Last Saturday, Ellie celebrated her birthday by hosting an art party for her friends along with her co-party girl Danielle. The party was set from 9:30am to 11:30am, and we asked the parents to drop the girls off and pick them up later. There were seven girlies from their class at school plus two sisters and two birthday girls, Danielle's mom (Kaye) and grandma, Markus and myself. Whew! Luckily, all those adults on hand and all those girls who were friends meant everything was smooth and fun from start to finish!
As the girls came in, we helped them make melted bead bowls, which they would later use to hold sweets (if you're curious, I detailed the how-to on my public blog here). They really enjoyed making them, and everyone was happy with the result.
We mostly let the girls run amok and play together as we waited for all guests to arrive.
First up was singing the Happy Birthday song to Ellie and Danielle, and then all the guests decorated their own cupcakes and snacked on fruit, popcorn and fairy bread (white bread smeared with butter and sprinkled generously with 100s and 1000s).
I feel particularly proud of the rainbow cupcakes.
More running amok and playing ensued until all girls were done eating, and then we set them up painting acrylics on canvas boards outside. Some girls rushed through it (Ellie included), while others took their time and were quite detailed.
The other activity we planned was hair clip decorating. Kaye manned the glue gun and helped the girls glue precut felt onto their hairclips. The girls used regular craft glue to attach sequins and pompoms to the felt. There was mixed success with this technique, but they all had fun doing it so that's what counts.
We had initially planned for Markus to take Stephanie out to play during the party (she's still very shy and nervous around large groups or even individuals she doesn't know well), but Danielle's sister Madison came along. They are great friends, so the attempt to take Stephanie out was a big fail. It turned out well, though.
Just before it was time to go home, we brought out the "smash cake" Ellie has been requesting for the past three months leading up to her birthday. I had purchased a copy of Australian Women's Weekly Kids Birthday Cakes for ideas long ago, and Ellie immediately fell in love with the inspiration within. She did extra chores for a week to earn her own copy, and she keeps it in her bedroom for frequent reference. Since day one, her most favorite has been the piñata cake, which is a chocolate dome covered in Smarties (M&Ms) and filled with sugary treats.
This is it, mid-decoration. I had to melt extra chocolate to glue on the Smarties and mini-M&Ms. I've been nervous about making it almost as long as she's wanted it, wondering how hard it would be to make and hoping to Heaven I wouldn't mess it up and disappoint her dearest request. Luckily for me, it turned out really well without any trouble. And the fun they had whacking it apart with wooden spoons!
Her friends all gave her wonderful gifts, and Ellie did a beautiful job finishing up her thank you notes yesterday. She truly had a wonderful birthday!
Happy Birthday, Eleanor! We love you!
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