Tinkerbell Party!

Party Time!

For Gooba's 3rd birthday I gave her a few choices of what kind of party to have and her #1 choice was Tinkerbell! I must admit I had A LOT of fun planning this party for her - and the best part was, everything was super cheap and easy!

THE FAVORS

First, the party favors!  Instead of doing the traditional gift bag at the end of the party, I decided to go with a dress up theme.  I bought the fairy wings at Dollar Tree, I made the crowns from ribbon and garland that I bought at the Dollar Tree, and the necklaces are little bottles I bought online and turned into pixie dust :)  The girls had a great time with dress up!

THE FOOD!  

My personal favorite part!

 MAGIC WANDS

I made rice krispie treats and cut stars out of them once they were cooled.  Then I melted a few mini marshmallows at a time on a plate to use as "glue."  Then I stuck the pretzel rod onto the stars with the marshmallow glue.  It wasn't happening without the marshmallow glue.  These were a big hit!

BIRD'S NESTS

Then I made these adorable little bird's nest by melting butterscotch and chocolate chips - pouring them over lo mein noodles, stirring, and forming them (on parchment paper or wax paper)  into little nests/blogs.  Then I put 3 yogurt raisins on each one and put them in the fridge until they were nice a cold. 

ACORNS

I LOVE how these turned out!  They are mini Nilla Wafers (I had to by name brand, I couldn't find generic) "glued" onto Hershey's Kisses with peanut butter.  A little time consuming - but totally cute!

TOADSTOOLS

These went the fastest out of everything.  All I did was cut a mozzarella cheese stick into five pieces, spread cream cheese on the top and add a half of a cherry tomato.  Then I took a toothpick and added the little dots of cream cheese.  Again, a little time consuming, but we had a snow day before the party - so it worked out perfect :)

LADYBUGS

Essentially these are just fancy chocolate covered pretzels.  These were the second attempt... attempt 1 I learned that I lack the skill of melting white chocolate and little pretzels fill up with chocolate and look like blobs.  SO - I used larger thin pretzels and bought red candy melts from A.C. Moore.  I melted the chocolate chips first in the microwave and dipped the heads and let harden completely (on parchment or wax paper) before I melted the red candy melts in the microwave and dipped the bodies.  Once they were all hardened again I took a toothpick and added the chocolate spots from the original bin of melted chocolate and used white icing for the eyes.

RAINBOW FRUIT

My little Gooba LOVES fruit - like most little kids.  My original plan was to make fruit wands or rainbows on a stick - but then I thought skewers and 3 year olds were not a good combination - so I just made a fruit tray instead.  For the record - fruit in January is VERY expensive!

THE GAMES

We had a few games for the kids - but mostly we just let them run around and play.

I love this picture of Gooba in her dress up clothes dancing.  I bought two CDs recently at Walmart - Disney Princess Favorites and some sort of Disney Fairies CD.  We rotated through both CDs a few times.  Gooba will pretty much dance to anything!

FIND THE FAIRY

I bought two tubes of fairies at A.C. Moore and hid them around the house.  Then I told all the kids that I had the fairies in a bowl before the party and that they all flew away and were hiding.  Then they all went looking for the fairies and returned them to the bowl.  They were FABULOUS at this - I wish I had hid them a little more sneaky!

 PIN THE WAND ON THE FAIRY

&

BIRD'S NEST TOSS

I purchased a Secret of the Wings poster at Walmart and used my Cricut to cut out some stars out of yellow scrapbook paper and taped them to craft sticks.  Then we played pin the wand on the fairy.  I also filled three socks with beans and sewed them up to make beanbag eggs.  I filled a green bucket with floral filler from Dollar Tree for the toss the eggs in the bird's nest game.

BEADS!

OK - this one was in no way fairy related, but Gooba LOVES making bracelets from pony beads and pipe cleaners - so I just bought two bags of pony beads from A.C. Moore and let the kids go crazy.  We had about six kids and I found that two bags was WAY too many beads.... one bag would have been fine - but we'll use them another day - so no biggie!

Well that pretty much sums it up!  We had a great time and everyone went home happy, tired, and with full bellies :)  I can't believe my little girl is 3!

Salt Dough Ornaments

Salt Dough Ornaments

These ornaments are the PERFECT gift!  They are great for Christmas, but can also be wonderful for Mother's Day, Easter, Birthdays, or for any holiday!  They are especially great for grandparent and other family gifts - or for anyone who loves your little one as much as you do!

Here's what you need to get started:

4 cups of flour

1 cup of salt

Water (I used about a 1 1/2 cups - amount varies)

Oil - for lightly greasing your cookie sheet

Food coloring (optional)

A Large Mixing Bowl

Cookie Sheet

Small rolling pin

Skewer or straw

Ribbon

Paint (optional)

This makes about 5 toddler sized ornaments

First, gather your ingredients.  I find when working with toddlers - it helps to be prepared ahead of time!

Next, mix the flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl.  Add a few drops of food coloring to your water.  I used 2 cups of water and 6 drops of pink food coloring.  Gradually mix the water into your dough by hand (don't forget to take off your rings - I always forget!) until your dough is moist, but not runny.  

Then, lightly oil your cookie sheet.  I put a little oil on a paper towel and rubbed the cookie sheet.

Roll your dough into small balls.  This helps get smooth edges on your ornaments.  Then gently press the balls flat with your hand.

Then roll each one smooth with the rolling pin.  This step may or may not be necessary depending on how smooth you got your dough in the first place.  My little one LOVES the rolling pin, so we went with it!

After we had our flat, round circles I gently pressed her hand into each one.  Make sure to press each finger down so you get the full imprint.  Don't push all the way through!

Then I took a skewer and made to little holes in each one.  I'll thread a ribbon through there later.  I made four handprints and one paw print of our dog... LOL.

Then set your oven on the lowest setting (ours is 170) and bake for about an hour.  You can also let them air dry for 24 hours.  Once the are dry and cool you can paint them or leave them alone.  We decided not to paint ;)  Then just thread your ribbon through!

I had to use the skewer to poke the ribbon all the way through.  Then I double knotted the ribbon and tied a bow.

ADORABLE!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

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