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Ballerina Birthday Party

Description

I was thrilled how this ballerina party turned out for my 3 year old daughter Stella's birthday. It was a party full of relatively simple, inexpensive DIY decor projects that made for a big impact. Handmade ballet slippers, crepe paper roses, and a tutu birthday cake were the stars of the show (in addition to the little ballerina herself, of course!) You can get all the details here on my blog Design Improvised.

Design Inspiration

Stella had requested a ballerina party and I ran with the theme! In addition to the expected elements like the ballet slippers and tutus, I also wanted to incorporate some roses into the decor since Stella's middle name is Rose.

Decorating Style

I love incorporating personal, DIY elements into my home and entertaining. My blog Design Improvised focuses on easy, inexpensive projects that offer a big bang for your buck.

Project Details

Ribbon Wall and Ballet Slippers

The ribbon wall was as simple as stapling a mix of ribbons and crepe paper streamers to some twine and hanging on the wall. The ballet slippers were made from a paper template by Etsy seller Piggy Bank Parties. They turned out so cute but are time consuming to make (it took me a good 30 minutes of cutting and taping per pair). So if you plan on making these, make sure to give yourself plenty of time prior to the party! You can find a step-by-step tutorial for the ribbon wall here!

Crepe Paper Roses

These crepe paper flowers were also time consuming (about an hour a piece), but they were really fun to make and turned out gorgeous! The best part is my daughter now has them displayed as a keepsake in her room. Her middle name is Rose, so incorporating the roses into the party gave it a little personal touch. You can find the full DIY here!

Ballerina Birthday Cake

The homemade angel food cake with buttercream frosting was topped with some more of the ballerina paper cutouts (I taped them to skewers) and a few pom-poms I made from tuile. The tutu cake stand was actually a big kitchen pot overturned and covered with one of my daughter's tutus. Here is the tutorial!

DIY Invites and Thank You Notes

The party invites and thank you notes were each easy DIY projects. The invites were made by printing the party details on rose patterned note cards from Snow and Graham and gluing on a ballerina paper cutout from Etsy seller DieCuts4U. For the thank you notes, I used some edging scissors to make a decorative border on plain white cardstock and affixed another one of the ballerina paper cutouts. I also lined the envelopes with Snow and Graham rose wrapping paper.

The Birthday Girl's Artwork

My 3 year old loves to color, and contributed to the party decor with a few ballerina colorings. I framed them and put them on the mantel along with some of her tutus.

The Party Treats

I kept the desserts simple with some pink rice krispie treats (I just added a little gel food coloring), store bought pink wafer cookies that I stacked decoratively, and some pink and white sandwich cookies displayed in a bowl.

The Vendor List:

Ballerina die cuts (used on invites, thank you's, and as cake toppers): DieCuts4U (Etsy seller)

Paper ballet slipper templates: Piggy Bank Parties (Etsy seller)

Double sided crepe paper (used for paper roses): Castle in the Air

Rose patterned paper: Snow and Graham

You can find step-by-step tutorials for the ribbon wall, crepe paper roses, and ballerina cake on my blog Design Improvised.

Favorite Items

I love how the crepe paper roses turned out, and they ended up being the most viewed project on my blog Design Improvised in 2012! They look even more beautiful and realistic in real life and I love that they are now part of Stella's bedroom decor and will last for many years to come.

Advice

If you plan any DIY projects, start them a few weeks ahead of time. That way the day of the party you can focus on the last minute details - the last thing you want to be doing is still making decorations!

Also, it is fun to have your child participate in the party prep by contributing their own decorations like a handmade sign or drawing.

Frauline Kelly

Tuesday 5th of February 2013

Those paper ballet shoes are really cute and dainty. They make the perfect accents to your overall party decor.