SnowyBliss: Ride

All of my kids have been so lucky, they all have fantastic friends. One of my daughters has a friend that she is particularly close to. After talking to her mother, who also happens to be my good friend, we decided to have the two girls celebrate their birthdays together.
We decided to celebrate these girls with a...

Of course we asked the girls first. We wanted to make sure they would be ok with that idea.
They were thrilled and so excited!
My daughter acted like it was pretty much the best plan... ever.
So we had a double birthday party! It was a fantastic way to have a party and I would do a double party again in a heartbeat! Double trouble and double fun.

I cut two top hats out of black card stock. With the sewing machine I stitched them together to create a pocket for the invite. The invited guest would pull the rabbit by it's ears out of the paper hat to read the invitation.

What is a magic party without a magician???

We hired magician Paul Brewer from Utah Magic. He did a FANTASTIC job! Because we did a double birthday he brought two rabbits (one for each birthday girl to hold). He brought a bird as well. He did ballon animals, gave magic wands to the kids and was hilarious. Here is his info for anyone looking for a fabulous magician in Utah.
Utah Magic

We couldn't have a magic show without a stage! Just like my bed table I used white cardboard and markers to create this. I just connected the entire thing to our entertainment center.

I made two signs introducing our two birthday stars. I had them printed up and then mounted them on black foam core. I cut holes through the foam core and added lights… A magician must have her name in lights!

After the magic show it was time for cake and ice cream!
We made each child their own individual
Magic Hat cake!

To make the cakes we cooked several sheet cakes. Then we cut them with a large circle cookie cutter. We used this one.. Wilton Round Cookie Cutter.

We stacked three cakes and frosted them. Then we rolled them in black sanding sugar. For the top we purchased large sugar cookies from a local bakery. They also were frosted and dipped in black sanding sugar. They then were placed on top of the stacked cakes. And voilà we had magic top hats! If enough people are interested I'd be happy to do a tutorial for this. (The cake was really good... so I wouldn't mind an excuse to make it).

I made bunny toppers. A magic hat is not complete with out a rabbit! I took pink swirl Whirly Pop lollipops and attached the bunny body, face and paws to it. I slid the stick down into the center of the cake and then placed a white gum ball on the back for the tail.

They looked so fun and whimsical on the tables!
If you wanted to do something like this I would recommend having a little take home bag for the cake. There is no way an 8 year old girl could polish off one of those cakes herself. So you'll want to send the leftovers home for her to share or snack on later. Also The kids pulled out their suckers and set them with their other goodies to take home.

I used two round tables. One for each birthday girl! Each table had one of the girls name in lights. The tutorial for doing this is found at the amazing Oh Happy Day blog. Here is the link… MINI MARQUEE SIGN WITH LIGHTS
We also added glitter to the inside of each letter. The photo's don't do these justice. They look cute here but in real life they were stunning!

The felt owls were such a hit at my daughters Night Owl Party that I couldn't resist doing it again. And honestly… I have a couple of party's I'm planning right now with more hand sewn felt gifts. They do take time. But felt is so inexpensive and the kids just love them… and I love creating them.
So it makes it worth it.

We took a a piece of wood board and cut a 14.5" circle out of the center. We created a top hat on top of the hole with black cardboard. (It took two pieces of cardboard). Then cut a top hat rim out of black foam core. The rim is about 2.5" wide. We just attached it to the black cardboard with a glue gun. The hat sits about 13" tall. We took two card tables and spread them apart. We placed a wood board with the giant top hat in the center. Then we added tablecloths and fabric to hide the tables.. as well to give room to my husband to hide under there. (Again this is something I probably could do a tutorial for).

While the kids were eating their cake and ice cream we moved the table where we wanted it, in front of the stage. My husband hid under there with 14 stuffed bunnies until the kids were ready.
He deserves a high five… it got hot under there!

Then we brought the kids back over to the stage area. They each had their magic wands with them too. We taught them a new magic spell. When you said it in front of the hat, and then tapped the hat 3 times a magical friend would appear. Each girl took their own turn. They came up one at a time and said…

Alakazam...

Alakazee...

Create a special friend for me!

Then they tapped the hat three times with their wand.

My husband at this time would slowly push a bunny up through the hat. As soon as the ears started to peek through the girls would squeal! Like my owls, we did adoption cards. So after the guest collected her bunny, I would read the little poem or ditty I had that matched up to the bunny she received. Then they would take the time to name their bunny. Taking suggestions from all the other girls if they needed a little help.

We had a lot of happy bunnies!

Before we moved onto the next guests turn we would take the time to fill out their card. Taking the time with them individually makes the kids feel special.

I made 14 bunnies. Here are all the bunny personalities I came up with…

Funny Bunny

Magic Bunny

Book Bunny

Ballet Bunny

Cinna-Bunny

Garden Bunny

Country Bunny

Dust Bunny

Snow Bunny

Sunny Bunny

Snuggle Bunny

Chocolate Bunny

Tipsy Bunny

Honey Bunny

Each child also got a black top hat filled with what they need to be magician!

Each kit included…

A Posh Bow Tie

A Ritzy Magic Wand

Spiffy White Gloves
(These are cotton parade gloves I purchased at gloves-online)

Swanky Black Top Hat

Magic Tricks and treats
(A cellophane bag filled with a few magic tricks and treats)

Dapper Magician Moustache

One little girl tried to wear all of her magician gear to church the next day. Her father told me how crushed she was that she couldn't wear it all the time. I've also had many parents tell me that their daughters sleep with their bunnies every night. It's funny… there is nothing particularly special about a felt bunny. But receiving it at a party, adopting it and it having it's own personality is special to them.

I do have all of the printables as well as the bunny pattern available on etsy. This party is done with pink (it was all girls). But incase you need a more gender neutral color scheme… or your not a fan of pink, I also have it available in a Red/Gray version. Here is a link to my etsy store if you'd like it…

SnowyBliss Etsy

Happy Birthday Ride!

I sure adore this little girl!

Warning… this is a long post. I'm trying to add more details to posts like this. That way hopefully I cover more questions before they arise. I know when posts get too wordy people may get bored (sorry). I'm still more than happy to answer questions… but I thought a more detailed post may be more helpful.

Little miss Ride celebrated turning 6 in december!

She was determined to have an owl birthday party

(I think she had been influenced by the "Legend Of The Guardians" trailers that at the time were playing on the telly).

But what a fun theme! So we started planning. And when I say we, I mean that quite literally. She is my little creative prodigy. I recalled seeing this night owl party featured on hostess with the mostess (love that site). It was so darling, we decided to use it as a base for her party.

I used vintage vogue (papers) by sahlin studio to create the owl invites.

I printed out the papers I wanted and used a template I had created to cut the pieces out. I used a brown stamp pad around the edges of each piece, glued them together and added buttons to the eyes.

The invite reads…

You….hoooo!

It's Ride's Birthday

She's having a Night Owl Pajama Party to celebrate!

Where: The Snow Nest

When: (Date & time)

Wear your P.J.'s! Dinner will be served!

It will be a hoot!

Like the party I had come across, I wanted to make the table into a bed. I'm limited in both my woodworking skills and tools. But I can draw.

So armed with white cardboard, black markers and a exacto knife I came up with this….

I wanted to make it look like a bedroom, so I added a window to the side. I used the "here comes the sun" digital kit by Kaye Winiecki and had it printed up at Costco.

Then we have hanging owls… just like from my monster party.

I used the sheet right off my daughters bed for the table cloth.

The little felt owls attached to the drinks are from etsy. I added a clip onto the back and the little party owls had them in their hair the rest of the night.

As each girls each arrived we gave them a glow-in-the-dark necklace and bracelet to wear.

Then we started on the homemade mini pizza's. I came across this blog and used her directions for the pizza's. She uses Rhodes dough for the crust. They were honestly delish! I put the dough on a square of parchment paper. So it was easy to transfer their eatable creation to a cookie sheet. And also I was able to write their name on the parchment so we knew who the owner was when they came out of the oven.

While they were cooking we played a couple games.

Lucky for me the dollar store had a huge glow-in-the-dark section.

We played a version of hot potato… but instead of a potato we used a giant foam glow stick. The girls sat in a circle and passed it along in the dark. When I turned on the lights who ever was in possession of the glowing stick was "out."

Then we danced to music in the dark and when I turned on the lights they had to freeze… who ever was caught moving was "out." Watching a room full of glowing (literally) little girls giggling and dancing in the dark was hilarious.

Then we ate our personal pizza's!

These were the hit of the night!

After we ate our pizza I again turned out the lights.

Before the party started I had hidden glow-in-the-dark stars around the house. Each one had a number written on it. The littles were told to run around and find one star each. Again…hilarious, I couldn't believe how much they loved prancing around in the dark. After the girls each had retrieved a star we turned the lights back on and had them sit on and around the couch. I had each owl wrapped and placed under the tree (it was christmas time). Each package had a star tied to it with a number on it. We started with Ride. She had found the star labeled with the number 5, and so she then found package number five. She came up in front of everyone and opened her present.

Inside was her own special owl to be adopted.

I read the little note attached to it. She took a minute to decide upon a name for her owl. She had plenty of help… the girls were calling out ideas, one gal suggested "star shine" every time someone was picking a name...you'll never guess what she named hers hahahaha. We filled out the card to make it official.

She then got to pick the next number… at this point the girls deduced what was going on, there was giggling and squealing. After the second package was opened and that owl was adopted they now also caught on that each owl was unique. They were mesmerized. Each girl felt so special, we let her take her time opening the gift, admiring it and naming it. I can't believe what a smash they were. The kids were so polite and quiet watching and waiting patiently for their turn.

Each owl was dirt cheap to make. I even got the felt on sale.
However… they took some serious time. ( I'd keep a couple in the car with me, so when I was picking up from dance, tumbling, school etc… I could work on them). But honestly I really enjoyed making them. I could tackle them at night, after the kids were in bed, and stitch while watching a program with J that we had on the DVR or Netflix. They were oddly therapeutic too... I could just chill on the couch and blanket stitch away. (Oh, here is a fabulous tutorial I used to learn how to blanket stitch). Additionally we had to come up with 13 unique owls. Good night! My girls and my husband were a great help. I was stuck around eight…it helps to have several minds helping out. They also assisted me in writing a little spotlight for each owl. (I debated on writing these all out on the blog, but I've found that generally someone asks me for stuff like this, so I thought I'd add it now just incase someone wanted them). Here they are…

Yooo-Hooo!

I'm a Crafty Owl!

I love to draw, paint and create!

What project could we make?

I'm so excited to be your new friend!

"Hooo"-Ray!

Yooo-Hooo!

I'm a Dancing Owl!

I LOVE to leap, twirl and prance!

I'm an owl who loves to dance!!!

I'm so excited to be your new friend!

"Hooo"-Ray!

Yooo-Hooo!

I'm a Garden Owl!

They say I have a green wing.

Because when it coms to flowers...

I know just about everything!

Do you have a favorite flower?

I'm so excited to be your new friend!

"Hooo"-Ray!

*****

Yooo-Hooo!

I'm a Dream Owl!

Quiet down, don't make a peep.

It's time to fall fast asleep.

We'll dream of far off places

or soar into the sky.

Let's start our adventure

with my favorite lullaby.

I'm so excited to be your new friend!

"Hooo"-Ray!

Yooo-Hooo!

I'm a Giggle Owl!

I love to tell jokes!

Want to hear my favorite?

"Knock knock"

"Who's there"?

"Owls".

"Owls who"?

"That's right, Owls Hooo"!

Hee hee hee!

I'm so excited to be your new friend!

"Hooo"-Ray!

Yooo-Hooo!

I'm a Musical Owl!

I love the piano

the guitar,

and the flute.

But most of all

I love to sing

and hoot!

I'm so excited to be your new friend!

"Hooo"-Ray!

*****

Yooo-Hooo!

I'm a Dress-up Owl!

Once I was a pirate

Sailing the seven seas.

And then I was a monkey

swinging from the trees.

Today I am a queen,

but tomorrow what shall I be?

Oh I hope you want to play

dress-ups with me!

I'm so excited to be your new friend!

"Hooo"-Ray!

Yooo-Hooo!

I'm a Princess Owl!

On my head sits a pretty gold crown.

Let's go to a ball,

I'll wear my favorite pink gown!

I'm so excited to be your new friend!

"Hooo"-Ray!

Yooo-Hooo!

I'm a Snowy Owl!

We'll build a snow fort

and have a snowball fight!

And after we'll share

hot cocoa

by the moonlight!

I'm so excited to be your new friend!

"Hooo"-Ray!

Yooo-Hooo!

I'm a Snuggle Owl!

Smooches, kisses and

great big hugs.

Cozy in my blanket

is one of my loves!

Will you snuggle with me?

I'm so excited to be your new friend!

"Hooo"-Ray!

Yooo-Hooo!

I'm a Sunshine Owl!

I love swinging from the trees,

and enjoying a sweet warm breeze.

I love a sunny day...

I just can't wait to go out and play!

I'm so excited to be your new friend!

"Hooo"-Ray!

Yooo-Hooo!

I'm a Sweet Tooth Owl!

I LOVE...

lollypops, gumdrops & sugary sweets!

What are some of your favorite treats?

I'm so excited to be your new friend!

"Hooo"-Ray!

Yooo-Hooo!

I'm a Wise Owl!

I love to read books and learn!

Some of my favorite books are...

Legend of the Guardians

Harry Potter

and Winnie the Pooh.

How about you, do you have a favorite book?

I can't wait to read with you!

I'm so excited to be your new friend!

"Hooo"-Ray!

So each girl adopted their own unique owl!

Then they cuddled on the couch with their owls and I turned on a movie. You can't have a p.j. party without a movie.

As I thought about it, I realized a lot of movies were too long for the time we had. Also I've noticed that 6 year olds have itty bitty attention spans.
So we showed Pixar short films collection.

It has 13 of those spectacular and brilliant shorts. That way we could wrap it up when it was time or when the girls started to get restless. The girls LOVED it! It was inevitable every time a new short came on someone would yell... "Oh I love this one"! Seriously, kindergarteners are the best!
While they were watching, I was able to start cleaning up a bit and get everything ready for cake and ice cream.

I made the fondant owl on top the same way as the hanging owls.
I think he turned out adorable.

I love that I get to make every part of the party. A lot of times I look at these amazing beautiful birthday parties in blog land. Most of them are so inspiring. They have hired party planners, gourmet goodies from fancy places, professional photographers and enormous budgets. I have none of these. From the decorations, to the cake… I'm a one gal show. I really think anyone can throw a fabulously creative party. So I guess I'm just giving you all a big pep talk... kinda cheesy, but true.

OK… so in my opinion the felt owl and hair clips were more than enough. But I did toss together a little bag. It's beyond me why I didn't take photo's… sorry. They were filled with a tooth brush (dollar store) an individual mix of hot cocoa, several more glow-in-the-dark sticks and such and I made owl shaped crayons using a owl chocolate mold and melted crayons (crayons were also from the dollar store).

And that's it! It was a blast! I had one mom tell me their little girl came home and couldn't sleep… she had to tell them over and over the details of the party. Several moms have told me their daughter has to sleep with her owl. It's also been a riot to see a little girl out and about sporting her hair clip with her owl in hand. It's so wonderful to know that all the work was worth it... the kids adored their felt owls!!! Everything flowed so smoothly I couldn't have been more pleased! And the birthday girl still professes it was "the best birthday ever"!

P.S.
Hi all... I've gotten so many requests for the owl pattern I thought I'd add a link
at the end of this post for my etsy shop. I've also got adoption cards, cupcake toppers, invitations & my bed drawings available too.
If you'd like to take a looky-loo here is the link...
SnowyBliss Etsy
Have a spectacular day!