I wanted Lauren’s birthday party to be special, turning 5 is a big deal after all! And we haven’t thrown her a birthday party since she was 2 so felt I had a little making up to do. Lauren is really into princesses and was clear about including boys at her party, so it was a goal to find a way to incorporate the princess theme without being over the top girly.

The first thing I did was select the invitations which in turn helped me focus in on a color palette. The Princess Crown suite from Minted was perfect – it had the underlying princess theme which was essential, it had pink and yellow touches (Lauren’s 2 favorite colors, check!), and overall was cheerful and happy. The collection includes invites, thank you notes, and party decor so it was really one-stop shopping. While I was on their site I browsed their new fabric collections and fell in love with the “Walk the Line” print. It was the perfect pattern and comes in a bunch of colors. I decided to use this fabric as table runners for the kids tables and then ordered additional yardage to make goodie bags out of.

Next I shifted gears and planned out activities for the kids. Lauren and her friends really like painting their nails so I bought about 7 different colors of nail polish but then also found some really cute temporary tattoos – so fun! I thought the kids would love a “manicure and tattoo” station at the party. It was such a hit! I had seen some amazing photos of teepees at kids parties on Pinterest and definitely wanted to have a few at the party. They added just the right amount of whimsy and the kids loved playing in and around them.

When each of Lauren’s guests arrived, she greeted them with personalized crowns – pink and purple crowns for the girls, and ivory crowns for the boys. All of her friends are really into dress-up and they looked adorable running around with the crowns on. And they were such great keepsakes for all of her friends to bring home with them! At the end of the party she handed out the goodie bags which included, for girls, little heart charm necklaces personalized with their first initial, and for boys, custom iced sugar cookies in the shape of a crown.

Lauren wanted to help out with the party and I was thrilled to include her in the DIY projects. We temporarily set up a station at the kitchen table for a few weeks and worked side-by-side a little each night. Together we hand-stamped “yum” on the sticks for the watermelon, “thank you” on the goodie bag favor cards, and then she helped assemble and tie the goodie bags that my mom sewed for us using the Minted fabric (thanks Mom!).

The party was held at one of our local parks and was an amazing backdrop. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the kids had so much fun. Most importantly, Lauren was beaming the whole day!