Princess Natalie

My BFF's little girl recently turned three. I helped with her princess party, starting with these save the date cards.

The actual invitations were printed on parchment paper and rolled as scrolls for a royal effect.

The party was held at the neighborhood clubhouse (aka Castle). Guests were greeted with the Princess Natalie Crest made of foam board. The castle on the crest was made from the Paper Dolls Dress Up Cricut Cartridge. Also greeting our little friends was a garden frog from my yard adorned with a crown.

Upon entering, guests were encouraged to decorate crowns to ensure that every little one felt like a prince or princess for the day. (Notice I said encouraged. Getting 3 year olds to do things can be like herding cats. I have "re"found respect for the preschool teacher.) Afterwards, we photographed the willing tots with the life-size Princess Tiana.

Other party activities included Kiss the Frog, musical lily pads, and cookie decorating.

Most of the kids were drawn to the castle. The castle was very easy to make. The most difficult thing was getting the box. After many calls to local appliance stores and being told either "We haven't unboxed anything recently" or "We just broke down our boxes," I took a chance and stopped by a local retail chain around 6:30 one morning and made the score...a super big refrigerator box. I cut out a couple of windows and a door and the painted the box blue and sponged over the blue with purple to mimic stones/bricks. The castle was definitely the highlight of the party. I think fun was had by all.