{ a sweet celebration: bella turns 8! }

my 12 days of Christmas plates from rosanna, inc.

After much mother & daughter brainstorming, Bella and I decided to build the theme of her birthday party around a holiday sweets concept. We thought it would be fun for the kids to decorate gingerbread houses and to host the party in her clubhouse, which we would transform into a holiday sweet shoppe for the day. Even at 8 years old, my daughter is a list maker...with our action plan outlined, we went to work.

I created the invites at home using an inexpensive stock image illustration and some blank card stock purchased at a local stationery store.

I hunted places like the Dollar Store and Target's Dollar Spot for charming, yet inexpensive, decorations that would tie in with our holiday sweet shoppe theme and help to keep costs to a minimum. I was also able to reuse many items from last year's Winter Wonderland party.

Each of the tables were covered in wrapping paper and adorned with candy bouquets...my mom's idea and handiwork. Aren't they cute? You can find a similar DIY here. 

These would also look great if you plan to do a kid's holiday table.

Hanging from the ceiling were glittery snowflakes, real candy canes, and candy ornaments. White twinkle lights and bunches of pink tulle added to the sparkle.

I originlly envisioned a candy table using this as inspiration, but really didn't have the space for it in the room. Instead, I freshened up a cubby storage shelf that was in our garage and filled it with a mix of candy and jars--it worked great!

To save some time and effort, I purchased gingerbread house kits and preassembled all of the houses ahead of time, so that the kids could concentrate on decorating them.

Thanks to Joanna's fun tip, we created a quick, makeshift photo booth in the backyard. The kids were really too excited {read: hyper} to stand still for many photos. 

However, we did manage to snag each little guest as they completed their gingerbread house and took a photo of them with their masterpiece. Each photo will go on a 5x7 photo cards {12 for $1} that little one will use to write her thank you notes. 

At the end of the day, each party guest was invited to fill a goody bag with treats from the holiday sweet shoppe and also received a personalized set of stationery I created using Nichole's adorable designs. She and her hubby created these on the fly for me {thanks again Nichole!}.

The designs and files are just wonderful and I plan to use them throughout the holiday season. Check her shop for availability.  Each set was wrapped with red tulle and a holiday cookie cutter. 

If I'm being completely honest, it was an exhausting day, but so worth it once I saw how much Bella and her guests enjoyed all the effort. Many, many thanks to my little elf helpers...you know who you are! What would I have done without you?

P.S. 

I apologize if you've noticed multiple updates with this post...I was having a terrible time with my pics disappearing due to flickr issues. I think all is straightened out now. Thanks for your understanding. :)