Sunday, July 20, 2014

Cyan’s Winter Wonderland 13th Birthday Party

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My only daughter turned 13 last week.  It’s amazing to me and yet about time in coming.  She is not the typical 13 year old at all.  She is a special girl who acts more mature than me sometimes and who is a HUGE help to me in all ways.  She is my little social butterfly, loving and fitting in with all people, and I wanted to find a way to truly honor her during her special celebration.  This year, when asked what kind of theme she wanted, she told me that she would like to have a winter party in summer.  So we got out the Christmas décor and started planning a party! 

It all started out with giant pinecones, burlap and Christmas balls.

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Even though she wanted a winter wonderland, my weather app said it was supposed to be 92* on the day of the party so I set about translating traditional winter fare into a summer feast!  She especially requested hot cocoa, so I made each of her guests a hot-chocolate pudding mugs with mini-marshmallows on top!

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I searched for Italian Coffee mugs at thrift shops in the weeks before the party and set them on a mirror I also found at a thrift shop that doubled as a beautiful party tray!  (It now hangs in my entry way.  At $10, It was a score!)  I added the marshmallows when the pudding was still hot so they melted a tiny bit on top, which added to the ‘hot cocoa’ feel of the whole thing.  Just before serving I stuck a chocolate hazelnut wafer cookie into each pudding cup.

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I had used a red table cloth and a burlap runner down the center.

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And the table was garnished with Queen Anne’s Lace, which you can not find in winter, but looks like snowballs when put into a bouquet and, bonus, they were free!  (They grow everywhere around here!)

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The backdrop was tons of paper snowflakes cut out and put on the dining room window.  They were beautiful, but in the bright sunshine, they were a little hard to photograph.

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We used pinecones and Insta-snow for fluffy white stuff around the centerpieces and it added beautiful that touch of wintery flare.

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The dinner started off with typical party platter food, fruit, cheese, and crackers all put on silver tiered trays (from my wedding 15 years ago!) which gave them a very beautiful and elegant look running down the center of the table.

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The main course was hot tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken skewers.  Some of my daughter’s favorite winter foods!

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Insert baby photobomb:

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The cake table was my favorite space at this party.  I used a frame I have and added all pictures of Cyan growing up to give it an immediate celebratory flare with Cyan at the center of the party.

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The cake table was decorated with red table cloth, burlap runner, twigs (from Pier 1 imports), cardinals (from Michael’s Crafts), birch straws and napkins (from Amazon Prime), and Christmas décor (from mine and my neighbors stash of decorations).  It was so beautiful that I think I kept it up for a week!  (Minus the food of course) 

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The cake was red velvet with cream cheese frosting, decorated with fresh raspberries… which was an awesome combination!  I may actually do this again!

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After dinner was, of course, time for cake and gifts.

 

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She had a little trouble blowing out her red flamed birthday candles…..

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Silly girl!

After that, I packed everyone up in the vans and headed to the ice skating rink.  I had gotten tickets on a Groupon so they were all 1/2 off!  It was the perfect end to our Winter Wonderland afternoon. 

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Each girl went home with a hand-poured peppermint, beeswax candle in a red and white stripe.

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It was a lovely day and a wonderful way to celebrate this amazing girl!

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2 comments

MrsKnight said...

You did an amazing job with her party! Just beautiful!

What state do you live in? I ask because you garden and I garden poorly. We are preparing to move to Washington and I'm on the lookout for a homeschooling homesteading mentor in similar climate.

Val in the Rose Garden said...

Hello Mrs Knight!

I do live in WA. Western WA where it's very rainy and pretty easy to garden if you get good basics! Feel free to email me ( BlueRoseMama @hotmail .com ) with any questions or concerns. I love to share my passion for gardening with others. So don't be shy, ask away!

Blessings,

Val

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