Ice Cream Party

a few months ago we were at joann's and they were clearing out their summer stuff.

they had some plastic ice cream bowls in green and pink.

mauryn loved them and thought they would be perfect for an ice cream birthday party

{of course she is my child and had her theme picked out like 4 months in advance}

so we picked up the ice cream cups on clearance and put them in the cupboard.

fast forward a few months and its time to start planning the party

we head off to pick out paper for mauryn's invitations, instead of just pink and green she wanted purple and blue too.

so my plan for her party colors changed a bit. 

{i was fine with that as we did pink and green last year}

the invitations were based off a stickers she picked to put on the envelopes

 they were super easy to make {thank you cricut}

it turned out cute

{all party info was on the back}

after the change in colors i struggled a bit with where to go with decorations for the party

i searched on line and didn't really find anything that i loved

i decided to just use the colors of her invitations as the inspiration behind her decorations

we went with all things green, pink, blue, and purple

since i couldn't find a table cloth that i liked, i decided to make a table runner using fabrics in the colors of her party.

i got a white vinyl table cloth and then added the table runner

i found colored sixlets candies at our party store

i put them in stemless wine glasses along the table

 since i couldn't find cups or bowls i liked either i bought some parfait cups {thank you target for saving the day}

i tied scraps of the fabric from the table runner on the bottoms of the cups to bring in some color

i used the empty frappuccino bottles that i had used that the cookies and milk shower for their drinks and just added matching paper straws

i found spoons and napkins in the coordinating colors

the morning of the party i decided we needed something hanging from the lights besides streamers

i had found an idea somewhere on line where you make ice cream cones from paper and balloons

i quickly whipped these up and hung them from the lights

i didn't have a ton of time to fuss with the perfect cone but the kids didn't care and they served their purpose

i used the same fabrics from the table runner to make a bunting for over our patio doors

then i begged pleaded asked lance if he would build an ice cream stand

i found this one online that i feel in love with immediately

he was willing to take my crazy only so far

so we compromised

he built a super cute ice cream stand that can fold flat and hang in the garage and not take up more space. genius idea!

we had extra turquoise paint from when we painted our laundry room so we used that to paint the base of the ice cream stand

i wanted the top to be in chalkboard paint so that we could use it for other things, like a lemonade stand in the summer

since the ice cream stand wouldn't have wood in the front, i quickly sewed a skirt to go on it using the same material from the table runner and bunting

i am in love with how the ice cream stand turned out!

i had all the kids stand in the ice cream stand at the start of the party and took their pictures to use as the thank you cards from mauryn

a party wouldn't be a party without a few games

as we waited for everyone to arrive the girls colored soda jerk hats which they wore in their pictures in the ice cream stand 

once everyone arrived we played a few games

- pin the cherry on the ice cream sundae {sundae courtesy of my hubby who has way better art skills than i do}

- ice cream cone bowling {this is WAY harder than it looks}

- ice cream cone relays

- a piñata {i am not a fan but my baby really wanted one this year so i caved}

mauryn requested no cake, just the ice cream sundaes

i found this idea on pinterest - scoop up the ice cream ahead of time

i scooped up ice cream earlier in the week, froze them and put them in freezer bags once they were frozen

when it was time to eat i set them out on my cake stand

it was so easy to get the kids served and through the line quickly

the ice cream shop served as our holding spot for all the toppings

 for toppings we had:

hot fudge

chocolate

caramel

whipped topping

cherries

skittles

m & m's

gummy bears

crushed oreos

chocolate chips

brownie bits

cookie chunks

{we also had sprinkles but they accidentally got left on the counter}

for drinks we had mauryn's favorite - chocolate milk. i also tried to bring in drinks that were the color of the party so we had pink lemonade, a blue berry drink, and a grape drink.

for the goodie bags i found the idea for the ice cream containers here

i ordered the small containers but i wish i would have ordered the taller ones... oh well

i tied ribbons and spoons in colors to match the party theme around the containers

we filled the containers with ice cream cone shaped candy, ice cream shaped lip gloss, and an ice cream cone magnet

we had a few things that didn't fit in the container: an ice cream cone popper toy, ice cream shaped cards, and another lip gloss. i had found these lip gloss in ice creamy flavors before i found the ice cream cone shaped lip gloss but what little girl doesn't love lip gloss so we gave them both!

overall it was a success and a fairly easy party to put together.

i think the birthday girl had a great time!