I had a captive audience and the stories of birthdays past brought up tales of family, friends, food and knowing you were loved by the efforts your parents put into the festivities. Most of my young girl parties were held at home and the guests not only included my friends but their parents and few of my favorite teachers. These people knew how to party! We would eat, play games, talk for hours and just love being together. As I got older, my parents would let me invite a friend or two out to a fancy restaurant. One of my most memorable birthdays was held at Gashos of Japan where the chef cooked on a teppanyaki grill and playing with your food was the theme of the evening.
I told her I would make her party happen but she had to tell me what appealed to her. Being on the cusp of a more mature age, it was hard to decide what kind of celebration to plan. She chose our traditional at home party.
She has been interested in Art, Design and the Renaissance period, so she morphed those qualities together and came up with a 'Garden Art Party'. Having a January birthday wasn't going to stop her from experiencing the assets of Spring. She designed everything from her invitation, the crafts the girls would do together, the cake setting and the decorations.
I have to smile with pride at the execution of her idea and as a helper and observer of the event, I say she pulled off quite a successful party. Girls were chatting, giggling, working together on their crafts. A few parents even stayed for a little bit and chatted too. It was a gathering to celebrate Alex but also a way to bring together friends and let them know they mean something to her as well.
Maybe you are looking for a fun, pre-teen party idea that emphasizes relationships are important. My daughter's Garden Art Party idea may just work for you. See below for the ideas she came up with.
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| Thirteen Photo By: Chandra Brown |
Alex's Garden Art Party
Floral Crowns
Materials:
- Bachelor Button or Rose type flower head (6-9 florets)
- Braided Nylon Twine or Jute
- Butterfly (optional)
- Hot Glue Gun
- Ruler
- Ribbon (optional)
Instructions: Cut three strands of nylon twine. We chose to make the strands 30 inches long. Tie a knot at about 6-7 inches at one end of the 3 ply strand. Braid the strands until you reach about 14 inches and then tie off the end to secure braid. Arrange the braided part of the crown as desired with florets and butterfly. Adhere with the glue gun.
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Art
Materials: (Note: We chose markers because they are easy clean up)
- Canvas
- Pencil
- Markers
Art by Alex Brown
Decorations
Materials:
- Cupcake Paper Cups (various sizes)
- String
- Brown Paper Bag
- Black Marker
- Tape
Instructions: Take four cupcake cups, stick finger in the middle of each paper cup and crunch down sides of paper on your finger, causing the paper cup to bunch up. Stack the four cups within each other, glue each cup individually to the paper cup behind it. You now have a Cupcake Flower. Arrange as desired.
Take the paper bag and cut out triangles to make a message banner. Decorate with a message as you choose.
Alex took white yarn and strung it along the wall. She attached the banner and flowers as she saw fit.
Cupcake Flower Pot With Flower
Materials:
- Small Terra Cotta Pots (Natural or Acrylic Paint any color you choose)
- Cake Mix with Cupcake Baking Cups (standard size cups)
- Tissue Paper (any color you choose)
- Pipe Cleaner (green)
- Card Stock Paper
Instructions: If painting terra cotta pots, paint at least a day ahead.
Bake cupcakes. We chose chocolate because we LOVE it, but also because it looks like dirt. You can use the terra cotta pots in their natural (lead-free) form to bake the cupcakes in, but we liked using the cupcake baking cups to help make the clean-up easy. They also sit nicely inside the terra cotta pot and lift right out.
Take half of a green pipe cleaner and bend the top portion (about 1/4 of an inch) to create the flowers nub. This will also act as a stop and keep the tissue petals from falling off of that end of the stem. Take tissue paper and cut out 4-6 circles of paper. Size the circle to about the same size of the terra cotta pot opening. Take all the cut tissue paper pieces and use the end of the green pipe cleaner to poke a hole in the middle of the circle center. Push tissue up pipe cleaner to the nub and squish the paper so the petals look like a carnation when finished. Add a small circle of card stock grade paper under the petals to help support and keep from falling off pipe cleaners.
Once the paper flowers are made, gently push the stem into the cupcake for the finished flower growing in a pot look.
All Photos by Chandra Brown
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