A Fairy Tea Party for our 7 year old Fairy

ingIt's been weeks in the planning, but finally the big day was here, and Jaimee woke up singing "Happy Birthday to ME!" and super excited. In fact, for about 3 hours before the party, she just loitered around the house asking "how long NOW?!".  Luckily, she had swimming lessons in the morning to keep her busy, so when the girls got home with daddy, she was delighted to see our living room transformed into a fairy tea party room.  She told me she wanted her hair in a plait that went around in a circle - I LEAPT at the chance to do her hair like this, even though this was not what she was meaning she told me (it looked so so beautiful). Ella was first to arrive, and the girls had a great time practicing their fairy dancing moves to a DVD while they waited for the others to arrive.  

Check out the table - every guest had their own fairy name place setting, a real china tea cup and saucer ($1 bargains at the charity shops), pixie dust vial and a wand.  The teapots also came from the op shop, and the tablecloth is a plastic one, now safely tucked away for Kate's birthday. I had a great time with this party, and I look forward to many more tea parties to come now we are all kitted out.    The "tea" was pink lemonade of course!

 Jaimee and Kate both had brand new fairy dresses for the occasion, their old ones were rather tatty from years of loved wear and tear.  I made Luke's  tunic myself - rather a big accomplishment for me actually, I don't sew except to put a button on normally.  It was nice and easy with $2 of fabric from spotlight folded in half and cut to shape though, saw it on someone's blog and had a go. Glad I did too!  With a pair of the girls old tights cut off at the ankles, daddy's dressing gown belt and a very cute hat also found at spotlight, he looked like the cutest pixie fairy ever.  He wasn't so happy to be woken from his nap to find a zillion people in his home, but perked up when he got food!
Check out the other young pixie fairy lads at our party, the cousins coped very well with such a girly theme - I was very impressed at the efforts in their outfits.  So so cute.

We had lots of fairy crafts as our entertainment for the afternoon.  The girls enjoyed some colouring as they arrived.  I love the interaction in this photo of Jordis and Jaimee - two very excited little fairy friends.  When everyone was present, we began the festivities truly, going on a fairy hunt in the garden.  Each child found 2 fairies hiding in the garden, and then had to come inside and create a fairy home for their fairies to live in.  

 Fairy homes were created in washed meat trays with a playdough garden base.  Anything from the garden was able to be used (Kate made a "nature fairy garden" she told me as she piled on  the daisies, leaves and twigs), and there was also loads of inviting looking sparkly gems and stones - they all got used! The kids were so inventive and busy with their creations, it was a delight to watch their unique gardens develop.

 And then it was finally time for the fairy tea party!  Everyone found their spots and had a blast being able to pour their own cups of 'tea' from the teapot.  I loved how Lealou stuck her pinky out as she drunk, what a lady!

 The food was all munched up too. From the rose cupcakes to the marshmallow tree, from the butterfly fairy bread to the fairy gingerbread cookies, it was delighted in.    We had their favourite: fruit kebabs, which Luke got so excited about, he cackled with glee at the treat.

Watching the kids sit at the table, while us adults yakked on the couches nearby. Well, it was something special.  

 And then the cake.  Oh the cake! Our good buddy Katie (14) offered to make the cake, and boy did she do a great job.  Marshmallow icing was gooey and so so good, and the cake itself was moist, jam filled and huge.  I have already booked her in for Kate's birthday in Feb!  I LOVE this photo of my kids having an absolute blast with their favourite people.

 How many people can you cram in our lounge? A lot!  Present opening time was a spectacle of paper and gifts.  Jaimee got so utterly blessed (spoilt?!) by the generous people in her life.  Just about everyone had given her 2 or 3 items in their package, so the pile of gifts was much higher then the pile of people in this room.  I tried hard to get her to save the paper, but hey, 7 year olds are much like 2 year olds when it comes to opening presents...after the first few careful openings she was ready to RIP.  She exclaimed over every gift, taking the time to read each card and saying thank you.  Until it came to the presents from us (at the end) by which stage she really was a bit spoilt and barely glanced at the items before putting them in the pile and reaching for the next.  I did talk to her about that, we had spent hours picking out things that we knew she had been asking for for months so that was not a cool moment.  She did apologise to her sad mummy though.

 We finished off the party fun with some more crafts - glitter butterflies, and then sent everyone outside for some fresh air.  Jaimee had fun shooting hoops with her uncle Veasna, she reckons she is going to be a basketball player one day (we will add that to gymnast, T-baller, netballer and ripper rugby player then Jaimee!).

 Thanks heaps to Uncle Paul too, who has taken on caretaker role of our lemon tree since he carefully pruned it (and saved it's life) for us when we moved in - he pulled heaps of fruit down as it was putting way too much pressure on the laden branches. Still HUNDREDS of fruit that need to be eaten folks - come and get your lemons and help my poor tree!

As everyone left and we got stuck into the big clean up, Jaimee had a blast with all her new toys.  Thankfully, she DID love those gifts we carefully chose for her through the year - she is in bed in her beloved onsie, the item she begged us for after the school PJ day.  Her Pillow Pet Dream Lites was coveted for months before she got it today, and she loves it.  Unfortunately, so does Luke.  Sorry buddy, not yours!

How cute is my nephew?

And now It is late, and I am done in.  This was one of the markers on my countdown to my big trip to Scotland.  The last big marker for me is next weekend, when I am swallowing all my nerves and PREACHING in the church service.  To adults.  And then I can start relaxing (or to be honest, cleaning and cooking and packing) and thinking about the two and a half weeks of child free fun that soon awaits me....