6137

Cinderella Royal Ball -3yr- Magic Wands

April 2003

Sherry in Philadelphia, PA, USA

Runner-Up

A Royal Ball  My daughter loves Princesses, so when she asked for a Cinderella party for her third birthday, we were more than happy to oblige!   

For invitations, I used Cinderella paper that I found at a scrapbook store and printed the invite itself on vellum.  Using a castle hole punch, I punched two holes at the top of each piece of paper then tied the two together with blue sparkly ribbon.  The invitations were a big hit! 

It read "Hear ye, hear ye!  Her Royal Highness Princess Madison from the House of Ambrose requests the presence of Princess ___ from the House of ___ at the royal celebration of the 3rd year of HRH Princess Madison's birth. Etc., etc."  My mother-in-law, who is British, made sure that the wording was "royally" correct!  We rented a room at the Parent Infant Center and filled it with lots of pink, blue, and white balloons. It was beautiful! 

For decorations, I covered the food table, the gift table, and the cake table with white craft paper.  I threaded pink and blue tulle and white Christmas lights through the skirt of the food table and it was just gorgeous!  We put silver stars on the skirt of the cake and gift tables.  I used a Cinderella tablecloth on the prince/princess craft and food table and every table had bouquets of balloons.  Each child's chair had a crown with his/her name written on it and sprayed with silver glitter taped to it so each little princess and prince had a special seat.  I placed a bouquet of magic cookie wands, chocolate castle lollies and gold chocolate crowns that I had made in a cream and sage window box as the center piece on the adult food table. 

I also used two Disney Princes tents and tied a Birthday Princess banner between them.  Behind the tents, I taped the ribbons of twelve orange balloons (pumpkins) to the floor and covered the tape with green Easter grass.  This was the Fairy Godmother's pumpkin patch!  In front of the tents, I placed a large piece of carpet so that the little princesses and princes wouldn't get their clothes dirty during story time. 

As each child arrived at the party, I posed him/her at the "grand entrance" stairs --- which was decorated with balloons, pink, blue, and white streamers, and a silver star --- and took his/her picture.  He/She was then escorted to the craft table where a crown awaited!  I ordered foam crowns from Oriental Trading Express for the kids to decorate and they loved them!    After each child had finished his/her crown, we gathered at the princess tents for a Cinderella story.  I knew it would be difficult for two and three year olds to stay focused, so I made the story an interactive one!  I made each child a magic wand, a Cinderella carriage, and a glass slipper necklace.  To make the magic wands, I cut blue and pink stars out of foam craft paper, sprayed them with silver glitter, glued them to a white dowel and then tied blue and pink ribbon to them. 

For the carriages, I bought beaded pumpkins last Halloween, spray painted them white, and then painted wheels and windows, and a letter "C" on each one.  For the glass slippers, I bought plastic slippers from a party store, glued a pink or blue jewel on the toe, and then drilled a hole in the heel and threaded each one with a blue or pink ribbon so the kids could wear them as necklaces.  As I told the story, I gave each child a magic wand and asked them to help me say, "bibbity, bobbity, boo!" so that the pumpkins would be turned into carriages. 

While they were waving their wands and shouting the magic phrase, I gave each child a balloon to pop.  It was loud, but the kids enjoyed it!  I threw princess glitter in the air and voila ten carriages appeared!  I distributed the carriages and the kids couldn't wait to hear what they were going to do next!   When it came time for Cinderella to try on the glass slipper, I had the kids wave their wands again and chant the magic phrase and voila! Each child received a glass slipper necklace.  I think the adults liked the story as much as the kids did!  After story hour, we moved on to the royal banquet. 

Guests feasted on hot dogs and chili, pasta salad, black bean salad, tossed salad, chips and salsa,  and veggies and spinach dip.  I made a Cinderella carriage out of a round loaf of bread -- I hollowed out the loaf of bread, painted it white, and then painted windows on either side and a large letter "C" adorned the front.  For wheels I used Carrs Crackers attached to the sides with toothpicks.  This was a big hit!  Sodas were served to the adults and the children drank Princess Punch (apple juice with a new label!  I used my computer to print a Castle Princess Punch label so the kids would feel special!).  After dinner, the kids played in the princess tents and chased one another. 

Then we donned Cinderella birthday hats and blew Cinderella blowers until it was time for the cake.  I made a castle cake -- Wilton cake pan -- and the kids loved it.  For favors, I bought pink and blue baskets from the dollar store and filled them with Cinderella cups, a pack of game cards, Cinderella stickers, bubbles, play dough, a chocolate castle lollie (homemade), yellow chocolate crowns (homemade), a magic cookie wand (homemade), pink candy coated popcorn for the girls, blue candy coated popcorn for the boys, a toy airplane for the boys, a Cinderella compac mirror for the girls, a pink beaded bracelet for the girls, a silver heart box with a pink jewel glued on top and a Cinderella lip gloss ring inside for the girls and a silver heart box with a blue jewel glued on top and a blue Hershey's kiss inside for the boys, and wooden treasure chests that I painted white with either a pink or blue crown on top filled with either pink or blue wrapped Hershey's chocolates, and a toy car (boys) or a Cinderella bead necklace (girls). 

I purchased the beads at Disney this past Christmas and made necklaces using blue ribbon.  I wrapped each basket with either pink or blue Easter basket wrap and tied them closed with white ribbon.  I dangled a small pumpkin and a crown magnet with the child's name painted on it from the ribbon.  I bought a thin piece of wood from a craft store, used a die cut to trace the crown, cut it out, sanded it, painted it white, added jewels and names either in pink or blue!  They were beautiful! 

For thank you notes, I once again visited a scrapbook store and found a paper that had a large castle on it.  I scanned it into my computer and then placed each child's picture in one of the two windows.  In the other window, I placed my daughter's photo.  I wrote the thank you on the door:  Dear Princess/Prince___, Thank you so much for the ___.  You were the "piece" that made my party perfect!  To the thank you I attached a puzzle that I purchased precut at a school supply store.  I bought a blue one for the boys and a pink one for the girls.  I drew a large crown on them, painted it, added jewels,  and wrote each child's name inside his/her crown.  I then broke the puzzle into pieces and put it in a small plastic candy bag and tied it with white ribbon.  My daughter loved her party and we have many, many special memories!

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