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Samantha turned eight years old this year ... on a Saturday. That's a perfect day to have a party and celebrate the special little girl that forever changed our lives. We began the day with our traditional cinnamon rolls, complete with family singing and a candle. It never fails that I end up re-lighting the candle more than once so that everyone has a chance to sing and watch the birthday kid blow it out (someone always seems to *miss it*).
She chose an extra long candle this year:
(And the look on Jack's face just melts me. He really does look up to his big sisters. Well, then there's Sophia's face ... That's real life right there and I wouldn't have it any other way).
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At 11:30 am, Samantha's friends arrived for her "friend party." This year was the first year that I felt that we could be selective on who she invited, rather than feel obligated to invite all of the girls in her class. I allowed her to give invitations to ten girls and all but one were able to attend. With Samantha and Sophia, we had a total of 11 girls there for the Art Party!
Samantha and I decided on this theme months ago and worked together this year to plan out all of the details -- the food, the crafts, game and some of the decorations. What a fun idea for a little girl that is beginning to show a genuine interest in art and creating masterpieces.
The day before, I put together the favor bags. The markers and composition notebooks were a clearance find after the "back to school" sales. Then, there were paint palette suckers, some brightly-colored sour gummy worms and scratch bookmarks.
The girls were able to choose their color of bag and put their name on them once they arrived.
Set up and ready for the pizza and breadsticks to arrive. We served pink lemonade, apples and some cut-up veggies, as well.
The first project that we planned for the girls was a canvas painting with the initial of their first name. I scored the canvases (a 2-pk) for a "buy one, get one half off" sale a few weeks before the party. Most of the paint I already had and then I added some cheap paint palettes (less than a dollar at Walmart) and some paintbrushes in various sizes. I cut the letters out of contact paper and stuck them on at each of the girls' places at the table.
I also made some quick easels out of popsicle sticks (that I painted) and put their place cards on them. These served a double purpose for the second craft.
The dessert table, complete with cupcakes that were baked but waiting to be frosted and decorated by the budding artists at the party.
And check out the backdrop -- the girls helped me make it with crayons that we melted. It now hangs upstairs for Samantha to always remember this party by.
I hired two neighbor girls to come over and help me at the party because I sent Steve and the two boys to a friend's house for the afternoon. It was a perfect plan!
Such focus and concentration:
I loved watching them design and choose their colors carefully:
Letting the canvases dry during the party:
After I carefully pulled the contact paper off ...
I loved how they turned out!
The next craft was sand art. Again, I try to purchase my supplies cheaply. I lucked out by getting the various glass bottles at Hobby Lobby for 50% off, costing me less than $1 apiece. The sand was also a good find.
Filling their jars:
Afterwards, we used the place cards with their names on them to secure to the jars with ribbon so that we would which jar belonged to which guest when it was time to leave.
After we quickly cleaned up, the pizza arrived (right on time) and the girls ate like they were starving!
Then we retired to the living room for a group photo and to allow Sam time to open her gifts.
She loved everything and I was so proud of her for being so polite and thanking everyone with very little prompting from me. Maybe that is a sign of good parenting ... or maybe it is just evidence that we have had a lot of parties over the years!
Getting ready to decorate her birthday cupcake with friends:
Cupcakes with lots of topping and ice cream cups. Simple and perfect.
Finally, we ended the party with a fun game of Pictionary. No one had ever played before so it was fun to teach them. I had made up the game cards myself and edited the real rules to fit our age of kids and they begged to keep playing even after the parents had begun arriving. I'd say that it was a success!
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That night, we gave Samantha our gifts. The kids were especially excited because they helped wrap them and Jimmy discovered his love of tissue and wrapping paper!
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The next day was the "family party," where we celebrated with soup and salad (a great idea, if I don't say so myself!) and more decorated cupcakes and cakes.
A paint palette cake:
Opening presents for the third time in a row ... she is one loved little girl.
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