birthday girl and Michelle was just beaming from ear to ear.

Then when 6:30 hit old friends started to arrive...some bringing a rose with a little note attached. Some people we hadn't seen in a long while and it was so nice to see them again and get caught up on old times. Reminising is so much fun.  Michelle woke up to "Happy Birthday Sweet 16" playing loudly in the kitchen that morning. She had no idea what the day had in store for her. Her Aunt and Uncle who live out of town had left a special Sweet 16 gold neclace for her to open that morning so she did..and it was videotaped.A single red rose was given to her...one of 16 she would receive throughout the day. I had arranged with friends and family to present Michelle with a red rose and a note attached with a special memory they had of her growing up. At school she received roses from friends each hour throughtout the day, each with a special note attached from a person who was apart of her growing up years. 

Before she went to bed that I hugged her extra tight and told her how much I loved her and what a beautiful young woman she had grown into. I told her how proud I was with her. She told me she loved everything about her day and she will always remember it forever…she has her roses pressed and her notes from friends and family have been carefully folded and refolded as she reads and rereads the beautiful memories that her family and friends wrote about her. It was the perfect ending to a perfect Sweet 16 birthday! Smiles, Judy :) Michelle's mom