Monday, November 14, 2016

Nutcracker Birthday Party!


We celebrated Emily's 12th birthday a couple of weeks ago and that weekend had a fun Nutcracker party for a few of her friends! I love sharing all the party details so here we go!

Invitations:





Emily requested that we make the invites look something like a stage - it was fun to take the scrapbook paper she'd picked out and make curtains out of it! The silhouette Clara and Nutcracker were a Pinterest find, I simply printed them right on the brown paper and then added the embellishments.

Packaging them pretty made for such a charming invite! I keep brown kraft cardstock on hand and try to purchase when it goes on sale for $2 at Michael's for a package of 50 sheets. The patchwork paper and paper doilies were from Hobby Lobby. Wooden discs were found on clearance at some point in the past year - perhaps from Michael's? Waxed paper is from cereal boxes and fabric scraps were from my scrap box.






We stuck pretty close to our $50 budget - I let Emily help with that this year. She had more input on what we spent the money on:

Wooden nutcrackers to paint: $12/dozen plus shipping from Oriental Trading
Plastic ballerinas for tops of candy jars: Amazon $4.29/dozen
Paper doilies, paper plates, paper napkins, scrapbook paper, felt: Hobby Lobby, about $12 for all
Pink candy for Sugar Plum Sweet Jar Favors: Hobby Lobby; $8
Hand Sanitizer favors: Bath & Body Works; $8
Favor bags: clearance from Christmas past; we have used them before; Target
Cupcake Toppers and Paper fans: TJ Maxx Christmas clearance last year
Headbands: Dollar Tree $1.50 {one pack was only partially there and it was the last one so they gave me half off}
Fabric remnant: $3.50 Hobby Lobby
Food: less than $10

Each girl was assigned a role in the play so that they could dance/act out the ballet together! We made felt flower headbands to accent their attire!

The white Christmas lights are always up on our porch and the tablecloth is a sheet from our linen closet with a piece of burlap layered over the top! The fabulous Nutcracker puppet theater is from Usborne - I earned it for free by hosting a party recently!

I set up our Dining Room as the stage area and we had the party on the porch! Enjoy all the fun photos of this sweet party!























































This was such a sweet party and really so simple - after painting the nutcrackers, we had a tea party, acted out the play, opened gifts and just enjoyed being together. Simple, sweet and beautiful - the perfect celebration!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love it, very cute and simple, but very special. Those toothpick decorations were a perfect touch on the brownies!

Simply Quaint said...

Such sweet memories you make for your children.......

Blessings

Rhonda

Shelby said...

Oh my heart is bursting.......... oh my what a beautiful party. Oh I love how you do all of this for $50.00. Gorgeous pictures...... um I will have to go through your pictures again because I absolutely adore the way you have such an attention to detail. I have been waiting for your share on this:) Thanks for adding where you get what and how much. I appreciate you. Shelby~

Unknown said...

Love it!!!! Everything is lovely! I love the way you create without breaking the bank. Awesome job mama!:)

Mary Ann said...

Such a pretty party! And I love that Emily helped with the planning this year. I am always amazed at all you do for $50!

Mom said...

Such a sweet party for Emily - just charming! :)

Anonymous said...

Absolutely ADORABLE!! You did it again. You are so creative, Monica.
I'll bet Emily loved it! Thanks for sharing. Love you all, Grandma/Nana

Elise said...

Oh my goodness, this is amazing, Monica!!!! I love the green basket that you held the favors in-care to share where you found it, please?

eanderso said...

Everything turned out great! Love all the special touches. For the future, OTC often offers free shipping on any order. I am on their email list and usually disregard them, but something to consider . . .

Fun ideas and sweet that Emily was more involved this year.

love, carrie

Wendi said...

Great job on creating a wonderful memory on a slim budget! I am amazed how you do this. Food alone, blows my party budget.

mysweetbunch said...

So sweet and I love all the sparkly dresses! Still need to send you pics of Elaina's birthday party!;)