Ballerina Birthday Party

A few months ago I was the lucky winner of a giveaway hosted by Loren at the The Baking Sheet! I won an amazing party paper goods package from Berry Town Baker (click here to LIKE her facebook page and to view more of her amazing products). The prize was completely custom made and personalized with Grace's name. Berry Town generously provided us with 12 personalized party invitations, 12 cupcake toppers, 12 canvas treat bags, and 12 treat bag toppers.  

As soon as I found out I was the winner, I decided this prize package would be perfect for Grace's 4th birthday party. Amanda from Bery Town worked with me to me to create a beautiful party set. She shipped everything to me and it all arrived in perfect condition.

With having a baby 2 1/2 weeks prior to the party, the prize package made it so easy for me to make Grace's birthday a little extra special. Everything was super cute and required minimal effort from me. 

Turning four was an exciting year for Grace. We had been invited to several cute birthday parties recently and Grace was excited for it to be her turn to host her friends on her special day.

The invitations were so clever. Each invite had a pink 'jacket' with a belt. 

The belt slid off and the invitation was inside.

A very elegant design for a birthday party invite!! I especially liked the seal on the belt. Berry Town Baker also provided the envelopes to mail the invites.

Not only were the treat bags personalized with name and age, but I loved that they looked like a ballerina tote. It fit with our party theme so perfectly.

I made ballerina tutu cookies in pink and purple for the party. I really enjoyed making these special cookies for my daughter.

And dressing them up in the treat bag with Berry Town Baker's bag toppers made them even prettier! Doesn't the bag topper make them look so special?

I should have ordered more toppers, because I only had enough for the kids favors. I wasn't thinking ahead. The adults got the cookies with the ribbons.

The seal on the topper was personalized and had several layers of paper and design. I don't think they could have been any more perfect for the party theme!

The cookies were fun to make. I added disco dust to the bodice of the tutu. 

And there was a delicious white ruffle of icing at the bottom of the tutu. The ruffle was easy, just a #3 tip zigzagged across the bottom of the cookie. I was glad the cookies turned out cute, because the cupcakes and birthday cake left something to be desired.

I didn't really have a lot of time to make the cupcakes and cake. And you know what they say, "Haste makes waste."

I rushed the icing process. I was not careful while mixing and didn't end up with the right consistency of buttercream. Then I rushed on decorating the cupcakes and cake. THANK GOODNESS for the cupcake toppers from Berry Town. Amanda designed five different toppers for the cupcakes. Without those, I think my cupcakes would have looked disastrous. The toppers took my average looking cupcake and made it look super cute! 

There was no saving the cake. It had a HUGE crack right down the middle and the icing roses sort of melted into each other. I nicknamed it the Grand Canyon cake. I almost asked Topher to make an emergency trip to the store to get a new cake. But decided even though it looked terrible, it would still taste great - and it did. But next time, I'll take my time a little more.

I did take my time on making the mac and cheese. I used Alton Brown"s (of the food network) recipe. Here is a direct link to the recipe page. It is seriously the best mac and cheese I have ever tried. I just really enjoy the depth of flavor. I made these ahead of time and then reheated them the day of the party. YUM! YUM!

Toph manned the grill.

He flipped burgers and dogs. Pretty basic stuff, but we did dress up our burgers with a new cheese I found - cheddar with bacon. I love bacon and this cheese made the burger so darn good! 

This was the first year we had official games at Grace's birthday party.

I searched all over for a 'Pin the Tutu on the Ballerina' kit, but never found one. So I made it myself. 

This was my favorite part of the party. The kids would giggle each time a tutu was placed on the poster. It was so cute!

The poster was easy to make, too.

I used my Kopykake to enlarge a ballerina image on a piece of white posterboard. I traced the image in pencil and then outlined it with black sharpie marker.

Next I made a sketch of the tutu (I designed these to match the tutu on my cookie design). I outlined the tutus in black sharpie marker. Then I colored everything in using crayon and cut them out. Viola.

Next up we had fun with the ballerina tiara pinata. I think this was Grace's favorite part of the day. My girl LOVES pinatas! Here she is taking a big whack at it!

Actually, her favorite part may have been opening the presents. She was spoiled by everyone!

I think this was our best party yet. All the kids were so much fun. Several (pictured above) even dressed in their best ballerina outfits! Aren't they so cute?? The entire party was so relaxed and enjoyable. Our family and friends are the best!! 

I did have a ballerina tutu outfit for Cecelia, but the weather was a little chilly, so she spent most of her day covered in a sweater and pants.

We did elevate her to diva status by putting on an over-the-top pink headband with a big tulle poof! 

Again, a very special "Thank You" to Amanda at Berry Town Baker for polishing our party and making it look beautiful with all their gorgeously designed paper goods! Don't forget to click here to visit their facebook page, become a fan, and check out all they have to offer!! 

Have a sweet day,

Anne