Samantha's 15th Birthday with Friends

Samantha's birthday fell on a Saturday this year so we planned a small party with her friends for Saturday evening into Sunday morning.  How cool to make sure that she woke up with her closest friends there on her birthday?!

We settled on a 'plant' theme because she seems to love those lately.  It would easy to make it classy (think, teenager) without being too 'over the top' (no balloon arch or wild decorations).  

I kept the party favors simple: some monogrammed make-up bags, lip balm and a faux potted plant for every one of the guests, including the birthday girl.

You can never have too many bags like this for make-up, accessories, travel, etc.

I decorated the table with some greenery that I already had on hand and strung some simple fairy lights throughout it.  Some cute disposable plates, napkins and gold silverware completed the look.

My best friend, Jennifer, brought her daughter to the party and I talked her into staying for a bit.  She was the perfect BINGO caller!

So much concentration because the prizes were gift cards and cash -- which really elevates the game!

The guests also played a few rounds of Scattergories that I made up using Samantha's name.  

Later, after dinner (pizza and breadsticks, of course!), the girls were given scratch-off cards that I made with numbers that gave the order in which they could pick out their faux potted plant from the party favor table.  

I made Samantha's cake and added a bunch of succulents that I designed using fondant.  She loved it!

But the big excitement was when, right before she went to blow out her candles, one of the table legs collapsed!  I managed to catch the cake in time before it fell off the table, but one of the table decorations was not so lucky because it fell to the floor and smashed into so many little pieces.

One of the gifts from her friends was this awesome pair of chicken earrings!

Shortly after that, the boys arrived home.  They had gone to an MSU hockey game with Steve and were excited to share with us that the MSU had won!  I suspect that their hockey team may win the Big 10 Championship this year.  They are THAT good.

We wrapped up the evening with mini lego sets for everyone.  They are frustrating to put together sometimes, but the end results are amazing and are a crowd hit, for sure!