Charlotte's 4th Birthday

Charlotte wanted a "Cinderella Castle Party" for her birthday party this year. This was her first birthday party where she got to invite other children, so we kept it small. She asked if we could invite Cinderella. We told her we would invite her, but that Cinderella was very busy with her duties (running the castle, meeting wtih Fairy Godmother, assisting the Prince) that we didn't know if she would be able to come. When Cinderella came to the door, the look on Charlotte's face was prize winning. We had a budget of $300 and came in under that, proving once again that you don't have to spend a crazy amount of money for your child to have an amazingly magical special day!

• Best Dressed

  All the kids! We had everyone come in their Halloween costumes.

• Favorite Songs

  The Chicken Dance, led by Cinderella

• First To Arrive

  Our friends, the Martins.

• Life of the Party

  Charlotte. She was a spunky hostess, and our Cinderella face painted, made balloon animals and led all the kids in dancing games. She was wonderful!

• Best Moment

  When Charlotte saw Cinderella outside the front door.

• What People Ate

  Since we asked people to wear their Halloween costumes, we wanted to keep the food as neat as possible so we served lunchables (with lunch meat and crackers and cheese), muffins and cookies.

• What People Drank

  Pink lemonade

• Funniest Moment

  My older daughter expressing her surprise that Cinderella "drove here in a very small car, and not a carriage".

• Best Dance Moves

  The girls dancing with Cinderella. They did the Chicken Dance, hokey Pokey etc...

• The cake

  Charlotte asked for a Cinderella Castle cake. I used the Wilton cake pans three round pan set and 6 cake mixes to make the cake. The bottom layer was chocolate, the middle strawberry and the top, vanilla. To make the castle turrets, i "painted" sugar cones with corn syrup and rolled them in sprinkles to make them sparkle. Then I inverted them and "glued" them with corn syrup again into reg. ice cream cones. They held like a dream; even during Cinderella's dance party. Other decor on the cake included two packs of edible flowers from AJ's market.

• Party Budget: $300

  This included Cinderella for 1 1/2 hours, all the food, cake and decorations and the gift bags.

• Favors

  We took .49 light blue gift bags from Walmart and I had my two young daughters put diamond-like stickers across the top of them in rows ($3), which made them look super cute at a fraction of the cost. Every party guest received a glow in the dark magic wand ($2), 2 flower suckers (.50/each), and a jewelry bead set that was packaged in a painted wooden teacup ($9 each, from Girly girls in Mesa, AZ). We are very much into living green here so I refuse to do the giftbags full of plastic trinkets...The girls LOVED getting to go home with a nice gift. Since the party was small, we were able to provide these as the gift bags and STILL come in under our $300/budget.

• Decorations

  one bundle of balloons, tied to the chair where kids sat to have their face painting done. A Cinderella tablecloth and napkins from walmart, light blue plates and cups from walmart, fower suckers arranged in a vase (with marbles at the bottom to "hold" them) and a $5 white pumpkin that i bejeweled with $15 worth of scrapbooking beads and then placed in the center of the table on a cakestand. The bejeweled pumpkin set the perfect tone for a Halloween/Cinderella birthday party.

• Most Touching Moment

  Aftrer opening her gifts, Charlotte gave a wand and a gift bag to each guest, one at a time, thanking them for attending her party. We think it is very important for the kids to take time out and be a gracious host. Teaching our kids to actively practice gratitude is one of my passions.

• Cinderella from A Better Party

  Entertainment

  I was impressed with the quality of entertainment. Cinderella was sweet, always smiling, and interacted with all the kids. She also face painted, did balloon animals and did dancing games--all while wearing a ball gown! http://www.abetterparty.info

  602-290-3006