For Eloise’s big 5th 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}
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| 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).
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"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:
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| BOO! |
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| 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.
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| Once Upon a Time & A Pirate's Life For Me |
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| 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.
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| Cinderella's Dressing Table |
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| Jasmine's Jewellery Shop |
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| Pirate Booty Shop |
The dining area was decorated with a Chinese good
luck lion and lanterns for Mulan’s Royal Banquet (see below).
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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).
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| Tiana's (Gummy) Frogs |
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| 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).
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| Frenzy! after Pirate Jordy broke the piñata |
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| 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).
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Get Yer Mug Shot Here
Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who's the fairest... |
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| 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).
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| Ariel's Dinglehoppers (for eating, not your hair) |
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| 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.
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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.
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| I re-set the split table for goodie bags |
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| Princess favor |
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| 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 3rd
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!
