Violet's 4th Birthday ~ A Princess Party!

Violet turned 4 

on February 20th and she wanted to have a pink-plastered princess party. So that's what we did, even if we did have to delay it one week because of the snow storm! It worked out beautifully anyway.

She started out just saying she wanted a pink princess party, but it turned into a little bit of a Frozen party after someone put it into her head that she might want an Elsa cake. That's okay, pink and turquoise go well together.

Throw a little bit of gold in there for good measure...

I'm posting a separate thing on my Lark & Lola blog regarding the Elsa cake. Believe it or not, this is one of the easiest cakes I've made for my kid's birthdays! She's showing a little leg, you know, just like in the Frozen scene where she sings "Let It Go". Doll cakes have been around for forever {and I once said I'd never make one} but this "walking doll cake" is a newer concept to cake decorating.

The truth is, I felt rather unprepared for this birthday. Violet's birthday always sneaks up on me too quickly just as I'm recovering from the holiday season. But I have enough pink and turquoise junk in my home, it pulled together nicely.

I made a bunch of paper crowns for the girls to decorate.
{I'm really loving this gold Duct Tape they have at Hobby Lobby. I used it to make the buntings too.}

So we got out the two round tables in the living room, surrounded them with cute IKEA chairs, and created crown-decorating stations for our guests.

And just like that, we were ready to par-tay.

Great Grandma Sander was among the first guests to arrive. She is about to turn 97! Now, I can't say I have a favorite in-law, but if I did... I'll just say I love how Grandma Sander tells it as it is. When Justin asked her if she'd ever been to such an over-the-top cute party, she shook her head and said, "When my kids had birthdays, we just took them to the park!" She cracks me up. I always invite her because it's good to get out of the retirement home...and she likes my cake. {I always send her home with some extra.} I barely remember meeting my great grandparents, so this is wonderful.

We invited Grandma to make a crown too, but she preferred to watch.

They had a great time decorating their crowns with rhinestones, feathers, and glitter. The mess was totally worth it.

We have a small house, but we make it work.

So we spent about 1/2 hour decorating crowns, until...

...the doorbell rang!

Who could it be!?

You guys...this princess/"Snow Queen". This. I can't say enough about how wonderful it was to book the Snow Queen visit with Wands & Wishes. From the second she walked into our house, up until the time she left, she was all about the girls. I don't even think she made eye contact with the adults. She just waltzed in and took over and she held their attention for an hour. But this sweet moment was so precious.

As the little girls noticed her arrival and all crowded around, she presented Violet with an "enchanted snowflake", all the little girls put their hands on it, and she sang quietly to them--and something about it made a few of us adults {including my mom, myself, Justin(!), and a friend} tear up and get all emotional. I still don't know why exactly, it just did.

Of course a party entertainer is always going to set you back a little $, but we agreed she was just so worth it. Worth every penny. The girls were entranced with her. The princess just kept it rolling the whole time, starting with "wishing stamps" on each girls hand, a glittered snowflake that they blew the pixie dust from while making a wish.

She gave the girls a fun, entertaining etiquette lesson set to music. It was adorable.

She read a story...

I can't tell you how much fun this was to watch, and it certainly gave the party that special something that we will always look back on and remember just how fun and lovely the party was.

Of course, we needed to take some pictures with the Snow Queen!

I just love these little girls!
Left to right: Jaina, Mara, Charlie, Eisley, Violet, cousin Moriah, Cameron, and Charlotte.

One of the reasons we booked with Wands & Wishes was that their entertainers seem to have professional acting backgrounds, and the Snow Queen happened to have a beautiful singing voice.

She seemed to like the cake too!

And she insisted on singing 'Happy Birthday' to Violet with us.

A picture with each guest too!

Even Paxton managed to get a photo-op with the Snow Queen!

What a special memory this is for Violet!

When it was time for the Snow Queen to leave, we had some pizza, cake, and a crack at the crown shaped piñata in the basement. Thank you to all our friends and family who were able to join us and celebrate together! 

I still remember what it was like being 2 weeks and 2 days overdue with this little girl, it is hard to believe she is already four years old. 

Happy Birthday, Princess Violet!