An American Girl Birthday Party

This year for Channing's 7th birthday and Connor's 11th birthday, we had an American Girl Party. All of my girl's birthdays are very close together, so we usually celebrate 2 of the girl 's birthdays at the same party, if not all three. However, since Kerra is getting on up there (15), she had her own party. (Post to come later.) I used to get pretty creative with the parties, but here lately I was doing the fun but easy swim party. Apparently too many years in a row. Not so this time around, because my girls informed me they wanted to do something different. So now I had to come up with something new that both age groups of girls would enjoy. Knowing that Connor's group was nearing the "too old" category for this type of party, I thought I better hop to it, before it was too late. It turned out to be a lot of fun, and a lot of work. But it was sooo worth it! They loved it and that's really all that matters,isn't it?

The invitation.......

I have a computer program from Hallmark, that I made these with. They were cube shaped with all the party info on the sides. I put them in a clear cellophane bag that had some black and white paisley like designs on them. (Hobby Lobby) I also added some confetti and dinner mints. (Because it was a dinner & a movie birthday party.) We used a brightly colored piece of netting to tie them up with, then the girls and I set off to deliver them to their friends. Of course I forgot to take a picture of them, but trust me, they were cute!

The location.......

Well I knew I needed a big space for all I had planned and access to a kitchen. That place turned out to be our town's community room. It was perfect and the price wasn't too bad either, $25.00! No that's not a typo! I even had access to it the day before, so I could begin setting things up.

The party.......

We were going to do it all! This was a dinner & a movie party where the girls got to do the cooking. As they walked in the door they were each given an apron with their own name on it. (Hobby Lobby on sale! My friend did the names with her sewing machine for me! What a great friend, huh?)

I hung all the aprons on the wall for them to see when they walked in.

The craft......

After putting on their aprons, they were sent over to the craft table where they got to make their own napkin ring. (Using the same netting that tied up the invitation bag.) The big girls helped the little girls as needed. When they were finished they placed their napkin ring on the table where they were to be seated later on in the evening.

The cooking.....

Hey Good Looking! Whatcha got cooking?!

Now it was time to get cooking! I had three tables set up, each with their own recipe, ingredients and supplies. I also had an adult at each table to oversee the little chefs at work. The recipes came from the American Girl cookbooks that I bought on sale for $5.00 each at the American Girl website.

The menu:

Kit's Cincinnati Chili

Samantha's Corn Oysters

Kit's Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Felicity's Sally Lunn Bread

Molly's Frozen Fruit Cups

The salon.....

Each group finished at different times, and when they did it was their turn to go to the Doll Salon. This was a table that was set up with doll salon chairs, doll brushes, water bottles and all kinds of hair goodies for the dolls. I had a friend of mine bring some of her daughter's many American girl dolls for those who didn't have their own. The little ones of course got into this a bit more than the older ones, but they all had fun with it.

The movie......

When everyone was finished making their recipes, it was movie time while some of the recipes were still simmering. Our movie was Kit Kittredge. I even had a movie snack prepared for them out of one of the cook books. The plan was to show it until the food was finished, then seat everyone for dinner. I would let them finish it up after the meal, before their parents arrived to pick them up. We had some technical difficulties however, so we used the time by opening the presents instead. We watched the movie at the end, and this might have even worked out better.

The snack.....

These were also from cookbooks. Molly's Frozen Fruit Cups...mmm mmm

The dinner......

The tables were set and each girl was directed to her name card. Birthday girls sat at the head of the table. They all enjoyed getting to eat their creations and many came back for seconds. Then it was time for the birthday cake. I opted for birthday cupcakes instead, from the Cupcakery. They were beautiful, colorful and glittery. Now does that say little girl's birthday party or what? After each birthday girl picked the cupcake she wanted, the others got to pick the one they liked best. They were all so beautiful and yummy that no one was disappointed with what they picked.

They all did a terrific job on their dish....and by terrific I mean edible! :)

The pink table was for Channing & Friends, the lime green for Connor & friends. Did you notice the cute little napkin rings?

A close up of the delicious, glittery, yummy cupcakes!

While they were eating I packed up each apron in a goodie bag and also put in the napkin rings they made. This way everything was ready to go and there was no frantic searching for their things at the end of the party.

Now back to the show.....

After dinner we turned the movie on to wait for parents and also gave them the option of going back to the doll salon. It was doll salon for the younger ones and movie for the older ones. All in all it turned out to be a fun party for all the girls.

The end.