Emily’s Birthday Party

My daughter Emily turned 5 recently and she decided that she wanted a “Bratz” party. Now, I don’t know about the rest of you moms out there, but I am just not crazy about those Bratz dolls – but it’s what she really wanted, so I decided to work with it as a theme.

Of course, being the procrastinator that I am, I waited until the very last minute for an idea of how to incorporate Bratz into an appropriate little girls party…

And even though I’m a crafty mom…I had to break down and order the Bratz ‘party in a box’ from Birthday Express. It was a little pricey, but it included everything from the plates, napkins and forks to the favors, pinata and balloons. And yes…that’s right (hanging my head in shame) – the mom with all the rubber stamps used the STORE BOUGHT invitations and thank you notes that came with the set – they were not handmade this year…but something’s got to give! 🙁

So I decided to use the Bratz stuff and make it a dress-up party. I did manage to stamp all of the placecards (the placecard stands were included in the box o’ birthday stuff). I just used index cards and stamped each name in purple and pink. Then I added some jewels and stapled some ribbons to the top – here is one at a place setting:

I think the table turned out really cute – those little boots are actually cups.

I also hung streamers on the ceiling and had balloons floating in the living room and porch:

It was also convenient that my purple lilacs were in bloom – they made for a nice centerpiece!

Then I set up old trunks full of dress up clothes for the girls to play with. I also had a few small crafts (a beaded necklace and a small flip-flop shoe box) for them as well as some tattoos, body gems, nail polish and lip gloss. We also had a purse-shaped pinata, autograph books and feather pens as well as lots of stuff in the favor boxes.

Even Daisy got dressed up for the party in a camouflage shirt with a studded skull and cross bones:

We also had pizza, cake and ice cream too. So I thought the party was going pretty well and that I had put on a pretty good show.

But then my normally sweet, lovely daughter turns to me in the middle of the party and says, “Mommy, this is BORING…”.

BORING!?!?! I will hold that statement over her head until she is grown and has kids of her own – and even then I might not let it go…

But Happy Birthday anyway, Emily…I love you!