Birthday girl in pink. Source: Splendidavenue.com
So after a spring and summer filled with eye-popping movie animation and spine-tingling sports extravaganzas, my sister-in-law was delighted when her little four-year-old requested “everything pink” for her 5th birthday party. Almost every little girl loves fairy princesses and pink ballerina costumes between the ages of 4-8. Modern moms wonder whether it’s a good idea to indulge these overly feminine fluffy pink dreams but at this age it’s totally appropriate. You only have to get worried if your fifteen year old emerges from her bedroom dressed in an all pink outfit with pink hair and a pink rose tattoo. At the toddler age it’s all shiny pink, glitter, magic wands, and tulle. May as well enjoy it while you can. She’ll be out playing with dirt bikes soon enough.
You would think that a party with all pink decorations might get a little overwhelming. However, one way to vary the monochromatic look is by picking three pinks–a pale pastel pink, a deep rich rose pink, and a neon bright pink. Color sense is important here. There are lots of different color pinks on the color wheel ranging from purple-tone pinks, to true magenta pinks, to peach-orange pinks. Once you pick a pink on the color wheel keep the tones compatible and you’ll end up with an elegant and fun look.
Start by layering the pinks on your tablecloth. Place the deep rich rose pink underneath the pastel pink. Then bunch up the pastel pink just like you would on a cascade drapery at different points around the table so that the deep pink tablecloth shows underneath. Depending on the size of your table, you’ll have to experiment with some pink satin ribbon to tie the cascades.
Another tablecloth treatment that I saw recently was pink tulle all around the bottom of the table. It made the table look as if it were dressed in a tutu. Little ballerinas would love this one!
There are so many different ideas for pink decorations. Use your imagination! Think pink. Pink conjures up fairy princesses, balloons, roses, butterflies, magic wands, ballerinas, hearts, lipstick, cotton candy, crowns, polka dots, and jewelry just to name a few. Ask your daughter to pick 3 or 4 from the list and then build the party ideas around those themes.
Toddlers love simple foods. Mini-hot dogs or tiny finger sandwiches with pink cream cheese filling would be fun. Cut a tiny heart shape out of the top piece of bread on the finger sandwiches so a little pink valentine will appear at the center. How about pink lemonade or pink berry milkshakes? If it’s a hot day, a pink snow cone or frozen juice smoothie would be refreshing. Melt down white chocolate and put a few drops of pink food coloring in it and drizzle it over slightly salty popcorn for a fun tasty treat. Decorative pink paper cups with cut-up strawberries and raspberries would blend nicely with the pink theme. Put a dollop of pink whipped cream on top.
For a special pre-party invitation, send a paperback copy of Alyssa Crowne’s book, Pink Princess Rules the School. It’s all about a little girl who wants everything pink for her birthday. The invitation and a different pink bow for each guest to wear could be included in the pre-party gift. Make sure that the invitation tells all the guests to wear pink outfits!
It’s easy to find and make pink die-cut favor boxes. There are lots of patterns online for free. Print them out on heavy paper, cut them, and fold them to make a special personalized favor box for each child. Little girls will feel so special if their box holds pink costume jewelry and a tiny pink lipstick to play with. Make sure the other moms are OK with play makeup at this age.
For more fun before or after food time, put out pink or see-through plastic buckets with colorful pink plastic jewelry, sunglasses, hats, scarves, crowns, pink feather boas, pink hair accessories, and belts. The girls can play for hours dressing up in these different pink combinations. Don’t forget to take some photographs so they’ll remember this special frilly day.
After dress-up, pink polka dot cupcakes or pink petit fours with strawberry ice cream will be the perfectly delicious finish to this pretty-in-pink party.
