A fabulous fairy party for a 5-year-old

In the past, I’ve kept my kids’ birthday parties to modest affairs – the cheap and cheerful variety. But this year for Miss A’s 5^th birthday I decided to spend a little more time and money on creating a spectacular party for my beautiful girl. When I asked her what type of party she would like, I was not the least bit surprised when she requested a Fairy theme.

At the age of five she’s delightfully immersed in imaginative play and the existence of fairies are very real. The best part about planning this party was consulting with my client every step of the way. Miss A loved every part of the event coordination, from developing the invitees list, to collecting the RSVPs and deciding on catering requirements. We had so much fun and her involvement made it a really fun and exciting event.

The party venue

I toyed with the idea of hosting the party away from home but ultimately our backyard provided the perfect backdrop for a ‘Fairy Garden Party’. We were blessed with a perfect autumn day. Scattered tables and chairs around the garden enabled the kids to sit down together to eat, which I am a big fan of at parties. Balloons, a fairy castle and pinwheels also added to the whimsical theme.

Party Decorations

Followers of my blog will know I am not the art & crafty type. I am more creative with knives and icing than with scissors and paste. But for this party I decided to make an effort with decorations other than balloons! I picked up these crafty kits in the US (if you are ever visiting go to Paper Source – a stationary lovers paradise). Together with Miss A, we created this colourful icy-pole garland and these bright pinwheels. It was heaps of fun and I have to say, rather rewarding too!

The Party Dress!

A birthday girl must have a new party dress and I picked up this gorgeous dress at GAP kids on my shopping spree in the US. Complete with fairy wings and pink jiffies, she looked every bit the beautiful fairy hostess. The entertainment

I saw an article in the local paper about a young girl who had launched her own Fairy party business. The fairy business is quite competitive these days and I wanted to support a local teenager showing entrepreneurial skills. Enter Fairy Friends Forever. Fairy Molly and Fairy Leah entertained the guests with nail art, face painting and the party games, including pass-the-parcel, musical butterflies and piñata. The best part about it is it freed me up to chat to my friends and drink champagne.

Party food

The moment I started planning Miss A’s menu I knew I would need some more baking tools. Given I have zero time to drag kids around to shops I jumped online to Miss Dot.  Miss Dot is a one-stop-shop for all your baking essentials, specialising in quality baking products and accessories. Ordering was so easy and my products arrived in the post the very next day. I love getting a package at my front door and these items helped create the show stopping cake.

The party spread included:

Fairy “Grissini” wands

These fairy wands were delicious and super easy to make, albeit a little messy. I did a mix of dark chocolate and white chocolate and they were a hit. Miss A and Miss J helped me create the wands, hence the mess. But it was fun mess!

Buttercream Cup Cakes

Every party must have cup cakes even if the kids devour the icing and leave half the cake! I found these gorgeous ballerina cake toppers at a specialty cake store and the fondant icing toppers were from the supermarket. Pink buttercream icing is always a favourite at our parties.

Fairy bread

Fairy bread is an essential item at “Fairy” party and my client requested star shapes. I did the buttering and cutting, and she placed the stars in the 100’s and 1000’s, diligently ensuring full coverage. Rainbow fruit wands

Kids are more inclined to eat fruit when it’s presented like this. One child’s mother said she saw her daughter eat fruit eagerly for the first time in a long time! Miss A requested blueberries, despite me proposing the less expensive grape! Party Cake

I set myself a big challenge this year:  To experiment with fondant icing! This is not something I have ever attempted before. Miss A requested a Ballerina Cake but no such cake was to be found in the trusty Australian Women’s Weekly Kids’ Birthday Cakes book. So I had to use my imagination and create an original design. A separate post on working with fondant will appear on my blog soon. For now, let’s just say the cake was a 4-week process!

Working with fondant was fun although there are A LOT of pressure points. Miss A helped create the pink heart-shaped decorations and topped with a beautiful ballerina figurine we think the cake scrubbed up pretty well. Party Bags

A couple of treats, a couple of novelty items and cute rainbow party bags topped with a colourful peg! My girls were in charge of the party bags so I can’t be sure all items were distributed equally…

Fit for a fairy 

One of the most unique presents Miss A received was this cute Fairy Egg. Over 48 hours it actually hatches a fairy. What a great idea. I’ll be fairy egg shopping for a few upcoming girls’ parties.

The verdict

The Fairy Garden Party was a huge hit and Miss A was the happiest and most grateful guest of all. I had barely finished cleaning up when Miss J started suggesting themes for her 4^th birthday!! Lucky it’s not until September, as I need a rest….