Ballerina Birthday Party

When my kids have a birthday, I usually go onto Birthday Express, pick out what I like and let them choose from there. L recently turned 3 and I had about 8 themes for her to choose from. As soon as she saw the ballerina one, she was set. It was a ballerina party. She was so excited. Everyday, "Can I look at my birthday party pictures?" I knew I had to do something very girly. So, I thought, lots of tule and just went with it.

First, I got L her little dance leotard and made her a tu-tu to go with the color she picked. Luckily, she wanted purple and I happened to have these little bows.

Then, I thought all the other little girls needed tu-tu's also, so I made each little girl one in their favorite color. These went home with them instead of goodie bags. I am not into candy filled goodie bags.

For the boys at the party, which was only about 6, I made capes. We were going to do crowns, but the capes were easier and I thought they would last longer.

Then, I wanted something really fancy and girly for the main room the kids would be playing in. I saw some canopies on-line when I was looking and remembered some fabric I used to make curtains a while back for someone else. He had extra fabric and was very kind to hand it over. The extra fabric gave me plenty to make this cute little canopy.

It was very easy to make. I basically cut 2 pieces the length I wanted then hemmed the bottom. Next, I took the top, twisted and rolled it together making a loop, which I slid some white yarn through to hang the canopy from. The last part of the canopy was a little tricky. I borrowed a hula hoop for the ring at the top. I wanted the hula hoop to be removable so I made 5 cloth strips and sewed snap tape to the ends. After that, I sewed one end of each strip in, set the hula hoop in and snapped it closed. It worked perfectly.

I hung the canopy from the ceiling above the kids table and on the table I put crayons and a bunch of ballerina coloring pages I printed out from the internet. I also had a bowl of hair ties and cut up ribbon for the older girls to make their own hair bows to match their skirts.

The cake was made by a friend who does this professionally. I usually make my kids cakes, actually this is the first time I have not. I just didn't think I could pull of a girl cake. L was set on having her cake be, "A girl." So I had it made. She turned out very cute.

L was very happy and had a ton of fun. She is still asking, "Mommy, when is it going to be my next birthday?"

Just as we started singing "Happy Birthday" she got off this stool and crouched on the ground until everybody was done singing.

We had about 30 guests and the whole party ended up costing under $200. We tried to do it very limited and only invited the friends she sees on a regular basis. That helped, but doing a party at home and making things instead of buying really cut costs. 


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Making the World Cuter