Simple Ideas for a Magical @Disney Princess Halloween Party #DisneyPrincessWMT

There's something magical about Halloweentime. The change of the seasons, the feel of the air, and the decorations and dressing up.

This year my kids have caught on to the magic! They eagerly awaited the day we chose our costumes for this year (my son will be going as a duck and my daughter a ladybug, both homemade) but didn't want to leave it at that. So I decided to create a celebration separate from our Halloween party next week to allow the kids a chance to dress up and have some fun!

Planning the Princess Party
With the help of Wal-Mart and the Royal Ball Augmented Reality 2.0 app, my daughter and I planned the perfect Disney Princess Halloween party for her and her friends. We had an absolute blast shopping for the decorations and my daughter's special princess costume. You can read all about our shopping experience here.

Once we had all of the supplies it was time to get home and make things happen! We had invited 10 girls between the ages of 2-5 to our party and asked that they bring their prettiest Disney Princess dresses to the party. I was excited to find that most of them not only brought their princess dresses, but more to share! And even some adorable princess shoes to match. The girls were elated at the thought of dressing up and playing together as princesses.

I started our set up by planning out the menu. For our playdates I always like to keep things simple and utilize "hands eating" as much as possible (meaning I won't have to clean a bunch of silverware afterwards). I usually plan on making one thing and the rest are simple snacks to pour out or cut up.

The Menu
Since this was a princess party I tried to go along with the theme and create dishes that the girls would enjoy and that would fit the dainty princess theme. So tea sandwiches, pumpkin bars, scones, and fruit cups were what I set out.

We also had some pretty princess cups for juice and water and some coffee for the larger princesses. The girls were allowed to take their cups home to save me from doing more dishes to add to their princess favor bag.

To check out how I made the pumpkin bars, head on over to my Pumpkin Bars recipe post. 

The Decor
In an effort to keep the princess theme front and center, I decorated with simple ideas, pink and purple for the colors and functional decor for the rest. We set out the princess dresses on the curtain rod for the girls to "shop" for their dress of choice.

I added some princess crowns and a wand making station to the table next to the dresses so that they could complete their look as they went down the line. And the last stop was choosing their shoes (some of the younger girls opted out of wearing the shoes and ran around in their bare feet Cinderella-style).

The Activities
In addition to yummy food and fun outfits, the girls also had a few activities they could partake in. We set up our train table into Tink's Tea Party and the girls had fun preparing and serving tea to each other. They are quite creative and eventually everyone had a cup in hand!

The girls also had the chance to make princess wands with the help of their moms. We included some dowels, felt to make the star on top, and pretty ribbon in different colors so each girl could customize their wand to their personal preference.

For the most part, though, the girls enjoyed playing together inside and outside. Since we have so many toys for all ages, it was easy for them to choose an activity and play, play, play. I love watching their creative little minds figure things out and try new things.

For step-by-step directions on how to create your own Magic Wand, visit my DIY Magic Wand Tutorial post here. 

The Princesses
Friendship is very important to me and I am so lucky to have such amazing friends. I'm also lucky that my daughter has this opportunity to be involved and play with such an amazing group as well. I'm so excited to be a part of these little ones lives and watch them grow.

Playgroups have been an integral part of my life and I could not imagine life without running my playgroup. It's kept me active, informed, and entertained and has built friendships that I hope last past our kids early years.

Each one of these princesses pictured below are absolutely amazing. Their personalities shine and they love playing together. They truly bring joy to mine and my daughter's lives and we love hosting playdates for them!

Creative Entertainment with Royal Ball 2.0 App
If you're planning on hosting a Halloween Princess party of your own (or simply shopping for princess fun) I highly suggest checking out the Royal Ball 2.0 app to make your shopping experience a bit more fun for you and your little princess.

Not only can you unlock more fun as you scan different pictures with the apps, it makes shopping with kids that much easier. And your little princess will love being able to create her own outfits and decorate her very own carriage as you shop.

Create your own castle pumpkin by following this tutorial for Halloween Painted Pumpkins

To download the Royal Ball 2.0 App simply go to iTunes for Apple products or the Google Play store for Android. 

For more photos of my shopping experience, visit my Halloween Princess Google + album.

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Disney Consumer Products, Inc. All opinions are my own. #CBias #SocialFabric”

Wordless Wednesday {My Little Garden Gnomes}

How to Create a Magic Wand for a #Halloween Princess Party #DisneyPrincessWMT

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How to Create a Magic Wand
My daughter is obsessed with all things wands, swards, and sticks. Anything she can swing around and bop people on the head with (gently of course), she loves. And with our recent obsession with Cinderella since it came out on Blu-Ray we've been using sticks and swords to turn objects into other things just like the fairy godmother did for Cinderella.

As I was planning and preparing for our Halloween Princess party I decided to let the girls make their own wands customized to their likes and needs. It really was a simple craft and the kids had a great time doing it! With the help of mom and a glue gun to finish everything off.

So if you're little princess loves wands as much as mine does, I highly suggest trying your hand at making a magic wand. It's simple, easy, and takes less than 5 minutes!

Here's how!

What you'll need:

• wooden dowels, cut to size (we purchased 48" dowels and cut them in thirds)
• felt, any color
• ribbon, any color
• glue gun 

What you do: 

1. Cut out felt into the size and shape you want for the top of your wand. Cut out coordinating ribbon in the amount and length you prefer.

2. Do a dry run before gluing everything together to make sure the felt pieces fit together on the top of the wand.

3. Tie the ribbon onto the top of the stick and secure with the hot glue.

3a. Make sure to go all around the dowel so that the ribbon doesn't slip down.

4. Now it's time to glue down the felt pieces. Start with a small dab on one side of the dowel and adhere the first felt piece. 

5. Then add a few dabs of hot glue to the other end of the dowel and the felt piece already adhered. Place the second felt piece on top covering the top of the dowel completely and sandwiching the ribbon in between the two felt pieces.

6. Hand the wand over to your favorite princess and watch them play!

See how easy that was?

What type of wand would you make? 

A special thanks to my friend Kari of Mommy To Elodie for allowing me to photograph her putting her wand together at the party. It was rather hard trying to take pictures AND use a glue gun so I'm thankful for not burning myself. Plus Kari always has a creative edge when making crafts so I knew she'd make a gorgeous wand!

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Disney Consumer Products, Inc. All opinions are my own. #CBias #SocialFabric

Lego Duplo Party {The Food}

As I mentioned in my party post, I wanted to keep this party focused on the basics. With a few simple decorations and some doctored up fun foods our party was the perfect Lego Duplo

To show off the drink cups a bit more I covered them in yellow paper and drew little faces on each of the cups to represent a different Lego guy. If you look closely you can see that each face actually matches the Lego on top of (and hanging from) the cups.

Munchies were also Lego themed. We went with peanut butter and honey sandwiches and cheese and crackers.

The peanut butter and honey sandwiches were super simple and fun! I made the sandwiches, cut off the crust (and ate them!), and cut the sandwiches in half.

Then I used my smallest round biscuit cutter to cut out small holes out of another slice of bread. I used some more peanut butter to adhere the bread to the top of the sandwiches. Two for each rectangle.

If you have a peanut allergy you can easily use sunflower butter instead. Or make the sandwiches with meat and use cream cheese to adhere the bread dots to the top. I was also considering making cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches as well. There are endless possibilities!

The cheese and crackers used the same techniques. I slathered two crackers with cream cheese and sandwiched in a piece of cheese in the middle. Then I used the cream cheese to adhere some cheese circles to the tops of the cracker sandwiches.

I had all intentions to coat these rectangle sandwich cookies with red, green, and blue chocolate and cover them with little m&m dots but time got away from me so I simply served them as is. Not as exciting but still fit the theme! And the kids couldn't get enough of them.

As a play on the Lego guy's head shape I made some watermelon & feta skewers for the mamas. This is my latest favorite combo and adding a bit of basil makes this a super tasty bite on a stick. You can also cube up the watermelon, toss with feta and basil, and serve as you would a salad!

In order to satisfy the mamas at the party I decided to throw together a simple quiche. Honestly, there's nothing special about it. And really... it's more of an egg bake in a pre-made frozen pie crust. I simply combined cooked sausage, spinach, 6 eggs, a cup or two of cheese, some salt and pepper and poured it into the crust. I then baked until it smelled done (maybe 35 minutes?) and pulled it out.

And the color is yellow like a Lego head, right? Haha... might be too much of a stretch.

Yum!

If you were planning a Lego Duplo party what would you serve?

Kiddie Antics {The Perfect Party Favor}

We are officially ready for summer in this house! The weather is perfect, the water is warm, and the kids are geared up with their personalized beach sets from Kiddie Antics. These sets are perfect for that summer beach party you have planned.

Kiddie Antics, Inc. is a 28 year old party planning service, that is owned and operated by its original owner. Their long lasting success comes from their loyal and referred costumers, along with their large celebrity clientele.

Kiddie Antics offers a variety of personalized party favors for children ranging from infancy through 10 years old. A few of the party favors they offer are:

Musical tote bags - includes an echo-microphone, a personalized tambourine, maracas, and a trumpet. This is a great idea for music or karaoke themed parties. This bag was definitely my daughter's favorite. She was instantly happy and started rocking out as soon as she got the maracas in her hands. We might have to get these for her second birthday party for all of her friends!

Gumball Machines - varying from all different sports, to princess', pirate's, and of course, the traditional machine. Adding a little twist, they offer the choice of having gum balls or jellybeans in your machines! These are a great party favor for older children who are celebrating with you and your child.

Block pail sets - the perfect gift for children five and under. These block sets come complete with 33 blocks and a clock top. That way you can teach your child time and shapes. For more great toddler ideas check out the infant/toddler favors.

Castle Backpack Set - If you want a way to make your beach party even better when building those awesome sand castles, order a Castle Backpack Set! These backpacks have all the toys needed to build that award winning sand castle (see the picture at the bottom of the post). All of the beach fun items can be seen here.

Sip and Snack  Bottles - These bottles come apart to form a straw cup and snack cup that are easily portable for on the go sip and snack fun. Instead of grabbing your snack bag and sippy cup simply use the Sip and Snack Bottle while out and about. For more fun cups go here to check out their selection.

This is just a taste of what Kiddie Antics has to offer. All party favors are hand painted, to your party's theme. Each favor is also personalized with your party guests name. For added convenience they come individually wrapped (which is included in the listing price).

My kids absolutely LOVED What Kiddie Antics had to offer and enjoyed the products pictured.The personalization was the perfect touch to making these favors stand out from others we've purchased in the past. Each item can be personalized with your child's name or the names of the children attending your party.

When totaling up the amount I've spent on previous party favor bags for my kids that I've assembled myself it's come out to roughly $10-15 per child. If I would have known about Kiddie Antics before these parties I totally would have taken advantage of having them do all the work! Plus, as I mentioned before, they do all of the personalization and wrapping for me. 

We will definitely be using Kiddie Antics for our future parties.

 Do Yourself a Party Favor!

Email or call Kiddie Antics, Inc. for all of your party needs

1-800-905-5660 - info@kiddieantics.com

You can also find Kiddie Antics on
Facebook and Twitter

Disclaimer: I received products from Kiddie Antics for review purposes only. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.