Berry Special Birthday

This year Lila told me that she wanted to have a Strawberry Shortcake birthday party for her 5th birthday. I didn't want her party to be *everything* Strawberry Shortcake (SSC), so I tried to incorporate the idea of SSC - namely the colors and fruits - into the decor and games.

Starting with the invitation, I didn't want it to be a store-bought SSC invitation. I mean, I did get a degree in graphic design... got to put my skills to use when I can! 

So I used selective SSC decorations... like these napkins.

"Lila Is Five" banner on the mantle

Strawberry balloons

Table decoration

(I was in a hurry so didn't realize it was blurry.)

Party favors included strawberry scented bubbles, SSC lip balm and strawberry fruit snacks.

Place setting

We invited eight girls to the party, but unfortunately only three could come. I think I will have to remember that next year (summer birthdays are just not easy), and maybe we will celebrate Lila's birthday in August when people will be less likely to be on vacation! 

While we were waiting for everyone to arrive, the girls played with Lila's SSC dolls. After about 15 minutes, we were still missing one of the girls, and I thought "oh man, it's REALLY going to be a small party" but decided to go ahead and get started.

Our first activity was making a SSC flower pot (or pencil cup). I got these flower pots at Michael's Craft store but made my own inserts using clip art I found online.

The girls colored their inserts with markers.

It was fun to watch them each take their own approach to coloring.

The next activity was a game I created called "Strawberry Patch Match." Basically, it was a memory game where the girls had to find the matching strawberries.

Yes, I made the strawberries. They weren't very difficult.

After the party was over, I wondered why I didn't let the girls play the game more than once. I put some work into making it; I should have devoted more time in the party for it!

While they were playing the game, our third party guest arrived. YAY!!

Each girl "won" a SSC coloring book when they found a match.

The next game we played was a fruit basket game. I had four different fruit balloons, and the girls had to try and be the first to get all of their assigned fruit in the basket.

The four fruits were red strawberries, purple grapes, green watermelon, and gold pineapple. I just used a permanent marker to draw on the balloons. The strawberry and pineapple had a paper leaf top.

We played that game a couple times, then tried it where they had to stand in one spot and toss their fruit in the basket.

Next up: cake and ice cream!!

Party guests were Madison, Kendra and Chloe. Madison goes to our church, and Chloe was in Lila's preschool class. Kendra is the daughter of some friends of ours at our old church. It's hard to tell in this picture, but those are pink strawberry marshmallows in the centerpiece.

When Lila first told me she wanted a Strawberry Shortcake party, I was excited because I actually HAD a SSC cake pan! When my grandfather moved out of his house, my mom snagged the pan and gave it to me. I guess maybe my grandmother made a SSC cake for me or my cousin when we were little?? I don't remember that. However, the pan was from 1984 (this image is from the icing instructions). Strawberry Shortcake has updated her look since then. I wanted the cake to look like the SSC that Lila was familiar with, so I had to be creative.

I was really excited with how my modifications turned out. Of course, when Lila saw the cake, she asked "how come it doesn't look like the picture?". What!! I was expecting more along the lines of "oh wow, Mom, it looks just like her!" Ha, ha.

However, as I was getting the cake ready to light in the kitchen, I overheard Lila tell her friends, "Wait till you see my cake. My mom did a beautiful job on it!" So if I get carpal tunnel from frosting all those little stars, it was worth it :)

Lila's expression while we were singing to her.

Aunt Janina brought Lila a special SSC balloon bouquet. It is kind of her tradition to bring the kids a special mylar balloon on their birthday!

Lila also invited Mr. Mark and Miss April (good family friends and Lila's Sunday School teachers) to her party. Here Mark is telling Piper how much she will enjoy being in their Sunday School class someday :)

After cake and ice cream, the girls played with Lila's dress up clothes.

Last activity: opening presents!

I had talked to Lila before her party about making sure to say thank you as she opened her gifts. She did great!

Opening Aunt Janina's gift.

(Special thanks to Aunt Janina for taking pictures during the party for me!!!)

Showing Mark and April one of her gifts.

So, it turned out to be a smaller party than originally planned, but Lila had a fun time. In case you were wondering, yes, Wyatt was there. He just didn't make it into the pictures. I asked him if he wanted to play the balloon game one time, but he said no. And he ate his cake and ice cream in the kitchen (over the tile floor, not carpet). Despite his lack of representation on here, he had a fun time too. In fact, he fell asleep WHILE eating dinner that night. Literally. His eyes were rolling back in his head while he was chewing. It was pretty funny to watch. Guess the party wore him out! That's how you know it was a success :)