Canvas Prints
My daughter turned three on 9th April and I can’t believe how my little baby princess has grown into a Child, who at times acts like a diva but is also the most loving and caring human being in the world.
For her 3rd birthday, we had planned to have a grand party at our new home but as the saying goes “While the man is planning, God is laughing”. The housework is still not complete and we are looking at another three weeks of staying put at my parent’s house.
With all the running around choosing stuff for the new house, I was not in the mood to have an elaborate birthday party like the previous two years. Simply because I didn’t have the energy to pull off a party which would involve loads of planning, sending birthday invitations, buying return gifts, deciding the catering and making small talk with umpteen guests.
So, we decided to have an at-home birthday party/playdate with Samaira’s closest cousins all of whom happen to be girls. When I was thinking about the theme my daughter mentioned that she wanted a princess birthday. That was it and I got to work. In fact, it just took me two days to get the whole party arranged. It was so much fun that I kept thinking why didn’t do this earlier. Here are the details:
The Dress
I bought a birthday gown from a children’s boutique called Jingle Bells in Rajouri Garden, New Delhi. Although most of the dresses are quite blingy I found one which was subtle yet princessy. I also bought matching shoes, a hairband, a bracelet and a necklace. Oh, I might add that Sam herself chose the necklace.
The same day we received a wonderful surprise from my in-laws who sent loads of presents for Sam and which included this angelic dress in white which was just perfect for a princess birthday. The dress has pink cloth petals strewn inside the net of the dress which made it look so wispy and quaint.
Decoration
I bought a princess birthday banner and put up some paper birthday decorations and pink and white balloons. The result was a simple but cute ambience. My dad called it quite 80s but Sam loved it and I think it is us parents who want to shove these extravagant birthdays with huge cutouts, bouncy castles and outrageous decor. Kids just want balloons, lots and lots of them.
I also made a small indoor princess den using chairs and my dupattas, in which the kids could go into and have princessy talks. It was such a hit with the kids and Sam made sure that I didn’t pull it down for the next two days.
Activities
I didn’t keep any planned activities for the kids. I just gave them small kits with crayons, pencil colours, stickers, card paper etc and asked that each kid make a card for the other two. The kids made beautiful designs and decorated them with stickers for each other. It was lovely to see all these little cousins bonding.
I also gave them colouring sheets, I had a jumbo colouring book for Samaira which I bought at the World Book Fair and I photocopied three different sets of various colouring sheets. That kept the kids busy and we moms got to gossip. Everyone was happy.
Cake
Although I wanted a Disney princess photo cake that didn’t happen because of a goof-up at the bakery. We settled for a simple but beautiful barbie cake. It also taught me that next time I must go for one of those personalized birthday cakes by a home-based baker.
Food
Since it was a small party with less than 15 people we just bought the food from outlets. Mcdonald Happy meals for kids (Junk food allowed on birthdays) and Indian snacks for the adults.
The Gift
Since Samaira is totally into pretend play and playing house is her favourite thing we got her the ELC Sizzlin Kitchen in pink and all the kids played with it for hours. That one was a total hit.
So this was our simple but oh so much fun Princess Birthday. I learnt that kids don’t want the whole shebang of three-tier cakes, 5-course menus, magicians, decorations, fancy lighting etc etc. All they want are their closest friends, a yummy cake and yes, lots of balloons.
What did you think of our birthday party? Good or bad, I want to hear it,
so share through your comments.
