It’s a Jolly Holiday party!

Well, the Mary Poppins party has come and gone. It was a huge success, Sadie had a blast and the weather was perfect. We all had a Jolly Holiday indeed!
Warning: this post is exceedingly long.
Let’s start out with the games we played! My long suffering hubby hauled these pavers and wood planks from our house and my sis and I created this little Pony Race-like in the movie. There were 4 jumps, and we had this fun little horsey that a friend had given us, that played awesome music when you press on his ear.
The kiddos had a lot of fun with this one! (those that got it. Sadie refused. Even when we showed her the cool prize ribbons she would get!)
My lovely sisters modeled them for me (tutorial coming)…all of us big “kids” gave it a whirl too. Though I’ll spare you those pics. ๐Ÿ˜‰
Then I borrowed these fab musical instruments from my grandma, who taught music for many years. (she taught me a few times!) The kids had a blast making a ruckus and she was glad they were being used! I thrifted that cute picnic blanket and spread the instruments on it.
I also made the signs for the game by scanning in pages from a vintage Mary Poppins book and adding labels. Then I mod podged them to some foam core, cut them out, and taped them to some garden stakes.
ALright next….well not really a game, more like a sideshow attraction. ๐Ÿ˜‰ I made a giant Mary Poppins ruler for people to measure themselves with! It’s a piece of trim we had left over from our kitchen redo 3 years ago (was nice to finally use it!), and I painted it yellow with some acrylic paint.
Every six inches, I wrote a fun alliterating adjective with permanent marker. And of course, Sadie got her own little spot. Yes, she is “Practically Perfect in every way*”.
*every way standards are subject to change at any time by management, aka Mom.
Sadie checking out her measurement.
I’ll stick a picture of Sadie in her dress here cause I didn’t get a decent one at the party. :[
Also greeting the guests at the party was Mary’s umbrella and hat. I’m soo sad I forgot to get a picture of this, and the sign welcoming people, it was so cute. I’ll recreate it someday. Here’s the hat though!
Oh! and check out the adorable penguin earrings I made for the occasion! Using buttons from Incomparable Buttons. Aren’t they cute?
Alright, onto the food.
We had sandwiches (ham and cheese, PB and J, Turkey Pesto, and Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato), fruit salad, potato salad, and chips.

I just had to get this”official” MP stuffed penguin! I also made some printables with cute backgrounds and some fun lyrics from songs from the movie. (we also had the soundtrack playing during the party!)

For a fun touch, I bought these striped bags, and we packaged some kettle chips up into individual servings. It didn’t take much time but was much cuter than chips in a bowl!

Here’s my thrifted teapot in action!

I also got some stripey straws for the drinks, and used another scanned image from the MP book for the utensil wrappers. (Mary on the carousel!)

Here’s a blurry, cropped shot. ๐Ÿ˜‰

We served water and lemonade…yep. It quenched our thirst!

I made the table runners using this fabric , I used 2.5 yards for 5 1/2 yard runners. Made some wallflowers for the “centerpieces”.

Onto the desserts! I had so much fun putting this dessert table together, and I think I’m sold on them for parties! I love to bake and try new recipes, and who doesn’t love dessert?

First off, a little bit about that carousel cake! I decorated it simply, I wanted it to kind of match Sadie’s dress, so I stuck with red and white. I was pretty happy with how it turned out! Definitely homemade, but made with love! The carousel top is made from a batch of rice krispie treats molded into the cone-ish shape using the cake pan I baked the bottom 3 layers in. I used marshmallow fondant to decorate it with.

The rice krispie treat I glued with some frosting, to a cardboard cake circle, which had some holes punched in it for the horsey sticks to fit in. I balanced it on top of a 2.5″ wide pipe I found at the hardware store, which Rory cut down for me, and I covered with plastic wrap and fondant. I stuck that through the cake, and attached the top, and then fit the horses into their spots. tada! *jazzย  hands*

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I made most of the cake plates on the table, more info on that another day! It only cost $30 total, though.

I made lots of goodies the day before, this table was quite popular with the kiddos! (and adults alike)

I made a Happy Birthday banner from kites cut from scrapbook paper. The tails I made with ribbon and yarn. I cut the letters out with my Silhouette.

Did you see the streamers in those pics above? I made a bunch of colored ruffled streamers, and Rory the awesome hubster, hung them up for me!

Alright, back to the goodies!

I made some shortbread, yum! I also found out that I love shortbread. darn.

I got a couple of stamps for $1 at Michaels and stamped a kite and birdie on a branch onto the shortbread. It was a cute and easy touch.

I made some Raspberry meringues too, which were delish the first time I made them (last week), but a little too baked this time. I hate it when I practice making something and the first try turns out better than the others! I’m not the only one who does this, right?

Of course, I had to make some cupcakes! Vanilla, since the cake was chocolate. Penguin toppers from here, cupcake liners from here. I also made Swiss Meringue Buttercream for the cupcakes and cake, and it was SOO good. And so easy!

I bought cream puffs. Gotta draw the line somewhere, eh?

I grabbed these strawberry candy sticks and set them out, they were popular! I also made lemon bars,
and purchased some retro/vintage candies-Mary Janes, and Banana chews. (mainly cause the wrappers were yellow. ๐Ÿ˜‰ You can see those in some of the pics above.

I also forced asked my parents to bring their legit popcorn machine down for some yummy salty popcorn!

I just had to get these adorable bags to serve the popcorn in!

My sis helped me blow up these balloons (with a helium tank, of course…haha. I think we would pass out if we blew them up ourselves. Plus, the balloons would be on the ground.)

A huge thank you to my sis Joanna for helping me immensely that day! and to my mom and sis in law Anna for helping with the food and drinks. And to my inlaws for letting me take over their house again…and everyone who helped in any way.

Speak of the devil…or lovely sis in this case.

Here she is again, demonstrating how to use a straw and write her name.

For the favors, I bought some splendid magnets with Mary Poppins’ favorite word:
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

I covered a metal sign I had with some fab fabric and stuck them right on top!

The kiddos got some fun goody bags!

I filled these cute red and white bags (from Hobby Lobby) with:

1. Lemon lolly tied with a ribbon
2. Handmade penguin finger puppet
3. Chocolate coins aka tuppence
4. Mini sidewalk chalk for them to draw their own pictures to jump into! (or…just doodle on the ground. whatevs.)
5. Wooden birdie whistle

Yes, I made those stickers. I know you’re amazed. Try not to be totally intimidated by my computer skillz. (not)

They looked quite charming all lined up!

It was a lovely evening with good friends and family, and Sadie had a blast. She liked her cake most of all, asking where it had gone after I served it up. When I told her we ate it all up, she was dismayed. How rude of us, to eat her cake. lol!Featured on Sara’s Party Perfect!

Comments

  1. Brilliant…what a superb effort…

  2. What a fantastic post, and such a lovely party, you thought of everything! I really like the horse jumping idea I bet they really enjoyed that, and really good idea to put the chips in the pretty bags. Sadie looks beautiful in her dress!
    Sally x

  3. what a great party! and amount of work that went into it- you are amazing!

  4. Oh my goodness! The party looked amazing and I bet everyone had a great time!

  5. I’d say to Bert that party is “practically perfect in every way.”
    That carosal cake is precious! what a wonderful memory.

  6. A very cute party!WOnderful for for a little girl!

  7. Love the party! You put so much thought into it. (I just got done throwing an Alice in Wonderland AND a Daisy Garden Party, so I know!)

    The chip bags are so cute and add such a nice touch…I will remember that for later. But the real reason I’m commenting is to tell you that I have the exact same problem you have! I most always do things better the first time around. I think it is because I try harder/pay more attention when I am doing something for the first time. I have actually learned NOT to practice, because my practice always comes out better. Beginner’s luck I guess!

    Carrie @ http://www.onepinkduck.com
    http://www.threepinkducks.blogspot.com

  8. Jess, your party looks like it was amazing. All the time and effort you put into it really shows! I love all the little touches you did to make it so perfect.

  9. The party turned out absolutely adorable! I wish I could do the same, but I have two birthdays within 9 days of each other and I think it might be overextending to take that on. (Hey! Maybe you could be my party planner! :oP) Anyway, it was beautiful and I’m sure filled with many memories! Happy birthday, Sadie!

  10. It’s a fabulous party Jess. You did a great job with every detail. I can’t pick a favorite thing. Sadie will never forget this day.

  11. My goodness, that’s impressive! Looks like everything turned out really well, and I love how you put so much detail and thought into every aspect. You have such brilliant ideas and a great imagination! (Not to mention amazing craft skills…!) It looks like your daughter enjoyed it, I only wish I could have come too! Lol ๐Ÿ™‚ x

  12. Amazing party! It looks like it was a blast.

  13. Sadie must have learned her “practically perfect in every way” skills from her very talented Mommy! I love all the thought you put into the details!
    Now I need to rent the movie for my three girls to watch – they have never seen it and I know would love it!

  14. i am totally speechless. that rocked.

  15. (sigh) what a perfect party! You look super cute in the last picture, love jazz hands, and those ridiculously adorable penguins!!! Happy birthday Sadie!

  16. are you kidding me!!! this is just amazing! you got every detail of this party just right {i know cause ive seen this movie more times than i can count!} you are a creative genius my dear…

    ~selina

  17. Love everything about this party. Love, love, love. Great job.

    Can I just say…that dress is ah-mazing.

    Brilliant!

  18. This is all SO AMAZING!!!!!! Everything about it is PERFECT!!! (After I wrote that, I couldn’t help but imagine Monica saying “was it? was it perfect? Is it too early to watch the video?!” haha thought you would appreciate it. And kind of relate! hee hee!) I love it all! I wish SOOO bad that we could have been there!!! So creative and fun! Sadie is one lucky little birthday girl!! Glad it went well!! Now what are you going to work on?!? ๐Ÿ™‚

  19. Yummi! I am sooo hungry right now. Looks like a really funny party!

  20. Amazing!!!

  21. Wow, that was a fab party, just love that cake (and yes, really, how COULD you eat it all ;o) )

  22. Amazing! You thought of every little detail. I love it! You might be interested to know that Disneyland is making some changes on Main Street and will be opening the “Jolly Holiday bakery” in early 2012! You need to take Sadie there in her dress. ๐Ÿ™‚

  23. Wow! Got exhausted just reading about it all! Sadie should remember her birthday all her life. Well done Mum (and Sisters, and Mum). Enjoyed reading it though and the food sounded absolutely delicious. Was it ALL eaten? That can be the downside – having to finish the leftovers for days afterwards!

  24. Holy smokes!! You did an amazing job…seriously amazing!

  25. Wow, what a lovely party! There is one very very lucky 3 year old, for having such a clever mommy! Loved the cake! Brilliant!

  26. So amazingly fun. Grandma said it was so creative and cute, course! Loved everything about the party.

  27. Dude. Where’s all the stuff I designed for you?

  28. Holy cow, what a birthday. All the details are so thoughtful and fun. Happy Birthday, Sadie!

  29. Love reading about your party. I threw my daughter a Mary Poppins party when she turned 4 and it was so much fun.

  30. Amazing party! I absolutely LOVE Mary Poppins. I can’t wait for my girl to get a bit older to enjoy it with me. My favorite part is Sadie’s dress! Beautifully done!

  31. wow. Just, WOW. You are amazing!

  32. What a great birthday party!!! I would have loved to have a party like this as a child. Mary Poppins…great theme!

  33. What an adorable birthday party!! I LOVE that carousel cake. ๐Ÿ™‚ Tell me, are those Sprik Space Pattern Pieces I spotted in some of your table printables and lyric prints? If so, I want to feature this on the Sprik Space FB page!

  34. adorable!! what an awesome theme idea! you pulled it off so well!

  35. wow i am impressed!, we had a huge party for my daughters first this year. However it was mostly our friends. Looking forward to making her a party like this for her friends!.

  36. Girl! You rock! It was practically perfect wasn’t it? I was so excited as I scrolled through the pictures. I wish you were my mom :} but then I can’t pretend you are my real friend. Shh my husband still doesn’t know.
    Too many things that I loved, to pick a fave… maybe the cake, it had to be a challenge… beautiful!

  37. Wow Jess! Wow. The entire thing was adorable. Hands down. From the fabulous dress for your darling daughter to the cake to the games and E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. In love. You never cease to amaze me. Seriously.

  38. What a lovely party! I love how you seem to catch all the details. To be honest, with a beautiful cake like that I don’t blame her! ๐Ÿ™‚

  39. I love it!!! I did a very poor job documenting all the lovely details like you did for my Mary Poppins party, but wasn’t it just the funnest theme to have for a little girl’s party!! Yours turned out great and I’m sure the carousel cake was a huge hit! Sadie was the cutest Jolly Holiday Mary I’ve seen!

  40. What a fun party! (And I was happy to see your party featured on Sara’s Party Perfect — right next to my daughter’s unicorn party.)

  41. How fun is this?!? You are truly amazing, Jess… I can never get over your attention to detail. I LOVE the goody bags and the penguins. Awesome!

  42. You throw some amazing kids parties. Your attention to detail astounds me. Right down to the party favours. Brilliant.

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