Winter Woodland Fairy Party

When my soon-to-be 8 year old daughter excitedly told me about 10 months ago that she'd like a fairy party, I became almost as giddy as her.  I had all sorts of images in my mind of a garden party at the park, with cute little toadstool chairs, and beautiful flowers, and maybe even a treasure hunt.  And then I realized I had forgotten a pretty important detail...My daughter's birthday is in December.  I went back to the drawing board and decided to keep the woodland fairy theme and just winterize it a little.  My other obstacle was that this party was happening a couple weeks before Christmas.  So not only did I need to winterize, but I also needed to seriously "bugetize" the party.

Considering that we had an intense Colorado snowstorm going on outside, our first priority was to create a comforting, warm space inside our home for all the pretty fairies to play.  To do this, we moved our couches out to the garage and set up a camping pavilion in our family room.  Then we draped it with blankets and sheets to enclose it, and added lights and decorations to create a glowing little fairy tent.

I borrowed the snowflake ornaments from a friend.  To make the starbursts, I just used pipe-cleaners and this tutorial.  I bought the tissue paper puffs at the Dollar Tree and just dipped the edges in Mod- Podge and rolled them in glitter to add a little extra "fairy dust" sparkle.

For the Woodland Tree, I just cut some low hanging branches from a tree in my mom's yard and sprayed them with fake snow in a can from the Christmas section of Hobby Lobby.  I just put the branches in a clear vase and weighted the branches with clear decorative rocks that I found at the Dollar Tree.  I decorated the tree with crystal ornaments and butterflies that I adhered with hot glue.

For the food table, I cut some slow hanging branches from a spruce tree and also sprayed them with fake snow and layered them across the table, instead of using a tablecloth.  My husband cut a few logs that we had into perfect woodland serving platters, and I hung the net that Emma usually has over her bed above the island, for a dreamy effect.

My niece, Jessica, is not only gorgeous, but she also happens to be an accomplished ballerina.  She was more than happy to be my helper at the party, and I think the little girls got a kick out of seeing a real fairy!

I made the food labels out of chalkboard picks that I found in the $1 section at Michael's.  You can find the moss-covered rocks, 4 in a pack, at the Dollar Tree.

For the "Toad Stools," I just cut string cheese into 3 pieces and topped with half of a seeded cherry tomato.  Then I dabbed the tomato with dots of cream cheese.

I found these adorable curly candy-canes and this giant sparkly "8" at Hobby Lobby.

You can find the recipe for these yummy and adorable edible pinecones here.

For the party favors, each girl got to make her own bottle of "Pixie Dust."  I found the bottles, 50% at Hobby Lobby.  To make these, you just need an assortment of sparkles and waterproof confetti, about 1 teaspoon liquid glycerin (which you can find in the soap-making section of any craft store), water, and melted wax, to seal the bottles.

I have a candle warmer, which keeps the wax melted.  Just make sure the cork is pushed in tightly and then dip the top of the bottle in the wax repeatedly to form a sturdy seal.

Each time I looked over at my daughter, giggling and smiling, and having a ball- I couldn't help but feel her excitement.  It truly did feel like a fantasy land.  All the tedious effort that went into pulling off this party was 100% worth it.

That being said- I think next year we will just take her bowling!

Happy Birthday, Turtle!