Live Your Dream
G wanted a Rapunzel birthday party. Ok. I chose as the theme "Live your Dream" which was really the theme of the movie as well. A Rapunzel party sounds simple enough, right? But as I kept looking on the net for ideas I kept finding more and more fun things to do! I really got into the planning of this party and had lots of fun with the preparation but it did get a bit complicated. Its actually quite amazing how much can be accomplished with construction paper, scissors, glue sticks, tape, curling ribbon and TIME. For days I snipped and taped and glued flag banner, lanterns, and party favors. I actually had more things I wanted to do but I ran out of time ;-)
G wanted a Rapunzel birthday party. Ok. I chose as the theme "Live your Dream" which was really the theme of the movie as well. A Rapunzel party sounds simple enough, right? But as I kept looking on the net for ideas I kept finding more and more fun things to do! I really got into the planning of this party and had lots of fun with the preparation but it did get a bit complicated. Its actually quite amazing how much can be accomplished with construction paper, scissors, glue sticks, tape, curling ribbon and TIME. For days I snipped and taped and glued flag banner, lanterns, and party favors. I actually had more things I wanted to do but I ran out of time ;-)
Luckily I had some flexibility at work the week leading up to the party allowing me to devote a lot of time to prep. The day before the party was a real group effort which included Brett, Casey, Casey's friend Maria, and Bobby and I. With all the help we were able to get lots done but we were still up after midnight trying to get it all done. The morning of the party we were up and moving by 7am. We raced around finalizing things for a few hours but by 10am it was pretty much game time as the party was supposed to start at 10:30. G was thrilled when I told her it was finally time to get dressed in her beloved Rapunzel dress. Other than a quick try on when it arrived in the mail a few weeks earlier and a few minutes of wearing at her pictures the week before it had been off limits until the party. By 10:30 we were all about as ready as we were going to get and then, right on time, the first guests began to arrive.
G wasted no time and began enjoying her little playmates right away. Lots of giggling and shrieking ensued. We were off to a great start! G and two of her friends entertained themselves by kissing the Flynn poster!!! Uh oh :-)
To recreate the scene in the movie where Rapunzel paints the sun image while at the lantern celebration we started with sidewalk chalks as an intro activity. It worked out well as it was super easy and avoided downtime by giving the kids something to do right away when they arrived.
We hung yellow curling ribbon "hair" at the opening of the garage. Fun!
Snack table with "Thug Grub": chips, veggies and dip served in cast iron pans. To drink we had lemonade aka "Magic Flower Potion: guaranteed to heal". Notice the braid coming down from behind G's picture? Sadly there is no pic from the front but it was set up to look like her hair continued onto the table from her poster then it wrapped around the cake. Bobby's idea! I'll tell you what, he's getting pretty creative in his old age. It was also Bobby's idea to slip the the left over swords onto the handles of the cabinet doors which I think was super cute!
The interior of the "Snuggly Duckling"! Lots of lanterns and lots and lots of sun flag banner! Fun fact: I was unable to locate a die cut for the sun and I was not going to pay 50 cents each to buy them precut off etsy so I hand cut about 150 of those little boogers myself. Yowzah! That's my friend Patty in the background of the pic below. She was tons of help slicing and dicing throughout the party. I'm actually not sure how it would have all been accomplished without the help of so many friends who were there. 
We had lots of themed food including "Mother Gothel's Hazelnut Soup: 'Rapunzel's Favorite'--actually chicken noodle". Confession: I'd originally planned to make hazelnut soup but the recipes seemed complicated and, truthfully, not that appetizing. My next plan was to make butternut squash soup as a sort of faux hazelnut soup. It looked easier and it tastes really good. But I got short on time and didn't end up shopping for the party food until about 8pm the night before. Add that to the fact that I calculated it was going to cost me about $45 to make the soup that I wasn't even sure would come out that good and I was discouraged. For some reason I was still really hooked on this soup thing though so, last minute, I made chicken noodle instead. Funny, I'm pretty sure I've never served or been served soup at a birthday party buffet but it was a huge hit!!! Everyone really liked it and the huge pot I made was almost completely eaten.
Challah: "Braided bread". Get it??? "braided" bread...hahaha!
More "thug grub": croissant sandwiches, green salad, "Maximus'" sliced apples with caramel dip, and hot dogs with chili (Bobby thinks every party needs hot dogs :-)
Flynn and Rapunzel were set to arrive at 11am. At 11:10 I was starting to get a bit worried but they ended up arriving about 11:15. Rapunzel was pretty good but, truthfully, I think Flynn was a bit of a dud. He didn't really interact with the kids as much as I thought he should/would. But they both looked great and Rapunzel actually had a super nice singing voice. G didn't notice Flynn wasn't a winner though and she loved every second of it. She danced and sang along with Rapunzel when she did the theme song from the movie. G knows every word. I do too actually because G requests it from me as her nightly song before going to sleep.
We had lots of themed food including "Mother Gothel's Hazelnut Soup: 'Rapunzel's Favorite'--actually chicken noodle". Confession: I'd originally planned to make hazelnut soup but the recipes seemed complicated and, truthfully, not that appetizing. My next plan was to make butternut squash soup as a sort of faux hazelnut soup. It looked easier and it tastes really good. But I got short on time and didn't end up shopping for the party food until about 8pm the night before. Add that to the fact that I calculated it was going to cost me about $45 to make the soup that I wasn't even sure would come out that good and I was discouraged. For some reason I was still really hooked on this soup thing though so, last minute, I made chicken noodle instead. Funny, I'm pretty sure I've never served or been served soup at a birthday party buffet but it was a huge hit!!! Everyone really liked it and the huge pot I made was almost completely eaten.
Challah: "Braided bread". Get it??? "braided" bread...hahaha!
More "thug grub": croissant sandwiches, green salad, "Maximus'" sliced apples with caramel dip, and hot dogs with chili (Bobby thinks every party needs hot dogs :-)
Flynn and Rapunzel were set to arrive at 11am. At 11:10 I was starting to get a bit worried but they ended up arriving about 11:15. Rapunzel was pretty good but, truthfully, I think Flynn was a bit of a dud. He didn't really interact with the kids as much as I thought he should/would. But they both looked great and Rapunzel actually had a super nice singing voice. G didn't notice Flynn wasn't a winner though and she loved every second of it. She danced and sang along with Rapunzel when she did the theme song from the movie. G knows every word. I do too actually because G requests it from me as her nightly song before going to sleep.Here she is laughing it up with Flynn a bit!
Flynn and Rapunzel played some sort of dance/freeze game with the kids
Princesses at play. The invitation requested that attendees dress as "princess, pirate or thug" if so desired. Most the girls came as princesses, we had one little boy dress as his version of Flynn, and everyone else (including me) was apparantly a thug.
Face painting!
Gurlz!!!
The "little family" photo. I wish we had one of the 5 of us but, alas, we do not :-(
Keeping the theme going
Fruit snacks went with lunch
The official photos:
R & F with many of the kids. We actually ended up with 24 kids and 40 adults = 64 friends/family!! G loved it!
The Happy Birthday song was a big moment for G. Sixty or so people singing at once is pretty impressive. G was in heaven! I love the way the cake turned out. I found the picture on the net and located a local baker who made it look EXACTLY the same. I think she did an awesome job! Plus she was super nice and she delivered!
My brand new and very happy little 4 yr old :-)
With that, Rapunzel and Flynn were on their way and it was time for lunch. For kids this meant mac and cheese, sliced apples (Maximus' apples) with caramel dipping sauce and a blue jello/orange wedge snack "Flynn and Rapunzel's boats" from the scene where he takes her out on the water to see the floating lights! Totally snagged the idea off the net! Decorations included more braided "hair" down the middle of the tables.
Truly loved this cake. It was over 2 feet tall! Pascal, the chameleon, stands guard
During lunch we had a balloon twister. This was not part of the original plan and really had no basis from the movie but we encountered him at the Chick Fil A family night just a few days before the party. He was the most amazing balloon guy I'd ever seen and he was available for the party! It provided a bit of entertainment during lunch. He brought this Rapunzel creation with him. The hair actually had LED thingies in it so it glowed in the dark! G loved it!
With lunch out of the way, we moved on to the few activities that I'd planned. I wasn't actually sure we'd have time to get to them but we did. First was a Tangled/Rapunzel version of pin the tail on the donkey: "smack Flynn in the nose with a frying pan". I made the little frying pans from a printable off the net and strung them on curling ribbon so the kids could wear them as necklaces before and after the game.
Flynn and Rapunzel played some sort of dance/freeze game with the kids
Princesses at play. The invitation requested that attendees dress as "princess, pirate or thug" if so desired. Most the girls came as princesses, we had one little boy dress as his version of Flynn, and everyone else (including me) was apparantly a thug.
Face painting!
Gurlz!!!
The "little family" photo. I wish we had one of the 5 of us but, alas, we do not :-(
Keeping the theme going
Fruit snacks went with lunch
The official photos:
R & F with many of the kids. We actually ended up with 24 kids and 40 adults = 64 friends/family!! G loved it!
The Happy Birthday song was a big moment for G. Sixty or so people singing at once is pretty impressive. G was in heaven! I love the way the cake turned out. I found the picture on the net and located a local baker who made it look EXACTLY the same. I think she did an awesome job! Plus she was super nice and she delivered!
My brand new and very happy little 4 yr old :-)
With that, Rapunzel and Flynn were on their way and it was time for lunch. For kids this meant mac and cheese, sliced apples (Maximus' apples) with caramel dipping sauce and a blue jello/orange wedge snack "Flynn and Rapunzel's boats" from the scene where he takes her out on the water to see the floating lights! Totally snagged the idea off the net! Decorations included more braided "hair" down the middle of the tables.
Truly loved this cake. It was over 2 feet tall! Pascal, the chameleon, stands guard
During lunch we had a balloon twister. This was not part of the original plan and really had no basis from the movie but we encountered him at the Chick Fil A family night just a few days before the party. He was the most amazing balloon guy I'd ever seen and he was available for the party! It provided a bit of entertainment during lunch. He brought this Rapunzel creation with him. The hair actually had LED thingies in it so it glowed in the dark! G loved it!
With lunch out of the way, we moved on to the few activities that I'd planned. I wasn't actually sure we'd have time to get to them but we did. First was a Tangled/Rapunzel version of pin the tail on the donkey: "smack Flynn in the nose with a frying pan". I made the little frying pans from a printable off the net and strung them on curling ribbon so the kids could wear them as necklaces before and after the game. This is G having the scarf put on to play but she decided she didn't like it so never actually went forward. Most of the slightly older kids were fine with it. The son of one of my coworkers won but I'd completely forgotten about a prize. In a panic I grabbed one of the shields and a helmet that decorated a table and handed it to the little boy. He seemed thrilled! Whoo (wipe sweat from brow) party catastrophe averted.
I found the wanted poster pic on the net then had it blown up to poster size at costco. Most of the kids liked playing the game and the poster, and the other smaller wanted posters we had printed and hung about, made for cute decorations.
Finally, the craft! Foam shaped butterflies and crowns and lots of markers and little foam stickies for decorating. It was only slightly connected to the theme (the crowns for princesses, flower shaped foamies) but the kids always seem to like these and it provided a nice, calm activity after so much excitement.
I found the wanted poster pic on the net then had it blown up to poster size at costco. Most of the kids liked playing the game and the poster, and the other smaller wanted posters we had printed and hung about, made for cute decorations.
Finally, the craft! Foam shaped butterflies and crowns and lots of markers and little foam stickies for decorating. It was only slightly connected to the theme (the crowns for princesses, flower shaped foamies) but the kids always seem to like these and it provided a nice, calm activity after so much excitement.
Party guests were sent home with goody bags that included wands and tiaras and/or swords and shields, a small art set, and a pinwheel. I didn't really like any of the commercially available Tangled party bags --you know those little plastic things they sell-- so I made my own with plain white 2 for a $1 bags and a Tangled image I googled, had printed at costco and backed with a little purple construction paper for color. I thought they came out cute!
Not included in the bags but passed out to the kids before leaving were these Pascal blowers. Again, found the pattern on the net at the disney site and it was pretty quick to cut them out and add google eyes and hand drawn expression. The kids loved these!
After the last guest left we went in the house and fell onto the couch. My feet were killing me!! It had been a lot of work but completely worth it. I was a great party and G couldn't have been happier. She had a great time with her friends and I was so proud of the way she behaved at the party. She was a great hostess for a just turned 4 yr old. Before the party we'd discussed the expected social graces but I was impressed that she did such a good job remembering to tell all her friends she was happy they were there and thank you for coming.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! to my sweet beautiful girl... LIVE YOUR DREAM little one!!!
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