Tag: Princess Belle

Princess Belle Inspired Party: Decor, Activities and Party Favors

Princess Belle Inspired Birthday Party

Experiences Make Magical Memories

When I plan a party, I do my best to have all aspects of the party designed to compliment each other and tell the story of the party theme.  With every turn, I try to submerge the guests in the theme of the day. Today I’m concluding my recap of my daughter’s Princess Belle inspired party by sharing with you the decor, activities and party favors. I’ve included them all in the same post, as it’s often the case that the decor of the party is part of an activity or a guest favor.  For example, for this party, instead of handing out traditional favor bags for the children to take home, I planned two themed activities where the kids received the “favors” as part of an activity. At my daughter’s Princess Belle birthday party we had a total of 12 children attending, eight boys and four girls.  The ages of the four girls were four, three and (2) one year old girls, so although the party was for a birthday GIRL, boys ruled most of this day.  Needless to say, having a princess tea party wasn’t the best option for this party.  I looked to Belle’s dad, Maurice, for some help.

Maurice’s Workshop

Princess Belle Inspired Birthday Party ~ Activities ~ Maurice Workshop

At Maurice’s Workshop each child had the opportunity to build a wooden bird house.  At the end of the day, our little guests took home their caddy from this project, complete with safety glasses, magnifying glass, and measuring tape.  I purchased the items inexpensively at the dollar store and from the Oriental Trading company magazine.  Here’s a look at my son’s finished bird house.

Maurice Workshop Kids Activity

 Story time with Princess Belle

How could we have a Princess Belle inspired birthday party without Belle making an appearance to wish the birthday girl a happy birthday?  Originally I wasn’t planning this activity, BUT Victoria’s big brother, Gavin announced while planning the party that Belle would “probably show up”.  Well, with Victoria hearing those words, she believed it was going to happen.  So what was a mom to do?  I visited a local costume shop called Taney’s ( http://www.taneyscostumeshop.com/ ) hoping to find Belle two weeks before the party.  Score!  Even better, when I asked if the owner knew someone who could play Belle for the party, he recommend a local high school theater student named Ally.  This was Ally’s first time playing Belle for a birthday party.  I’m so happy she agreed!  The moment my daughter saw Belle her birthday experience turned into pure magic!

Princess Belle Inspired Birthday PartyBelle read the story of Beauty and the Beast to the children at the party.  When she was done, she presented Victoria with the book.  Each of the children attending received a personalized gift from Belle, which was a story book tailored to the child’s interests.  Even boys like Belle when she hands out gifts!

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Decor that doubles as guest favors

Guests were invited to pull up a chair and grab a book while dining in the “Beast’s Library.”  If you’ve seen the animated film, then you know that Belle loves to read.  Our local library has used book sales often.  I stopped into the library, told them about the party and they helped me find the most wonderful classic books in mint condition.  They were exactly what I was looking for to showcase Belle throughout the party, without putting Disney’s animated image of her on everything.  Lesson learned:  Never underestimate the power of a yard sale find when  your planning a party.

Princess Belle Inspired Birthday Party ~ Favors and DecorEach family attending the party was sent home with one of the small photograph frames you see in the above photo.  The frames invited adult guests to browse and take home a few of Beast’s books.   Underneath the framed statement was a photograph of the birthday girl in her yellow dress that she wore at the party.  Again, these weren’t expensive favors, since I found them for $1 a piece, but they were a simple reminder of Victoria’s special day.

When planning any party, I recommend checking your Dollar store and dollar bins at your favorite stores before purchasing any party supplies.  You’ll be amazed at the inspiration you can find.

 Belle Birthday Party

 As the adults gathered up their children at the end of the party, Victoria really enjoyed handing out little chocolate roses in miniature treat boxes.  The tags read,  “Thank you for being my Guest.  Love, Victoria”.

Here’s a tip you may not be aware of: Solid chocolate candy, when kept at a cool temperature, can last a really long time before going bad.  I found our chocolate rose candies on clearance after Valentine’s Day.  It was the only thing I purchased a head of time!  However, the candy was still fresh the day of her party.  Talk about a money saver!

Last but not least, if you’re planning a Princess Belle party, here’s a decor tutorial gift for you!

 Belle Birthday Party ~ Dessert table decor

“Be Our Guest” inspired dinner plate garland tutorial

Does your daughter have a Belle tea set?  Each set includes saucers.  To make this super simple and cute table garland, take one of the saucers to your scanner and scan it.  Edit the image by increasing the contrast just a touch so the highlights jump out at you and the colors become more vibrant.  Increase the size of the image until the plate almost touches the sides of an 8 1/2″ x 11″ piece of white card stock paper.  Then print and cut out the plates!  I also traced the plates onto a thicker piece of card stock and add it to the pack of the plate.  This made it stronger and also allowed me the ability to glue the ribbon for the garland between the back and front of each plate.  Talk about a quick and inexpensive way to make the dessert table pop!

Victoria's Belle Birthday Party

I hope this review of the decor, activities and party favors gave you a few new ways to look at designing your parties!    One thing that I learned during the party…if it’s Victoria’s birthday party, make sure that the sugar cookie icing is yummy and a successful party is in bag!

 

 

Princess Belle Birthday Party: “The dining room proudly presents…”

Our Beauty and the Beast Inspired Lunch!

This photo was taken from http://blogs.disney.com/
Photo courtesy of http://blogs.disney.com/

 

Today I’m continuing the recap of my daughter’s Princess Belle inspired birthday party by sharing the party’s food menu.

The menu was inspired by the animated film, “Beauty and the Beast”.  The story line of the film took place in the fall and winter seasons so Lumiere, with his enchanted friends, offered Belle quite a hearty meal. Our party took place outside in the middle of the summer month of June, so I chose to serve a lighter menu but still tried to stay true to the film and the Be Our Guest Restaurant menu at Walt Disney World.

Here’s what our guest’s were treated to at the birthday party!

Appetizers

  • Mini Crescent Dogs (shown on Lumiere’s platter)
  • French Onion Dip Meatballs
  • Mini Spinach and Bacon Quiche
  • Brie Cheese with crackers

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 Entrée

  • Croissants
  • Bagels
  • French Rolls
  • Sandwich Rolls
  • Deli Meat Platter with Turkey, Roast Beef, Ham, various cheeses and condiments
  • Pommes Frites (French Fries)

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Beverages

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The drinks offered at the party where that of the average party- water, milk, white grape juice and a variety of sodas.  In addition, I made this pretty pink punch.

http://www.food.com/recipe/baby-shower-pink-cloud-punch-125733

I used  this recipe for the punch called, Pink Cloud Punch.  I did tweak it and used raspberry lemonade- SUPER yummy!

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 Dessert

Talk about saving the best for last!  If you know me, then you know that, similar to a three-year old, this is my favorite part of any meal. Who doesn’t love sugar?  The color theme for the party was pink (a nod to the red rose) and yellow (a reference to Belle’s dress).  I decided to keep with that theme when choosing and making items for the dessert table.  In addition I looked to the Be Our Guest restaurant menu for dessert ideas.

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  • Lemon cupcakes
  • Pink chocolate covered creme puffs
  • Rose sugar cookies
  • Princess Belle cherry and vanilla birthday cake (Didn’t Wegman’s bakery department do a wonderful job placing Belle in a pretty rose garden?)

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 “Try the Grey Stuff!  It’s delicious!  Don’t believe me?  Ask the dishes!”

It really is delicious!  Wondering what’s in the Grey Stuff?  All things good! There’s vanilla pudding, whipped cream, Oreos…sound good?  It’s super easy to make too!  Here’s where I found the recipe.

http://www.thedisneydiner.com/2013/02/try-grey-stuff-its-delicious-heres.html

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  • Cupcakes with pink and yellow iced rosettes on top.  How can we leave out the chocolate lovers?
  • Yellow candy covered chocolates

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Is your belly full now?  I hope you enjoyed the menu!  If you’re still hungry, check out the menu for the Be Our Guest Restaurant at Walt Disney World.  I’m certain you’ll be wishing they offered delivery!

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/be-our-guest-restaurant-lunch-menu/

Up next on the blog, this Sunday stop by to see the Princess Belle inspired party decor and activities!  Have a great weekend everyone!

 

 

Princess Belle Birthday Celebration ~ $5 Chalkboard Wreath Tutorial

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“Be Our Guest” at my daughter’s Princess Belle themed birthday party!

My daughter’s Princess Belle themed birthday party was this past Saturday.  I’m thrilled to say she had a wonderful time AND it didn’t rain!  Talk about a success!  I can’t wait to share the details of her special day with you.  Over the next week, you can look forward to posts where I’ll share the Beauty and Beast themed food, desserts, decor, activities and party favors.  Of course I have to throw in a tutorial post or two, so today I’ll begin the party by sharing with you a quick tutorial on the welcome sign that our guests saw as they arrived.

Chalkboard signage has been hot for the last few years and I’ve been looking for just the right opportunity to make one.  Since Be Our Guest is an iconic phrase sang in the film, “Beauty and the Beast”, I felt that Be Our Guest worked as a perfect greeting message for our arriving guests.  I decided to marry the partnership of a welcome sign with the phrase by utilizing a chalk board inside of a wreath.  However, I wanted to complete it inexpensively and quickly.  I gathered the following dollar store and craft store items and went to work.

Be Our Guest signage supplies

 The key to this project is the black foam-core board that the items are laying on in the photo above.

I found the black foam-core board at our local Dollar Tree store!  Black foam core looks exactly like a chalk board and chalk presents well on it too. I chose to use foam-core because it was a simple solution to get the project done quickly.  It’s important to know that you can’t put any amount of water on foam-core and expect it to wipe completely clean without destroying the surface.  I used a dry tissue to wipe off some minor mistakes, but it didn’t return to the crisp clean state that I started out with.  Lesson to be learned:  Make sure you know what you’re going to write before you start!

Be Our Guest wreath supplies Here’s an overview of how I completed the wreath.

The frame, purchased from Michael’s craft store as a double set for around $2 (with a coupon) was painted yellow and allowed it to dry.  While drying I hot glued on the dollar store pink rose buds on to the Target store grapevine wreath (found in their dollar bins) and measured the opening in my frame.  I cut a piece of the foam core just a few centimeters larger than the opening and hot glued it to the back of the painted wooden frame.  That’s it!

 Next the lettering!

Be Our Guest wreath supplies

Writing on black foam core was incredibly easy and the chalk that I used made the writing very clean.  You can use an average piece of chalk, but I decided to purchase the Allary set that is pictured above. The set was a bit pricey at $8.99 (Amazon), so my $5 calculation for the wreath price does not include the chalk.  However,  I absolutely love the set and can’t wait to use the other colors!

Here’s the finished piece as it greeted guests on Saturday.

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I hope you’ll be MY Guest this week as I share more Beauty and the Beast themed details of my daughter’s special day.

Up next, the dining room proudly presents- you’re dinner…or in our case lunch!