Cady and I both love owls. They are just so trendy right now and you can find them everywhere. The funny thing is, my Gramma Mary used to collect owls a long, long time ago. They are a lot more cute and colorful these days, of course, but I still think of Gramma Mary each time we see one! I had told her a long time ago that she could have her very first sleepover party when she turned 7. In January, I asked her if she wanted to have a "night owl" sleepover and she was excited. thus, the planning began! By planning, I mean that I began pinning owl-themed crafts and foods on Pinterest! ;-)
After getting home from our Vegas trip, I scrambled to put the pins to good use! Boy was I busy!! I was even utilizing the kids' swim lesson time and cutting out felt pieces for stuffed owls and owl sleepmasks on the bleachers!
The owl lanterns were so easy!! They were a Pinterest idea but turned out so cute and I can't wait to hang a couple of them in Cady's room. The paper lanterns were purchased from Hobby Lobby - $7.99 for a pack of three different sizes (but I used a 40% coupon, of course). I hung one over the entryway table for guests to see as they arrived and the smaller two over the dining room table.The little centerpieces in the buckets were my idea and were just very simple owls I cut out by hand and then a "C" for Cady and the number 7. I did two of those - one for the entryway table and one for the dining room table.
I didn't make that doormat, but Cady and I were sure excited when we found it at Hobby Lobby! Even more excited when they put their doormats halfprice and we bought it for $12.50! That is something we will keep by the front door even after the party!
There is the dining room - the main room I decorated. I hung plastic table cloths that I cut in half lengthwise on the ceiling instead of streamers (idea from Pinterest) and we loved the effect. More plastic tablecloths on the table, but the pink one was also cut lengthwise and then tacked with glue to center of purple one just to add more color (my idea). Found the owl-themed banner at Walmart for $1. Really wanted to make my own using my Cricut, but 1) never bought a cartridge with an owl, 2)it was only a buck, and 3) I had more than enough diy projects to keep me busy so why not?? I also had owl-themed confetti, also found at Walmart for $1, scattered down the pink tablecloth and I tied a purple bow to the chair that the Birthday Girl would sit in.
THE GOODIES
I didn't do traditional goody bags this year (even though there were plenty of cute ideas for owl loot bags on Pinterest). Instead, I made each of the girls their very own stuffed owl (no-sew, of course)! They were fairly simple to make and came out so cute:
This idea and the instructions were found
here.
I also had a few make-and-take projects for them, so I just felt that would be plenty and I would pass on the goody bags.
Another idea I saw on Pinterest for sleepovers, were these personalized spoons and mini-cereal boxes for breakfast the next morning:
I used letter beads to put their names on the spoons (they were all 4-letter names except for my niece, Jaycelyn! I thought that was interesting!) Cady especially liked them because she got Fruit Loops which I never buy her!
THE EAGER BIRTHDAY GIRL
Saturday was a long day for Cady! Drop off for the girls wasn't until 5:30 and that felt like an eternity to her! Especially because Daddy and Bubba left around 1 for a boys only camping trip. After all my housecleaning and last minute preperations were complete, I helped get her ready and also put some fake nails on her for fun. Grammy had actually given her the nails in her stocking at Christmas, but we never had put them on. I decided that her birthday party day was a good time to do it. They were just press-on ones, so they didn't take long, but they were cute with peace signs, rainbows, hearts, stars, music notes, etc. all over them:
She liked them at first, but an hour later said they were bothering her and asked if she could just take them off! After reminding her that her Gramma Suzy and cousin Jaycelyn were on their way over, she decided she would wait to show them and then take them off.
She was also decked out in a new owl shirt we found at JC Penny's (and the new white Bermuda shorts Grammy had given her for her birthday):
She is all ready for her friends to join her:
THE PARTY
The girls were all very punctual and everyone was here right at 5:30. I had activities planned for each hour, beginning at 6, and in order to find out what project they were doing, there were balloons pinned around the house with times on them. Inside the balloon was a piece of paper that said what they would be doing (another Pinterest idea). At the top of each hour, Cady would choose one of her friends to go find the correct balloon and then use the thumbtack it was pinned with to pop it.
She popped the 7PM balloon:
At 6:00, the project was to make owl collages on an 8X10 canvas. I had cut out all the pieces they would need ahead of time, as well as painted the canvases yellow. Here the dining room is all set up and ready for the owl collages:
Jayce covering parts of her owl with Mod Podge:
After they got their owls completed, they used sticker letters to put their names and then a few of them had the rest of the girls all sign their pictures so they could hang them in their rooms at home. After the stickers and signatures were on them, they covered the entire thing with Mod Podge to seal them. Below are Cady and Jade putting the final coats on theirs:
Lela with her finished picture:
In between the activities, they always had a little free time to play in Cady's room, which kept getting messier and messier! ;-) Below are Emma, Jayce, Cady and Jade playing Barbies:
At 7:00 it was time to make and bake pizzas. Papa Murphy's has mini make and bake pizza kits for kids called Mini Murphs. They are fairly new and we discovered them a couple of months ago and bought them for our kids. They get to spread the sauce and put the cheese and pepperoni on themselves and then bake them. I thought these would be perfect for the sleepover and I was right! The girls had a lot of fun making their own little pizzas (Gramma Suzy and I did, too)! on the left are Jade and Lela spreading their sauce and on the right is Kaci getting a little help from Gramma Suzy:
Cady's pizza is ready:
So are Jayce's and Emma's:
They then went and played for about 20 minutes while we baked them and then came back and enjoyed them. They were yummy!
Before they threw away their pizza plates, each girl looked on the bottom to find a number. This was the order in which they got to choose an owl to take home. Cady got to start since she was the birthday girl and then the girl with #1 went next and so on. I had made 7 (one for Mckynze, whom we missed greatly), so even the very last one to choose still had a choice between two. They were all so excited to get their owls!
At 8:00, it was time for cake and presents! I made her a special owl cake and she loved it!
With Gramma Suzy, who I am soooo grateful to for staying the night with me and helping me with all the projects:
Singing "Happy Birthday":
THE GIFTS:
Lela gave her a very nice stamping kit which she will love to use!
Uncle Jeff, Aunt Tammi and the kids gave her a beautiful horseshoe and heart necklace - her very first Brighton!! It was beautiful. Jayce is holding a Hello Kitty shirt that Gramma Mary bought for her (Nana always buys gifts for all the cousins for one of their birthdays).
Kaci's gift to Cady was a lot of fun and very creative! While in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago, Kaci visited a ceramics place and painted Cady an owl piggy bank. It was so cute! Besides the bank, there were also 5 envelopes and each one had coins in it - 7 pennies, 7 nickles, 7 dimes, 7 quarters and even 7 half dollars! She already had change to put in her bank! How cool is that? They also gave her a neat travel box with card games in it that Gramma Suzy took with them on their trip to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon so they could all play them together!
Daddy and I got her one more present - the new American Girl Mckenna movie she had been wanting:
Emma gave her a neat Dippin' Dots ice cream maker and Jade gave her a new outfit for her Kit doll.
Gramma Suzy and Papa Jimmy gave her a Hello Kitty game for her new DSi and a $20 bill to take on their trip to Arizona.
At 9PM, it was time to decorate owl sugar cookies. I just used a round cookie cutter to cut a circle out of the dough and then used the same cutter to clip a little out of the top. Very simple! Here is the cookie I decorated for them to use as an example:
Lela decorating one of hers:
Each girl decorated two cookies and were allowed to eat one, if they wished, and take the other one home. They all did a great job!!
At 10PM (Mom and I were exhausted by this point!!) was our last project (Hallelujah!!). I actually had one more, but we decided to wait for it until the next morning. Owl sleepmasks were next! Again, I had precut the pieces and the girls chose their colors and patterns and used fabric glue to piece them together. Mom helped me get elastic on them and they were a hit! Here are all 6 nightowls modeling their sleepmasks:
It was finally 11PM and time to settle down and watch a movie. Kaci asked to call her Mom and Dad and tell them goodnight:
We moved the furniture to make room for all their sleeping bags in the living room and I put the Mckenna movie in. They all must have been tired because they settled down pretty quickly. It was also a very good movie and they were all pretty enthralled with it:
Well, all except for Cady, who must have been too tired to get into it because only 30 minutes after it started, she rolled over, snuggled Baby Bear and was out!
The rest of the girls stayed awake until the movie was over, which was around 12:30. I then turned out the lights and told them all goodnight and Mom and I went to bed. I could hear a few giggles and a lot of "Ssssshhhhhh"s but by 1AM, they were all sound asleep and so were Mom and I!!
We awoke at 6:30 and not only did we find all the girls still fast asleep, but Lela and Kaci had moved from the floor to the sofa - one on either side! :-)
I got to work in the kitchen making cake batter donuts:
And I think all my noise woke them all up (except for Kaci)! Cady awoke with a smile, though:
Emma and Lela are ready for their cereal and donuts:
Cady and her Fruit Loops:
After breakfast, they all got cleaned-up and dressed and we quickly did our project we passed on the night before: Owl S'mores (Pinterest)!
They couldn't eat them since it was so early in the morning, but they got to take them home with them.
The owl collages were dry, so I also got a group pictures with those before it was pick up time:
It was a great time! The girls were all so polite and well-behaved and really seemed to enjoy themselves. I think, that even though I wore my Mom and myself out with all the activities, that it helped keep them from squabbling and getting feelings hurt like girls do. They only had little bits of free time here and there and then they were doing an organized project. I think I would do it this way again in the future!!
Thanks again to my amazing Mom for all her help! Praying she got to rest and get a little nap on their way to Phoenix yesterday! I know the kids slept a bit, so I hope she did, too! I love you, Mom!
Oh, and here is a picture of Cady's room that I like to call "The Aftermath":
Guess that will give me something to do this week while the kids are gone and Colin is at work!!!
