birthday prep madness for my princess

My Girl is 6!  So hard to believe.  In many ways, these 6 years have flown by.  But at the same time, it's almost difficult to remember how tiny she once was.  That sweet tiny baby who cried all the time and never slept (I didn't think I would survive those first few weeks!) has turned into this bright, eager girl with a big smile and huge enthusiasm for life. 

And she wanted a Princess Party to celebrate.  So I gave her a Princess Party.  Just a small home affair - only 5 little girls plus one little brother.  But I went nuts making stuff for this small party.  Really, truly nuts.  None of the details are hugely impressive - just a bunch of small things that when added together took a lot of time.  Too much time, really.  My Man says he hardly saw me in the evenings for the past month!  But for some reason I enjoy this stuff.  Even when I'm getting sweary at the sewing machine or the paint or the scissors, in the end I love having something that I (or we) hand-created.  Something that isn't plastic and may last a little longer than the 2 hours of the party.  Some of it, anyway.  So here's a photo chronicle of my obsession:

I already showed you the princess skirt I finished a few weeks ago.  With scrap fabric from the skirt and some extra buttons, I made a crown applique for a pink T-shirt already in her closet (which she wouldn't wear because it was too plain!).  I don't have a great picture of it, but here it is actually on the birthday girl:

A bunting banner (tutorial here) made of cut newspaper painted with acrylic craft paint (I should've taken the picture at night):

Another banner made with fabric and felt letters (and some curly ribbon hanging from the light fixture):

Some princess (and one prince) wands made with felt, ribbon, dowel rods, and simple hand-sewn embroidery:

Some small homemade jewelry bags filled with beads to make necklaces:

The birthday table, set with real dishes (bought at Goodwill!), paper placemats, placecards, and flowers made from coffee filters and tissue paper:

A crown craft for the princesses:

Uncovering some invisible ink clues left by the Fairy Godmother (white crayon on white paper - not truly invisible, but still fun):

The Birthday Girl got involved in the crafting, too!  Here's a sign for our door (I love how free she is with her decorating - even at her age I would've been worried about everything being orderly and symmetric, ugh):

And another sign for the Ballroom (a.k.a. the basement):

And here she is making some bubble painting (idea found here).  This was a blast for her - fill a cup half-way with water, a squirt of dish soap, and a good squirt of acrylic paint.  Then blow!  When the bubbles are above the rim of the cup, place a sheet of heavy paper over it.  Repeat until paper is covered.  It makes a lovely marbled kind of paper.  I couldn't get a good picture of the result (photographer I am not), but we used the paper to make individualized bookmarks for her guests:

And that's all (enough!) of the preparation madness.  Crazy, you say?  Yes, I agree!  But fun and satisfying.  I'll make a separate post of some actual birthday pictures eventually.