21281

Tinker Bell Fairy Garden -2yr- Bird Nest Salad

April 2010

Summer in Canoga Park, CA USA

Runner Up

I started planning my daughter's 2nd Birthday Party not long after she turned one!  Her birthday is in April, but it helped to buy things even as early as Halloween and Christmas when things were on sale.  I had planned on it taking place outside but the day of the party was incredibly windy, so we had to move everything outdoors.

INVITATION:  I dressed my daughter in a fairy costume and had her pictures taken.  I used three of the poses to make photo invitations that said:  Think of the happiest things it's the same as having wings!  You are invited to Chloe's 2nd birthday party.  The magic starts at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday March 27th ADDRESS RSVP PHONE NUMBER."  They were super cute and I got lots of compliments.  

DECORATIONS:  I made a ton of  large and medium tissue pom-poms to hang (instructions on Martha Stewart.com) in lavendar plum bright pink white and light pink and I also hung different-colored nylon butterflies around the rooms I used.  I made a "Happy Birthday" banner by cutting out 4"x4" squares from some pink foam sheets (I got them on clearance at Joanne's a while back for $.10 each) then on top of each one I had a slightly smaller lime green construction paper circle then on top of those I used foam pink letters that I had cut out and painted with glitter paint and sprinkled with tiny silver stars.  I strung all of the letters together on white ribbon by punching holes into the tops of each one.  It looked really cute.

I used lime green and pink plastic table cloths on the tables with matching table skirts.  Around the top edge I gathered and draped matching tulle to create a soft scalloped effect all around.  I made tulle butterflies with squares of bright pink glittered tulle that I accordion-folded and secured in the middle with a silver pipe cleaner.  I curled the ends of the pipe cleaners to look like curly antlers and then  I glued each one to a small clothespin and clipped them to the tops of the tulle scallops around the tables.  I had a huge table that was filled with large 2'x1' presents for each girl that I had wrapped in bright pink and green wrapping papers with purple ribbon/bows around each.  On the same table I had a Tinker Bell treasure chest that I lined with lavender Easter grass and set the treat bags with favors for each girl in it.  I decorated some tall glass vases (dollar store) by wrapping layers of pink and green ribbon around one spot and hot-glued a pink silk flower in the middle to cover where the ends of the ribbons met. 

I filled these with M&M's that I bought around Valentines day so they were different shades of pink and purple and white and some lime green ones too from the regular M&M's packages and placed them on the cake table along with little clear bottles of wedding bubbles (dollar store) on which I had glued a flower to the top of each one.  I had Chloe's picture taken in her Tinker Bell outfit and put the pictures in two white frames (dollar store) that I had decorated with silk flowers and used them for decorating the cake table.  I made several flower arrangements using little purple lime green and pink metal buckets ($1 each at Target) and used some pink white green and purple flowers (dollar store). They added a lot of color to the cake table and the food tables. 

I also made another poster-style "Happy Birthday" sign by using an overhead projector to trace a large image of Tinker Bell onto poster paper that I painted and traced "Happy Birthday Chloe" in fancy writing next to it.  I backed it with a larger piece of plum-colored poster paper so that it had a nice border and laminated it. I attached it to a wood frame my husband made to stake it into the ground.  I made some balloon flower pillars too.  I used plastic pipes and home-made stands and then twisted lime green animal-balloon type balloons around them all the way up.  I made three-layered balloon flowers in different shades of pink and placed one of these flower clusters at the tops of each pipe so they looked like giant flowers (they ended up costing about $15 each to make...much less than buying them!) .

I also bought a Tinker Bell wall mural ($20 at the party store) that I used to cover the wall behind the food table.  I had tons of lavender pink white and lime green helium balloons clustered everywhere along with bright pink and lime green paper lanterns and a huge bouquet of mylar Tinker Bell balloons.  I had two child-sized Tinker Bell tables and chairs with toy Tinker Bell tea set places at each spot.  I made chair ties for our folding chairs by cutting long pink green and purple plastic table cloths in half lengthwise and then tied these in bows around the chair backs.  Lastly I cut large (15") lily pads out of lime green construction paper and scattered them around the floor. I had also made a large fairy canopy using a hula hoop felt and pink and purple tulle but it was too windy to hang it up :(

PARTY SNACKS:  I made little "birds' nests" parmesan cheese bowls that I filled with caesar salad and placed around a three-tiered cake plate.  I also had a veggie platter with baby carrots sliced cucumber radish "mushrooms" (google for directions online) and dip that I put in the middle inside of a hollowed-out red cabbage.  I made fruit flowers by cutting out flowers from pineapple slices with a cookie cutter.  I attached strawberry tips to the centers with toothpicks and skewered them on a skewer with a row of grapes.  I then took a rectangle of craft foam and placed it inside a serving tray.  I covered the sides with strips of construction paper "grass" and then covered the top with crushed Oreo crumbs to look like dirt.  I stuck the fruit flowers into the foam and also decorated the dirt with gummy worms gummy mushrooms and "snails" that I made by rolling up strawberry cream cheese in a tortilla slicing and then attaching each "shell" to a gummy worm. 

I used "stamens" that I got in the cake decorating section of a craft store to serve as eyes.  I made chicken skewers and hot dog skewers (which I wrapped with dough and sprinkled with black sesame seeds to look like little beehives before baking ) and used clear squirt bottles that I labeled with Tinker Bell "ketchup" and "mustard" home-made labels.  I also served garlic breadsticks standing up glass vases (dollar store) and made some homemade lemonade served in a pretty drink dispenser.  I used lime green lavender and pink square paper plates and Tinker Bell cups.  I made cutlery napkin rolls in pink and purple that I tied up with different colored ribbons and placed inside a Tinker Bell basket (it was my daughter's Halloween treat basket).  

CAKE:  I made a huge three tiered cake (I own a pastry company) where each tier was separated by green pink white and purple flowers.  On top I used a Tinker Bell sitting on a flower figurine (which was originally a Christmas ornament-$4- that I painted to make it spring colors it had wings that lit up and changed colors!).  It was super impressive.  Along with that I made shortbread cookies that I covered with a layer of pink purple or green marshmallow fondant and decorated some with Tinker Bell stencils I had made and royal icing and others with more fondant to look like either butterflies or flowers. 

I wrapped each one in a cellophane bag and tied it with a pink green or purple ribbon.  I also made wands by coating large pretzel rods with white melting chocolate (which I brushed with luster dust to make it shiny and sparkly).  Then I cut stars out of rice krispie treats and sandwiched the rod between two of them.  I cut out pink green or purple stars of marshmallow fondant and covered the fronts of each wand.  I then brushed them with edible glitter and wrapped each one in a long cellophane bag (sealed with a food sealer) and tied a pink green or purple ribbon around each at the base of the stars.  I sent one of these home with each girl.  

FAVORS:  I bought each girl a set of fairy wings a princess crown with clip-on earrings a fairy tutu and a light-up star fairy wand (all dollar store) and wrapped each set up in these huge boxes (the wings were big) that I got after Christmas on clearance.  Each girl also got a little green cloth treat bag filled with a Tinker Bell Jump Rope a Tinker Bell  marker/notebook set and a Tinker Bell pen stamp.  They also each got to take home a potted flower gardening gloves aprons a reusable shopping bag candy treat bags and rice krispie treat wands.  

ACTIVITIES: I had a CD of "Fairy" music that played throughout the party.  Upon arriving each girl got to put on lip gloss and body glitter on her cheeks.  I got a Tinker Bell mirror at the dollar store so they could see themselves.  The first thing we did was eat followed immediately by singing happy birthday/blowing out the candles and serving the cake so that people could eat their dessert while Chloe opened her presents.  While she opened her presents each girl got to open her own present with the fairy outfit/accessories inside. 

After presents the girls all went outside for a fairy treasure hunt.  I had filled pink cellophane bags with different kinds of candy and stapled them closed with a Tinker Bell picture (printed from the internet) and then hid them throughout the yard.  Each girl got a large green polka-dotted reusable shopping bag (on clearance after Christmas for $.75 each) to put her candy bags in.  The bags were big enough to fit their fairy outfits in too to take home.  One of the treat bags I had punched diamond-shaped holes in…the girl that found that one got a special prize (either a felt tinker bell poster with markers or a tinker bell locked journal-each were only $1.50).   

After the hunt we had a flower activity.  I took our large ottoman and covered it with a Tinker Bell table cloth.  On it I had these pretty silver pots ($1 Target) stickers (dollar store) pink and green gardening gloves ($1 Target) 6-packs of pink and purple flowers (only like $1.65 for 6 at Walmart) a large pink beach bucket with shovel filled with potting soil (dollar store) and a shepherds hook next to the ottoman with pink and purple aprons hanging for each girl (dollar store).  Each girl got to wear an apron and decorate her pot with stickers before planting some flowers in it.  The gloves were for the parents to wear so they could help but some of the older girls wore them.  It was really cute…I think this was the favorite activity.  The girls were so excited that they got to take everything home with them!  I gave each parent a plastic grocery bag to put the potted plants in to take home. 

Next we played "Pin the Wand on the Tinker Bell."  I had drawn a large Tinker Bell on poster-sized paper using an overhead projector and then after painting it cut it out and glued it to a bright pink poster-sized piece of paper.  I laminated the whole thing.  I cut wands out of cardstock and the girls used tape to try to stick them on the poster.  The older girls had to close their eyes but the little ones got to keep them open.  The girl that got the closest won a prize.  I also had a giant bubble wand station and a bounce house that the girls got to play in/with throughout the party and the Tinker Bell movie was playing throughout as well.  The girls also enjoyed playing with water in the little tea sets at the kids' tables (I got those at Ross for $10/set…my daughter loves playing with them still!). 

Everyone had a lot of fun.  I am still getting compliments two weeks later.  One friend said it was nicer than her wedding!"

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