For my twins’ 6th birthday, they wanted a Tinkerbell party. I feel overwhelmed by off-the-shelf party themes, and didn’t want the party to feel like an advertisement, so I talked up the idea of a “flower fairy” party instead. They loved the concept, chose our pink and green colors, and our flower fairy 6th birthday party was born!
My inspiration was the incredibly detailed pop-up book How to Find Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker. Her vintage illustrations were just the style of fairies I was looking for. Design Serendipity had a beautiful invitation that combined our whimsical look with the girls’ pink and green. She also created fairy name tags for each of the girls with the names of flowers, like primrose and zinnia.
Fairy Bower Story Time
Since our party was in February, most of our activities had to be indoor. In our front hall, my husband hung a “fairy bower” — a pink butterfly bed canopy we ordered from Amazon for about $12. The girls helped me hot glue flowers in our party colors to the top. (In fact, one of the most fun aspects of this party was how much the girls were able to help!)
At the beginning of the party, we gathered all our guests under the bower and asked them if they believed in fairies: all their little hands shot up! I read parts of How to Find Flower Fairies and they found the hidden fairies on each page.
Decorating Fairy Houses
Once we found all the fairies, I asked if they would like to make fairy houses so maybe some flower fairies would come to live with them. With that, we were off to the dining room. Each girl got to choose her own pixie wings (a steal from Halo Heaven at $1.70 each) and flower fairy name tag.
At each place, I had a wooden birdhouse ($1 each from JoAnn’s) and pre-cut moss for the roofs. Scattered around the table, we had bowls of fabric leaves, shells, pebbles, flower heads, butterflies, and slices of wood. Each girl used Aleene’s Tacky Glue to decorate her house however she liked. When the houses were complete, I sprinkled each one with “pixie dust” so the fairies would know they were welcome there. (Pixie dust was a mixture of glitter and sugar in a pizza-seasoning shaker.)
Fairy Dessert Table
During the fairy house decorating, the girls could snack from the dessert table:
- Strawberry marshmallows
- Berries
- Pink and green Sixlets
- Pink M&M cookies
- Butterfly crackers and veggies with dip
- Raspberry lemonade
- PixieStix
Our cake was inspired by a Pink Cake Box (http://blog.pinkcakebox.com) design and made by Lisa of Magdalaina’s, a local mom who’s made almost all my girls’ cakes.
Fairy Face Painting
When the houses were complete, we used face paint sticks to create fanciful designs on each girl (although it turns out they all wanted the same “swirl” design). We followed face painting with a butterfly piñata and then opening presents.
Dining Room Decorations
To decorate the dining room (our main party space), I used pink pintuck table runners scattered with fabric rose petals. From the chandelier, I hung fairies that I made using a fairy mobile kit. For the centerpiece, we had simple pink roses and a fairy house that the girls and I made in advance for inspiration. From the sconces on either side of the dessert table, we hung pink and green balloons, as well as custom-made plush fairies.
Fairy Party Favors
The girls helped me make our party favor bags. Each bag featured a Thank You sticker created by Design Serendipity. I used a Martha Stewart punch from my collection to trim the edges of each bag. Treats included Tinkerbell stickers (OK — I caved), PixieStix, vials of fairy dust, fairy notebook, and wooden fairy to color in.
The girls loved the party and my highest praise came from my daughter Grace, who finished this school assignment sentence “My mother makes the best…” with “of my bthday prdes and they are fun.”
Vendor Credits
- Pink runners: Table Cloths Factory
- Pixie wings and flower heads: Halo Heaven
- Butterfly piñata: Target
- Invitations and printables: Design Serendipity
- Cake: Magdalaina’s
- Fairy cake toppers: Ebay seller Dream Party Creations
- Fairy mobile: Home Goods
- Plush fairies: Etsy seller Barbarix
- Paper plates, etc.: Hobby Lobby
- Green placemats: Amazon
- Birdhouses and décor: JoAnn’s, Tuesday Morning, Michael’s
- Goody bags: Target
- Goody bag treats: JoAnn’s
- Pizza seasoning shaker: Bed Bath and Beyond
- Girls’ pillowcase dresses: Etsy seller Three Munchkins
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