subject: Planning The Perfect Princess Party [print this page] Just because you little girl is the princess in your house does not mean she has to spend like one. You can have a party fit for mini-royalty without breaking the bank.
The first step is invitations of course. You could go out and buy Disney princess invitations and save yourself some time, but you can also choose to make your own.
This will save you a few dollars while making for a fun arts and crafts activity for you and your daughter. They can be as colorful and full of glitter as your little girl wants; after all what kind of princess does not like sparkly things?
This allows your daughter to get creative and be a party of the party planning committee. When it comes to finding decorations, go with the birthday girl's favorite colors.
Make sure you get a tiara for the guest of honor. This does not have to be expensive, and you can even make it yourself. All you need it a strong piece of cardboard.
You cut the cardboard into the shape of a crown and make sure it bends into a circle to go on her head. After you make the right measurements you can decorate it.
You can buy spray paint for less than five dollars and paint the cardboard gold or silver. After it dries you can glue on fake jewels that you can get at a crafts store.
You can even customize it with your daughter's name or the first letter of her name. You can then add glitter for a sparkle and you will have a beautiful tiara for a beautiful princess.
If you want a cone hat instead, you can use a piece of cardboard and bend it into the correct shape and size. After you get that, tape or glue the end pieces together to make sure it stays in place.
You can then paint it the right color and after it dries get a piece of tulle that is about 18 inches long to loosely wrap around the cone. You can also add glitter on the tool for a little sparkle.
You can make hats and tiaras for the guests as well as party favors. If boys are coming to the party you can make them crowns with less glitter or cardboard swords.
If you do make them swords, make sure you make them so they are two or three pieces of cardboard thick and wrap them together with tape. Wrap the "blade" part with duck tape, and the handle with electrical tape.
The duck tape is silver so it will look like a blade, which you can draw a line down the middle so it looks like it is double-edged. Wrapping it with tape will hold the cardboard pieces together, make it sturdier, and will ensure that the kids do not get cardboard cuts while they are battling each other.
You do not want a lot of blood and crying at your child's birthday party, so use the tape. As for food, you can either have a full on meal or snacks.
You can make sandwiches and use large cookie cutters to make them into princess shapes like castles, horses, crowns, glass slippers, carriages. These are fun, easy, and you only have to pay for sandwich supplies, which is fairly cheap.
For drinks, you can make a "magic potion" punch. This can be as simple as punch and sprite mixed together with "poison apple" slices in it.
You can also make cookies with the same shapes as the sandwiches. Your frosting can be the same color as the decorations and you can add sprinkles.
Your cake can be in the shape of a castle. It will probably be easiest to buy a 30 dollar cake from your bakery.
If you visit them in advance, you can somewhat customize the cake as far as the frosting color is concerned. Most bakeries have a good princess birthday cake pre-made that you can just pick out and have them put the birthday girl's name on.
