A Cinderella Birthday

That dress, though!

Hi, all!

My little princess had a birthday a couple of weeks ago, and I thought I'd share. Her birthday was "Cinderella". The timing was perfect with the release of the new live-action version, which was soooooooooo flipping gorgeous, by the way! We had her party at Cinemark and then all went to the film. 

Invitation

 My darling husband designed the invitations, which we had printed at a photo kiosk as a 3x5 photo. This is one of my favorite birthday tips. The invitations are personal, gorgeous, and way cheaper than ordering generic invitations and writing in the information.

There was a small issue with the cake I made. The carriage wheels fell off on the way to the party. No biggie.

Before the accident.

The cake was chocolate and vanilla. The carriage was made by using two small cakes I made in Wilton's Mini Wonder Mold. I trimmed the flat (top) part to make them really flat and then trimmed a bit off the dome parts to have a flat place to stabilize it on the cake and to have a place to put the decorative bits at the top of the carriage. I stuck the two mini cakes together with a ton of frosting and anchored it to the main cake with a drinking straw. That part didn't budge. The wheels are made from Girl Scout's Tagalongs. I should have placed them on at the venue. Now I know better.

The candle was something Zara and I decorated together using peel and stick rhinestones. I couldn't find a candle fit for a princess, so we made one. 

What age was she again? I can't remember.

As part of the activities, we had a cookie decorating station with different frostings and sprinkles. I had a couple of sets of cookie cutters for a really (really, really) long time and have never had the opportunity to use them until now. There were dresses, shoes, castles, and tiaras.

Looks yummy!

Zara's cookie (before it hit the floor) had some special decorations. Yeah...those are what you think they are, unless you have a very clean mind. In that case, they're just pearls.

Zara's cookie. (Photo by Jen)

And then we had a special guest! Cinderella herself dropped by to wish Zara a happy birthday!

Cinderella got swamped!

She sang "Happy Birthday", talked to the kids, answered a million questions (mostly about her shoes), and...

Happy Birthday, Zara!

 ...had her picture taken with each child (and some adults!) It was magical! If you live in this area, check out Putnam Princess Parties. They were amazing!

Royal cuddles.

After the party, the guests left with tokens for the cinema's arcade and a treat bag filled with Zara's favorite candies, some stickers, and bubbles. I've scaled back on the treats over the years. In the beginning, I went totally overboard with personalized bags. Each one had the kid's name and was tailored the the kid's tastes. Seriously. I've learned this all just ends up in the floor of the car anyway. (That is, if your kid is anything like mine.)

The bubbles were from the Dollar Tree's wedding section. I found a pack of princess stickers at the Dollar Tree, put them together and came up with filler for practically nothing. The bubbles came in a pack of 8 for $1 (of course), and the stickers were a pack of 90 for $1.

Bubbles for cheap.

The rest of the decorations were picked up at a party store. We had a Cinderella table cloth, center pieces, a banner, and themed napkins and treat bags. And, of course, no decent photos of any of it.

The whole experience was wonderful. The staff at Cinemark could not have been more helpful. (They even went to Wal-Mart for us when we ran out of plates). Cinderella (the princess and the film) was glorious. It was truly a magical night.

Love,