Princess Party Food & Free Printable Signs

My Superhero Princess

So yesterday I shared some pictures from Hazel's Princess Birthday Party. Today Hazel enjoyed several of her gifts. She ran around in her new tutu, cape and waving her wand plus a crown from the party and a bag with her bell in it yelling "Here comes Superhero Princess." She rang the bell to let people know she was coming. So much fun!! (She also dressed herself today and her outfit showed it. Nothing matched, oh, well!)

 Today I am going to share our Royal Menu with you. (Well besides the cakes since I shared them yesterday--well I'll share some pictures and then you can check out how to make them and recipes, etc. in yesterday's post.)

We also bought some cold cut platters and roll platters to make the party a bit easier for me. Of course we have lots left over so we will be eating sandwiches for quite awhile. As for the rest of our food and beverages we did a princess theme. And I made signs to go along with them and shared information about the princess and/or princess story. All the information came from wikipedia unless otherwise stated on the cards. And yes, I saved the signs as pdf's so I could share them with you. I made them on Print Shop as quarter fold cards, so  the real-life princesses' information was continued on the inside of the card.

Front of Beverage Cards

For beverages, we had Princess Belle's Tea (sorry I seemed to miss taking a picture of it), Princess Aurora's Coffee, Snow White's Apple Cider, Princess Ariel's Spring Water and some Pink Princess Punch (sparkling and non-sparkling). (Note: Click on each link to get that sign for yourself.) Sorry I didn't save the Pink Princess Punch sign since I did it quickly the day of the party.

Back of Beverage Cards

For appetizers/snacks we had some vegetables and Princess Kalina of Bulgaria's roasted garlic dip (Princess Kalina is a vegetarian) and Princess Jasmine's and Queen Raina's hummus.

Then we had Princess Letizia's Chips and Salsa and crackers with three types of cheese (and yes, I picked the cheese by where there are princesses). We had Princess Mafalda of Savoy's Toscano Cheese, Princess Diana's Cheddar Cheese (I used Diana since Kate is not officially a princess),  and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands Gouda Cheese.

Then to go with the sandwiches we had Princess and the Pea's Vegetable Soup (vegetarian). I based the soup from a recipe from one of my mother's cookbooks by Jane Brody. I'm pretty sure it is Jane Brody's Good Food Cook Book. My mother has had it forever and always uses it. The recipe was simple and I did it in my slow cooker. I just chopped some onions and celery. Added some Italian seasoning and vegetable broth. A can of diced tomatoes and then lots of frozen vegetables. I included frozen diced potatoes in case there were any vegetarians. I wanted it to be filling. Plus of course I made sure to include some peas. Then I poured more broth on and added some ground pepper a small amount of salt (since I use low sodium everything). Everyone who tried it loved it and raved about it.

I was going to make Rapunzel's Chicken and Broccoli Braid, but ran out of time. We will have to have it another time since I have the ingredients to make two of them. I was going to use this recipe at Taste of Home.

So that is our princess themed royal party menu. What do you think? We had fun and have plenty of delicious leftovers. Unfortunately, my father got a cold (either from me or my nephew at Christmas) and they will not be visiting for Hazel's actual birthday, so we are going to have to eat the leftovers ourselves. Hopefully he will get better soon.

Hazel's Princess Birthday Party

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Today was Hazel's birthday party. I am happy to say it was a success. I shared our invitation and what we will be giving her on her actual birthday this past week. She announced to me about a week after last year's party that she wanted a princess theme. Now I knew a princess party would happen sooner or later, so I have been buying princess things when I seem them on clearance. I also went to a couple of stores and got boxes. I made this cut out castle that you saw when you walked in and decorated it with crepe paper/streamers and star shaped lights. Then we bought some princess balloons and the manager at Rite Aid (who was not able to come to the party) blew up our balloons and gave us the mylar ones (one for inside and one for the mailbox). Not that you can tell, but the latex balloons have the Disney princesses on them.

 I also made a photo arch and covered it in sparkly snowflake paper. (Sorry I blocked out faces of other children so you could see the decorations but not the kids.)

Hazel really wanted a pinata as well, so we found a princess one. I cut the bottom so we would not break it open or hang it since it was an indoor party. We also made a beeswax castle which I saw in some magazine but have not been able to find since. I bought this jasmine plant so we put it in the castle and used it as a centerpiece.

Oh, and Hazel had her hair done at the hairdresser this morning and of course wore her princess dress from Halloween. She also wore a rhinestone necklace of mine that I wore in some wedding.

We still have a large mixed age party, so we had several crafts. There were crowns and tiaras to decorate. The tiaras were foam crowns I found on clearance a couple of years ago hot glued onto headbands I bought at the Dollar Tree. There were wands to make. I cut paper stars out and gave them lollipop sticks (8 inch long) and ribbons and glue. There were shields to decorate. Steve cut up shirt boxes in the shield shape and then stapled a strip on the back for a handle. There were also beads and stretchy string to make bracelets and coloring books and markers and crayons. I have to say the older children, teenagers and some adults really had fun at the craft table. Hazel did a couple after the majority of the people had left.

Yellow cake

We had planned a couple of games, but they did not happen. It was a bit too hectic with the 30+ people. We were expecting close to possibly 60, but the kids all went straight for the family room and toys and played. Many did not break for food until the cake time. Speaking of cake, Hazel insisted on having a strawberry cake and a vanilla (well we did yellow) cake. So we made two cakes. Since a couple of her friends have nut allergies, we made the cakes from scratch. The yellow cake was made in a crown pan that I bought on clearance or at Christmas Tree Shoppe. We used this recipe from Allrecipes. It was very good and we do not have much left.

Strawberry Castle Cake

The strawberry cake was a castle. I saw the idea at Betty Crocker . I also added two princesses near the castle. I used this recipe from Confections of a Foodie Bride. I tried a recipe for strawberry frosting, but it never quite formed and was more of a glaze. I made the recipe twice, but did not have success and was out of powdered sugar so I went with the glaze. The neat thing about it was it was a pink cake and pink frosting and I did not use food coloring. The wafer cookies however fell apart over night so the doors and windows were a bit broken. Overall everyone liked the cakes though.

Oh, did I mention I pulled out my wedding tiara for the day. The hairdresser pinned it in for me this morning as well. Now I am glad it is over. I still need to pull together Hazel's gift and wrap it and wrap the one from my sister, but her actual birthday is still a few days away. She has already decided what next year's theme will be. I'll see if she sticks with it. It will be easy if she does. She is thinking snow fairy.

Now to get some sleep!! Have a good night!!

Hazel's birthday is coming up fast!

Now that Christmas is over I need to focus on Hazel's fourth birthday! One of the major problems of having a birthday so close to Christmas is the change in focus so quickly. We decided to try having her birthday on Saturday instead of New Year's Day. I don't know what I was thinking in giving myself less time to prepare. Oh, well. Hazel asked for a princess theme. Here is the invitation that I emailed to family and friends who live further away. The wording on our homemade ones were the same, but we used glittery paper and decorated it with stickers and stamps.

Now I need to do all the preparation of our royal castle. More posts on that soon!

I made most of her gift. She has been so into her baby dolls lately so I decided to make her a changing station play set. I saw this idea somewhere (my guess is Little Wonders' Days), but I cannot seem to find it and for some reason did not pin it.

I made her some flannel wipes and used an old wipe case. I used fleece and PUL for the pad and made her three cloth diapers (more to come) from PUL and flannel. I made two different sizes for her dolls. Many are smaller than most of the clothes you can buy so I also made a few outfits for her dolls and on for Ducky.

I think she will love them! What do you think?

Hazel's Christmas Gift is Finished

So for Christmas I finished Hazel's playmat. Awhile ago I made her a zoo play mat (for original post go here). I have been making her some animals for her zoo and bought a few. At her school holiday fair I bought her a wooden hedgehog and a fabric pig and turtle. Then I made a wool kangaroo, penguin and lions. I finally finished her male lion. What do you think?

I knew I wanted to make it reversible and decided to make a castle play mat on the other side. I bought her some castle blocks and then found some more that are at an incredible price at Michaels this week, so I bought her two sets.

I was going to make her a royal family, but ran out of time so I bought her one and a unicorn. I bought them at 50% off sale at least.

 I think she will love it. I can't wait to see her open it all. Are you making any of your Christmas gifts this year?

Now I just need to finish her birthday gift and all the decorations and plans for her birthday party.

Happy Family Times #27--Meeting Cinderella

Just a reminder that today is the last day to enter my current giveaway!!

Have you done anything new with your family? Anything fun? Kelly from Happy Whimsical Hearts and I would love to hear about it. Please share below!! Or look below for inspiration for some fun family activities (and read about mine and Kelly's as well).

This week we had a lot of relax and cuddle time since we have a sick little one. However before she got her cold (or at least before she showed signs of it) we went to our local McDonalds for dinner and to meet Cinderella. For some reason our local McDonalds has characters and different events all the time. The only reason we go to McDonalds is to see the characters. Usually if we go we just get french fries and drinks since that is about all I can usually get Hazel to eat. However since Cinderella was going to be there from 4-6, we had to eat there. We ordered a cheeseburger Happy Meal since Steve wanted a cheeseburger (and it got Hazel the small fries and apple slices plus the toy) and I got their premium chicken strips which we actually liked. Hazel and I split it and Steve helped out too. Plus Steve and I split some fries.

When we arrived Cinderella was painting the girls' nails. When it was Hazel's turn she got blue nails. (Have I mentioned how I really hate blue nail polish?) Next Cinderella put eye shadow on the girls, but I talked Hazel out of this. She was going to do blush as well, but for some reason did not. Next Cinderella blew up blue balloons for the kids and autographed them and drew different pictures on them. Hazel got a crown.

She also put pink metallic ribbons/streamers on the end of them. Cinderella then noticed that several kids were eating their dinners so she had the ones not eating dance to Bippity Boppity Boo. She passed out lyrics to the parents sitting near by to help sing.

Then she had the kids play keep the balloons in the air. If your balloon popped you were out, but she gave the ones whose popped stickers that said something about getting popped.

 Next Cinderella made them streamer wands to dance with. All she did was rip a piece of crepe paper streamer (blue or pink) and roll one end to be thin enough to stick in a straw. However the streamers kept falling out so one of the mothers went to her car and got some scotch tape and taped them in so we weren't all fixing them every two seconds.  (We are definitely going to use this idea for Hazel's birthday party since she wants a princess party.)

By this point it was getting close to six, and since that usually is around the time we start going to bed, we headed home. Hazel gave Cinderella a hug goodbye!

Now I have to say, Hazel and I went to see several of the princesses at McDonalds over the summer. It amazes me that almost all of them have been the same actress (she owns the business) and the kids who are almost always the same group don't seem to notice. Or maybe they just don't care. The princess always gives a gift to each child with a business card attached, so they get good advertising and McDonalds definitely gets more business. I guess it is a win-win for them. During the summer it was at lunch time so Hazel and I would walk over after having an early lunch at home. This time she was very excited that Mommy and Daddy were with her. I can only imagine what it will be like when we go to Disney. It amazes me how much she loves the princesses when the first time she saw anything Disney on television or (movie wise) was this past weekend. We let her watch Cinderella on tape. I figured it would not scare her and we gave in on the television when she was barely moving from the couch. Now we will have to break that again. Oh, well. She does know she is only getting to watch it because she is sick.


Now it is your turn to share how your family has spent some quality time lately.

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Ok, now for our PARTY!! Please share your FUN Family Times!!

Happy Family Times #23--Birthday Party

Have you done something with your family this week? Come share it with me and Kelly from Happy Whimsical Hearts! Each week we collect the different activities we do with our families in hopes to inspire each other to have more quality family time! Please share yours below!

This week we went to a friend's birthday party. He turned three! He is the son of our hairdresser. We really enjoyed this party. They had a blow up water slide, a bouncy house, a castle slide and swords and shields for all the kids plus knight hats for the boys and princess hats for the girls. It was a castle themed party which is what the birthday boy asked for. I had not brought Hazel's swimsuit even though the invitation said to, because when I got my haircut a week ago, I was told they were unable to get the water slide. A lot happens in a week. We let her go in with just her regular clothes and we borrowed a towel. She had a great time.

When we first arrived most of the kids were playing in the water. Hazel could not wait to join them. It took her a bit to climb up. Steve went over to help the first few times. I went after that and taught her how to do it. Then she was successful by herself. She loved being in the water! Look at how wet she is. It took forever for her shorts to dry, but she loved it.

After eating some great food, the princess and knight clothes were passed out. I got Hazel to dress up but then she wanted to go back in the castle without any of her tools. Unfortunately by that point all the kids were having sword fights in the small castle, so she didn't last long in there. We headed over to the bouncy house.

She had a great time in the bouncy house. The other kids came and joined her as well. For the most part we stayed over here. Then the lollipops got passed along. Our friend made Jolly Ranger Lollipops. All she did was put jolly rangers in the oven for 5 minutes at 250 degrees. When they melt stick lollipop sticks in them and put them in the fridge until they harden. Everyone seemed to love them including Hazel.

Then Hazel got interested in her sword again. It started with me. I held her shield and she would try to hit it with the sword. Then I got Steve to play with her so I could get a picture. We got to bring one of the extra swords home so we can have sword fights. Oh, and we got a knight's helmet for Hazel as well.

Then it was time for cake. Our friend does not usually bake cakes, but she saw a castle kit at AC Moore. So here is her castle cake. (She is saving all the plastic pieces for me since we are doing a princess theme this year!)

Isn't it adorable? It was quite tasty too. Then for a favor she had her aunt make chocolate lollipop castles. These are so cute as well!

Now it is your turn to share how your family has spent some quality time lately.

~ please link up (family time oriented giveaways are ok, but please no Etsy shops)
~just crafts will be deleted since this is to share family times ~ use our button so others can join the fun

Button Code:

<a href="http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g424/cpericola/HappyFamily-003-1.jpg" /></a>

~ we'd love for you to follow us Crafty Moms Share and Happy Whimsical Hearts
~ check out our Happy Family Times Pinterest board where we will be pinning some of our favorite ideas

Ok, now for our PARTY!! Please share your FUN Family Times!!

Multicultural Monday--Princess Grace

You can still enter to win a copy of My Garden by Kevin Henkes (the August author for the Virtual Book Club for Kids), but hurry!! Time is running out!

Sharing Saturday is also still open for you to share your child-oriented crafts and activities, or stop by just to be inspired!

It feels like it has been awhile since I have had a Multicultural Monday post. Today I would like to share a wonderful book that Hazel chose from the library awhile ago.

Princess Grace by Mary Hoffman is apparently another book in a series of them. Grace is a young girl who loves the idea of being a princess. When an opportunity arises to be a princess on a float in a parade, Grace asks her grandmother to make her a dress (before she knows whether she is chosen). Her grandmother asks her what she would like the dress to look like and what princesses do all day. After some help from her teacher Grace and her class discover princesses like Princess Amina of Zaria, Princess Pingyang of China, Princess Anastasia of Montenegro, and Princess Noor Anayat Khan. To the entire class these princesses sound much more exciting than the storybook princess they knew. I mean warriors, spies and more--true adventure.

Now, I know I did not know anything about most of these princesses, so I did a little research on-line for you. I have to say I love that it introduces our children to a different breed of princess than the ones that wear ball gowns all the time and drink tea. Now mind you, Hazel saw the cover and picked this book because of the ball gown and tiara Grace is wearing on the cover. However we both enjoyed reading it and learning more about real life princesses.

Source

Princess Amina of Zaria (now a province in Nigeria). Her mother Queen Bakwa Turunku built the capital  Zazzau at Zaria (named for her youngest daughter) in the sixteenth century. Princess Amina was her oldest daughter and apparently inherited her mother's warlike nature. Princess Amina is credited to have created the strong earthen fortification walls around the city and the captured cities. It is said she made war on cities until her kingdom reached the sea in the south and the west. Source

Source

Princess Pingyang of China also was a great war hero. In 617 her father Li Yuan had decided to attack the emperor who had imprisoned him. He sent word to his daughter and her husband, Chai to come to a safe place. Chai worried that it would not be easy for them to travel safely together. Pingyang insisted he go first since it would be easier for a woman to hide than a man. She stayed on and eventually distributed her wealth to the needy which bought their support for her father's cause. Basically she began her own army with the people she helped. Others offered them food and drink when they saw them since they viewed them as a group that would save them.  Eventually she and Chai set up separate headquarters as generals and her army became known as "the army of the lady." Eventually the emperor yielded his throne to Li Yuan and he made Pingyang a princess and bestowed much honor upon her, much more than his other eighteen daughters. When she died she was given a military funeral. Source

Source

Princess Anastasia of Montenegro is the only one of which I had previously heard. She was born a Russianprincess however when the last czar was thrown out of Russia, her family had to flee the country for safety. She and her second husband briefly stayed in Italy with her sister who was queen there and then left for France where they lived the remainder of their lives. Source

Source

Princess Noor Anayat Khan was the great-great-great-granddaughter of Tipu Sultan, the Muslim ruler of Mysore. She eventually becomes a spy for the British Army during World War II. She was the first female radio operator sent into Nazi-occupied France. Since her family had moved between France and Britain during her life she spoke both English and French fluently and this was extremely helpful in becoming a spy in a time when most women would not be considered. She went against her father's Pacifist beliefs and joined the army to fight the Nazi. She was praised for flawless transmissions. In October she was betrayed and captured. After trying to escape with others she was sent in chains and solitary confinement at Pforzheim Prison in Germany in November 1942. There she was beaten and abused, but she never talked. In September 1944 she was sent to Dachau to be killed.  Source

Another interesting topic brought up in Princess Grace is that many cultures have similar fairy tales. Rhodopis is mentioned. In Princess Grace it is said to be the Egyptian version of Cinderella. With the help of Wikipedia I see it is considered the oldest version of Cinderella. How much fun it would be to compare our versions with versions around the world.