Ice cream cake again

It was birthday time again and somehow my daughter isn't a fan of cake and requested an ice cream cake again.  We used vanilla and chocolate ice cream with a cookie and magic shell base and middle.  I decided to try chocolate whipped cream frosting and used 1/4 cup of cocoa.  Instead of decorating with whipped cream, I used buttercream and it went very well and was easier than the stabilized whipped cream I used last year.

Princess Birthday Party

My soon to be 5 year old wanted to have a birthday party with her friends. She was clued into this concept earlier this year with a swimming party and a bounce house party. Finally she decided she would like a dress-up princess party. Initially she wanted to dress up and swim, but I suggested she chose one or the other.

Fortunately, there are many princess party ideas out there and I could just pick and choose.

We started with some princess crafts.

We made beaded wands with pipe cleaners and straws and princess wooden clothes pin dolls.

My older daughter had been gifted this awesome priness cookie cutter set and I made up a large batch of playdough with glitter to use at the party. I had aprons available for the girls to keep their dresses clean. 

After crafts, my older daughter, dressed as Belle, led the children in some games. We had snowman cup knock down and a princess castle bean bag toss. After taking turns playing those games, we also played freeze dance to princess music.

While the kids were playing games with my daughter along with other parents, I cleaned up the crafts and set the table for tea. I have had a few tea parties with just my daughter and used the china cups. She loves it.  We had six children and Belle and I felt that would be manageable with the china. I also made tea sandwiches and consulted the moms first about kids' favorites. Along with the PBJ, ham, and turkey sandwiches, we had cut pineapple and hulled strawberries. 

Some finger sandwiches I had eaten at an event were chicken salad sandwiches. I tried to make something similar and had them available to the adults.  I used a deluxe chicken salad recipe I found which seemed to have the same ingredients. I mainly remember cut grapes with the chicken. It's a great combination. I spooned the mixture on cut baguette and held everything together with toothpicks. 

After our snack, I asked the kids about the Cinderella story and when we got to the missing glass slipper, we brought the kids downstairs to find previously hiddle glass slippers. I added red tissue paper inside each 4" shoe to make it easier to find. 

Once all six slippers had been found, we came back up for Storytime. My daughter, dressed as Belle, read them the story, Do Princesses Wear Boots? 

Then we went back to the table for cupcakes and finished our party with the gifts. The kids were very attentive to the gift opening and eventually decided to have some playtime.  My daughter opened her new dolls as well and they had a nice time then
too. 

Finally it was time to go.  The party lasted about 3 hours and then they played for another thirty minutes or so if their moms had stayed. It was very helpful to have many of the moms stay. I had anticipated they would and knew I could have more complicated projects.