Elissa's 4th Birthday Party!

We had Elissa's 4th birthday party this weekend and it was so much fun! Elissa and I had a blast with her fairy themed celebration. Most of the items I used I either found in boxes in our basement, from Elissa's room or other places in our house, or from clearance shelves at Hobby Lobby, Walmart, or Target. It was so much fun putting it all together! Here are some pictures from the day. I can't take credit for all the ideas. I owe a big thank you to party blogs Kara's Party Ideas and Shindig Parties.

I made tutus, wands, and hair clips for all the girls.

I made all the food labels on the computer with word and then used the Cricut to jazz them up a bit! Most of the menu ideas and food names came from Shindig Parties. We had Gnome Bites (chiken nuggets), Fairy Dust Sandwiches (PB&J cut into butterfly shapes with sprinkles), Fairy Fruit wands (grapes, strawberries, pineapple, and cantaloupe stars on skewers), Fairy Trail Mix (Chex Mix), Magic Marshmallow Wands (regular and strawberry flavored marshmallows dipped in chocolate and sprinkles), and Fairy Berry Punch ( a yummy punch with frozen mixed berries floating in it). The cake and mini cupcakes I made were white cake with a mixed berry filling and cream cheese icing. I also had some chocolate cupcakes.

I LOVE these tissue paper pom-poms! They were so easy and inexpensive to make and made such a big impact on the party decor!! I made them in 4 different colors and sizes. I had them hanging above both tabels and in our foyer. I'm going to hang some of them above Elissa's bed soon. I used a Martha Stewart tutorial to make them. You can buy kits to make them but I just bought the tissue paper in the colors I wanted and some white floral wire from the floral department at Walmart and then raided my husband's tackle box for fishing line to hang them with. I think I spent a total of $5 on that project and had a ton of pom-poms to show for it!!

I actually got those pink vases on the mantel from Kara's Party Idea's Etsy store when she was selling off extra inventory! I'm going to use them in Elissa's room now...along with some of the other party decor! I got the fairy prints from Hostess with the Mostess for FREE! I used them on Elissa's invitations--I used Gimp (free version of photo shop) to add the party information. Then I added some poems or quotes about fairies to the larger prints and I'm going to use them in Elissa's room also.

The girls decorated their own fairy wings! I got the wings from Oriental Trading. Then I put out stickers, markers, crayons, flowers, and pom-poms and let them go to town!

My sister Jennifer did some fairy face painting! I think that was Elissa's favorite part!

Then my sister took the girls outside for some photos dressed in their fairy gear!

It was all worth it when Elissa told me Saturday night that "This was the best birthday ever!" and "Thank you for my party, Mommy!" It makes me happy knowing I could make her day special!! Happy Birthday baby girl!!!