A Birthday For A 9-Year-Old

Winter birthday parties for kids can be tough! Especially when you are trying to pull one together in the midst of the snow storms of the century! This was a dinner party/sleepover for a 9-year-old girl. Tacos for dinner and an ice cream sundae bar with mini cupcakes for the dessert. Here is the 411 for this party:

• The decor was simply based on 'red, green, and yellow' as chosen by the birthday girl. I picked 6 fun fabrics to create a flag banner, table runner, and straw flags.
• The place settings included a paper "fortune teller" which the girls where able to customize with their own silly sayings.
• We had to hand-write name cards (as opposed to printing them) because of some last minute uncertainty and changes due to the snow storm (sometimes you've just gotta roll with it!).
• I used acrylic risers on the Sundae Bar to create different levels to display the toppings which included mini crushed oreos, chocolate toffee bits, m&m's, chocolate jimmies, chocolate fudge, caramel, and whipped cream topping. We also had mini cupcakes, piroulines, and cherries. We actually pre-scooped ice cream into the sundae dishes and set them in the freezer on a tray until time to bring them out.
• To help the cherries stand up, I put a layer of sugar onto the dish and nestled the cherries into it.
• Take home favors were large cupcakes housed in a cupcake box (great invention!) and an ice cream lollipop.
• No organized activities were needed for this party as 3rd grade girls are pretty adept at entertaining themselves. The fortune tellers provided lots of laughter and entertainment, as well as the Wii game system, and good old fashioned girl time!

The one thing I would have added is this - I would have wrapped each mini cupcake in the same coordinating papers as used on the dinner table decor. I think it would have helped them 'pop' against the white serving bowls behind them. For better views see my Flickr Set, or Facebook page.