blog: In an old house in Paris....

...that was covered with vines lived 12 little girls that walked in 2 straight lines!
I wanted to share some pictures from my daughter's birthday party. She really enjoys the Madeline stories, so I thought that it was a perfect idea to run with!
The colors are so very bright and fun!

My amazing sister was a huge help to me with this. She has a cricut and also has recently started a party business. The worst part is that she lives on the other side of the country, but that did not stop us! I mailed her the paper and she put that little guy to work!

Check out her blog here:

The Party Bees

When all of the cutting was done, I got this happy box filled with all kinds of goodies! All I needed to do was put them together. (I was trying to save her a wee bit of time!)
I embossed the Eiffel Tower just to add some glitz!

Here is the inside...I don't have all of it showing. I can't have everyone showing up to my house! But you get the idea! I also had made a little bookmark that went in with a picture of Madeline so they could get an idea what this was all about! Some of the girls had not heard of the story, so this was a perfect way to introduce them to this sweet story! Many of them headed off to the library to check out the stories.

The thing I loved about this party was the most of it was MADE, and it was made from paper! Just a few trip to the Dollar Store, and I was ready to go! Also, I used a lot of things that I had around the house. Want another way to add a real special touch to your event? Rent/borrow/beg to have nice linens at your party. I am so blessed to have a dear friend who has all kinds of different table cloths and chair tie's (if you want her contact info, send me a note in my contacts). You can even use scrapes of fabric to make a chair tie. Try an old scarf too. Don't forget to hit garage sales! You never know what kind of fabric that someone else might be getting rid of. It could be perfect for your event!

Here is a quick picture of what the table looked like before I added the rest of the chairs. How fun is the red and white stripes? The newer versions on the Madeline's story is a beautiful shade of red, blue, and yellow.

Here the table is set with all the rest of the chairs. Don't you love the colors? I had invited 12 little girls, but not all were able to make it. But that's OK, we still had such a wonderful time. And you know the best part? These little 4 and 5 year old behaved like such little ladies! I think that they just felt special and loved! It was a total little ladies party!

The table setting...the plates are all from the Dollar Store. I love the squares! And the square chargers are 12x12 scrapbook paper that I got on clearance at Michael's. I knew that I was going to have a nice linen on the table and I thought that this wold be a great way to add a splash of color and protect the fabric from the little French gals!

I know that the milk bottles are really popular, but they can be pricey and hard to find. And then there are the mason jars. Fun, and you can use them again for canning or gifts filled with goodies. I got some cupcake liners in the same color and used them all over the part. I purchased them in 2 different sizes and used them as a base for lot's of the decorations. Here you can see a Eiffel Tower that my sis cut out. I used glue dots for them and added the girls name to each one as a place card setting and a gift.
I love the straws! And they were a bargain! .08 each! You can purchase them here at thinkgarnish

The centerpiece were fresh roses and the iron Eiffel Towers were borrowed from a friend. I added a mini-flag banner. Thanks sis! So cute and I love the ribbon. I would wait till they were 50% to purchase the rolls of ribbon.

Of course, you can add a little Madeline Doll that was a gift for her birthday. The perfect addition! You can find these on-line a different stores.

Here is another fun and ver inexpensive way to add a fun touch to the party...decorate the window. Again, a total of $2.00 from a trip to the Dollar Store. I got two rolls of yellow wrapping paper and used painters blue tape to attach it to the window. I thought that this would be a fun backdrop to the table. As you can see, it does not cover it in a perfect sheet. But I have big windows here people! Plus, I am pretty sure that they did not notice this.

I really wanted to the girls to feel like they were in the book, or Paris. Plus, it make for a fun place to take a picture of them! I got a sharpie marker, and held the Madeline book in my hand to draw. The fun part is the illustrations are very free and not perfect,

so it was easy to draw. My daughter just loved it when she saw it.

And that made it worth it!

It was hard to get a good picture of it, but you can get the idea.

Of course, this was a great place to add another flag banner. All made from scrapbook paper and the circut.

$3.00...yes, that how much it cost for this banner. How much time? A bit, but it was worth it when I saw it up. I was originally going to have a total of 4, but that might have a been a bit much, and I was running out of time! Fishing line and crape paper! 2 rolls for a $1! Twist, twist,twist, pull...twist, twist, twist...that is how you make this! :~)

Of course I made these! Did you think I would not? I did...I was going to give up it, then they day before here party I just to make them. A couple of yards of felt, red ribbon, coupon, check! Leftover white trim and a hot glue gun and I am good to go! They were so cute on and Shelby loved handing them out to each girl when they arrived. They hats are...yes, Dollar Store. One set of paper bowls and one set of paper plates. I had some blue satin ribbon leftover that was perfect to tie them off with!

Let's eat! A cupcake tower is always fun, easy, and cute! With the help of a very excited birthday girl, she was all about icing and sprinkles! I made the pinwheels and the little cards.

Here is how to make the pinwheels: DYI on PinWheels

Sorry about the pencil lines on this picture! Yikes! Guess I forgot to erase those ones. Folks, this is what happens when you do these things at a very late hour of the evening...

More food...another pretty linen draped over the counter!

Here is a fun way to add some color...for almost free. These are some glass containers that were a hand-me-down. My son, who was a great helper that day, took on this project. A few drops of food coloring to water and you are good to go!
And for some reason, I had a whole other table filled with food, and I did not get a picutre of it! Such a bummer. I had croissants, a pretty tray of meat and cheese. A veggie tray and a bucket of waters. Oh well, by the time I was going to take a picture of that, the guests arrived it was gone from my mind till afterwards. Oh well!

Let there be favors! I am always on the hunt for something different and fun!
Plus a good deal!

These fun berry boxes are from the same place as the straws: think garnish

What a deal for .60! I had to dress them up a bit! Nothing that a can of spray paint won't fix. Add a label and there you go!

One of my favorite things were the Eiffel Tower crayons. I was going to make them myself...and etsy came to the rescue!!! Please visit:MyLittleOtter

Do you not just love these crayons! She has them is a ton of different styles! By the time your try do this yourself, it's just not worth it. She does all the work for you! And she has just the sweetest designs. Plus she can make custom colors for you and your party to match the theme! They even came in a little bag. I just tied a bow on them!