Who Knew?

Did you know that if you stick a piece of bread, (I use the heel) in a jar of brown sugar it keeps it perfectly granulated and fluffy? Easy thing to do and it works! Apparently the gases from the bread keep it from getting clumpy :)

Adler's Woodland Fairy Party

I party plan year-round. It's a hobby, a passion, and something I really enjoy. I am always on the lookout for anything I could tie into a theme. This year's theme was supposed to be a Pink Flamingo Pool Party, for my daughter's love of all things pink and flamingos. I had already started buying stuff I had found on sale here/there, (nothing that can't be saved or carried over). Needless to say, it threw me for a loop when my then 5-year old came to me requesting a fairy party in December. That only left 3 months to pull stuff together~lol. I didn't want a pink, purple, and all things garden fairy party because I really didn't have any existing resources I could use. Then it hit me! I could do more of a woodland theme and use things I could walk outside and grab for FREE! Of course, Pinterest and sites such as Catch My Party proved invaluable and I began pinning away, looking under Woodland themes, Gnome themes, and Woodland Fairy themes.

I got extremely lucky after Christmas and found fairy tutus on clearance in the Target dollar aisle! Thank God, because I CAN NOT sew, and I don't think I could've bought the materials to make them cheaper than what I got them for. Paired with $1 wings from the Dollar Tree, and tulle "poof" wands I made myself, I had little fairies running around the party and instant favors they could take home.

Here's the fairy frocks at the party:

If you need pink wings, you can grab these for only $2 in the party aisle at Target!

 

 

 

 

Of course, we were expecting a few little gnomes to come "crash" the party, so I made some really easy felt gnome hats. I don't sew at all, so I just used glue along the inside seam. I believe the triangle I cut from the red felt was approx. 13" tall , with a rounded bottom width of 20" Felt is easy and you can draw on it with a pencil. Even for someone like me who can't even sew a button on, they were not difficult.

     

 

I made buffet labels, printing directly onto 4x6 pieces of a brown paper bag, then I crumpled it up for visual effect. I framed it with sticks I hot glued together and added a touch of moss here and there. They were sweet and free! And they don't have to be perfect

 

My girl doesn't like chocolate, but the color tied in with the party, so I just had Publix Bakery make her a small cake. For $11.99 I was thrilled! The lady in the bakery did a wonderful job and I just added on a few of my own cookies (the #6, and toadstools), some candy rocks, and a tiny cake bunting tied on 2 sticks. 

I used a lot of log slices here and there that my husband cut for me and it made the cake even cuter when used as a cake pedestal! 

Here's the cupcakes. I added bite-sized toadstool cookies and a few candy pearls. My husband made a tiered stand out of logs for this, and I used a couple scraps of polka dot material to tie it all in.

 

I had food for the adults, but wanted to keep all of the kid's food simple and something they could just pick up and eat with their hands. For this theme, it was actually easy. Here's a few pictures of the food. We also had toadstool cheese (half of a cherry tomato placed on a piece of string cheese-so cute)

 Fairy picks are Meri Meri and I got them on clearance from my favorite place-TJ Maxx HomeGoods!

 Fairy Berries-Strawberries, Blackberries, and Blueberries and I LOVE these little candy/treat cups! They are wax lined and perfect for stuff like this! You can get them from a variety of vendors, including 1 of my favorites- http://www.jillybeankids.com/

 In all the party mayhem, I didn't get a good picture of the little hedgehogs, but if you look to the top/left, you can see the little guys. Donut holes dipped in melted chocolate and rolled in chocolate jimmies. 

Last minute decision to roll up some scrapbook paper I had here to serve the chips out of and it picks up w/ the toadstool theme

 Addie tucked in this little guy between the moss-covered rocks

I got these French milk bottles a couple of years ago from Jilly Bean Kids and I use them all the time! I got plastic ones so we don't have to worry about them breaking and Michael's has started carrying paper straws~Yay!!!!!!!

 Gnome walking sticks (chocolate covered pretzel rods)

Some more sweets!

I used dry, split green peas in a couple of places. Loved the green color, and they are super cheap!

 

 

I had a set budget and included room for a fairy face painter! It was so worth it! The girls literally stood around watching her. Kym with Face to Face Designs was a source of entertainment and done an amazing job! Here's some of her fairy face paint creations:



 I made a Granola "Bar" with stuff I already had in the pantry, placing little brown paper sacks that each child could fill with some of their favorite stuff and take home. This was really easy and the kids love hands-on stuff like this! I will probably be doing a Trail Mix Station for a future camp-out.

 My husband just cut these from a small caliber log and I used a Sharpie to make buffet labels

 

For an easy fairy activity, I placed small wings I cut out of sparkly tulle in the trees/shrubs. We went on a fairy walk to see if the fairies had left behind or lost any wings the night before.

I also made some fairy houses out of a few logs my best friend brought me out of her yard. These things could get really intricate; there are all kinds of ideas on the internet. I just used some spare pieces of sticks, logs, and moss that I already had.

Not the greatest picture, but the log is super cool and already had moss on it. We used the same size log pieces I used for buffet labels as a staircase, I hot glued some broke sticks for a ladder, etc.

 

See more pictures of Adler's Woodland Fairy Party at Catch My Party, it was featured as Party of the Day!

http://catchmyparty.com/party-of-the-day/3341