Princesses & Pirates 5th Birthday

For Eloise’s big 5^th birthday, the theme was Princesses & Pirates party.  She actually asked for a different theme; with her Princess-itis starting fade (already?!), I thought this might be my last chance to indulge in a girly-theme.   And, boy was it fun to put together!

Be Our Guests

Ma chère mademoiselle. It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you… {Beauty & the Beast}

 

e tu designs

Here was the best response we received to the invitation (I couldn’t keep this to myself!)

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo {Cinderella}

Guests were asked to come as a princess or a pirate.  After much deliberation (read: eenie meenie minnie moe) she decided to be Princess Tiana (Princess & the Frog).  Her Fairy Godmother (me) picked up this gorgeous dress in Hong Kong and made a belt to complete the dress (I didn’t like the one it came with).

 

"Where is my little Birthday girl, hmmm?
I'm going to gobble her up when I find her!" {Brave}

 I kept Eden’s costume simple as there is no telling what he will and won’t wear.  I dusted off my trusty sewing machine to make his shorts with material I already had, and added matching pocket to a $4 tee shirt.

Mr H and I hired our costumes for the day.  And here's what happened at the costume shop:

BOO!

Head Pirate & Snow White

"It’s Only For Today, It’s Agony to Wait, Tell the Guards to Open Up the Gate {Frozen}

From the front door to the back door, I transformed the house into a palace (and ship-wreck) for the day.

Guests made a purple carpet entrance, complete with Eloise’s monogram.  By now you know I love a door wreath!  Each door had a Princess and Pirate door wreath.

Once Upon a Time & A Pirate's Life For Me

I used a roll of plastic table cloth to do the draping

I created a split Princess and Pirate table, just in case our guests forgot their tiara or eye-patch, or just needed some extra sparkle.

Cinderella's Dressing Table

Jasmine's Jewellery Shop

Pirate Booty Shop

The dining area was decorated with a Chinese good luck lion and lanterns for Mulan’s Royal Banquet (see below).

This has now been passed onto the pre-school
for their Chinese New Year celebrations

A few more princesses were sprinkled throughout.  The princess clip art used on the table tents was designed by Dragonflytwist (purchased from Etsy).

Tiana's (Gummy) Frogs

Belle's True Love (Hershey) Kisses

Outside, Eloise’s old play tent was resurrected as a ship-wreck.

“Mom, you'll never guess what I did today” {Brave}

To keep our little princesses and pirates busy during the party, we had face-painting, a treasure dig, trampoline/ jumping castle, piñata and photo booth.

Face-painting was done by Kylie-Anne at Happy Faces.  She is so talented!

We finished with piñata fun (a special request from the birthday girl).

Frenzy! after Pirate Jordy broke the piñata

Eden showing me the best place to store his loot

The photo booth printables were designed by Melbourne-based, Upon a Time Design (purchased from Etsy).

Get Yer Mug Shot Here
Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest...

Princess and the Frog

The Royal Banquet

Lunch was inspired by Mulan and Eloise’s favourite- yum yum dim sum (as she calls it).  Guests dined on beef  fried rice, chicken chow mein, har gow (prawn dumplings), siu mai (pork dumplings), spring rolls, and cha siu bao (BBQ pork buns).

Ariel's Dinglehoppers (for eating, not your hair)

Yum yum dim sum

Happily Ever Afters

I made a castle cake for her this year.  See, purchasing the Wilton’s Romantic Castle cake set was an investment!  I kept it simple this year with a vanilla cake with white chocolate ganache and fondant.  I borrowed supplies from one of my lovely mummy friends (who makes ah-mazing cakes) and it cut down the frustration, tears and threats of the garbage bin.

Additionally, we had a watermelon pirate ship and the chocolate fountain flowing.

Cream puffs, strawberries, bananas, rice crispy treats
and marshmallows were available for dipping

Oh!  Goodie (Bags)

My favourite part of parties!  Our princesses danced away with their very own sparkling wand, light-up ring, pirate pouch filled with jewels, chocolate coins and fairy floss.  Our pirates walked the plank with inflatable swords or beach balls, light-up ring, pirate pouch with jewels and fairy floss.  Our younger guests received a princess bracelet or crayons to replace the pirate pouch with jewels.

I re-set the split table for goodie bags

Princess favor

Pirate favors

All guests received one of Snow White’s apples.  I got them from this old woman walking through the woods.  They were not poison, but contained a little toy and chocolate.

The End

It was a happily ever after ending for us; not bad for only starting to plan 2 weeks prior to the party!  Note to self: plan Eden’s 3^rd birthday earlier.  And get a photographer!  I know it seems I had a lot of photos from the day, there were photos that I missed like the cake table and us in costume!  BOO!

We appreciate those who came near and far (South Coast, NSW) to spend the day with us.  And thank you for the generous presents!  Eloise is one happy 5 year old!  We are lucky to have you in our lives!

Now it’s time for Snow White to take a bite of the apple… and sleep!