Sweet Pea's Eighth Birthday

Sweet Pea requested a Rapunzel party {last year} for her EIGHTH BIRTHDAY. I was super excited knowing we'd have a tall "tower" in our entry perfect for draping a yellow braid. :) I enlisted some assistance from the Sister Missionaries staying with us and was able to braid a 14 foot braid. Here's a link to how I did the braids. My mom put up the "bricks" and we had our tower. I added some "Rapunzel" Suns and was so pleased withthe end result. Her guests loved it too. For activities, I braided eight more shorter {six feet} braids and purchased some flowers for them to put in their braids. We also had a "Pasqual in the Frying Pan" relay and let the girls draw chalk on the driveway and blow bubbles. They also decorated their own lanterns. We had a little extra time, since it started to rain, so the girls watch a bit of "Tangled". It was the best... party... EVER!!! Here are a few pictures.

Getting to braid the long braid

All done with the 14 foot braid

All eight braids

Pasqual and the Frying Pan

Lovin' the Cupcakes

Having fun with all the braids

Our little Princess

She wanted to see if "her braids would fly"

Tower and Suns

Picture Opportunity

Blowing out the Candle

Love my two toned frosting

Grandma Valerie hung up all the streamers and balloons.

The Sister Missionaries had fun with our "tower" also.

Rapunzel Braids

In preparation for Sweet Pea's birthday party, I {with the help of our Sister Missionaries} braided eight Rapunzel braids. I checked out some blogs on here and here on the hows and then blended and tweaked the ideas. I bought two One Pounds Skeins of yarn. I was able to get the 14 foot braid and three 7 foot braids from one skein.

Here are the steps I did: {for the 7 foot braids}

Place the chairs five feet outside edge to outside edge, then tape the start to one chair

Wrap the yarn around the chairs. I went around 35 times and the braid end up being 1 1/4 inch diameter.

Find a Cute Daughter to pose with the "braid in making"

Tie some yarn at your center point

for your part. After a few, I used a longer piece of yarn and after I wrapped it around a couple of times, then I tied the knot and braided it into the braid.

Find a place to drape the braid. Cabinet doors worked great.

Cut the bottom loop

Start BRAIDING

Tie off the ends and even then up

All done

Posing with all the braids

All looped together

WOW!! Lots of finished braids

To get the longer braid, I spaced the chairs, went around 60-70 times. Cut the one end and divided it into three groups. I tied each group to the high chair and enlisted the missionaries help. One made sure there were no tangles and the tenson was the same, the other two helped me braid. We bobbed and weaved "just like in the movie". It was so fun {and funny to watch}.

All finished. For the party, I added a bit more length by tying one of the other braids to the long one. I had to warn the girls not to pull on it; otherwise, it would come toppling down.

I took pictures with each of the girls here with their lovely hair.

Thanks! Grandpa Allen!!

Reed's dad is in the Middle East for a contract job he'll be on for a year. A few weeks ago, he asked if any of his grand-daughters would be interested in some jewelry. With Ms. A loving to dress up as a Princess, we gratefully said yes. A package arrived yesterday from Grandma Gayla full of wonderful, sparkling Princess jewelry. Ms A was ecstatic to try them on, but only after her Cinderella dress was on. She was equally excited to pose for Grandma Valerie and mom. Here are a few of the pictures.
Pretty Girl












In Malaysia, umbrellas are used for protection from the sun. The sun peaked out today after a few days of cloudy skies. We don't see much of the sun, so Ms A had to use the umbrella and her styling sunglasses. :)



Serious Look





















Posing with Grandma Valerie

Are we done YET!?!?!

Princess A's Dance

I came downstairs this morning to discover Ms. A in her princess dress, but it was much more POOFY!! When I asked her how she made it poofy, she smiled and said she put a skirt under her dress. There was not one, but THREE tulle skirts under her dress (one ballerina and two fairy skirts.) I guess she wanted it to be very POOFY! We played Cinderella with me being the Prince. She asked me to dance, she ran away when the clock struck midnight, lost her slipper on the stairs and hid in her room. As I reached her room, she smiled as I ask if the slipper would fit on her foot. Then she asked me, the prince, if we could get married! We walked down the stairs as I hummed Wagner's wedding march. She informed me I was humming the wrong song, then I explained that I was correct and she grinned even more. After the humming I ask if she wanted to dance while I took her pictures. She was thrilled.

I think someone {HEARTS} Cinderella.

After we were done playing princess, Ms. A looked at me and said "Even if I don't have my Princess Dress on, I'm still a Princess!" That you are, my little one! :)

Lost 'Glass' Slippers

Ms. A received a Treasure Chest full of dress up clothes for Christmas. It has been her favorite present to play with. Every day her Cinderella dress comes out and she tries to wear it everywhere. Yes, Princesses go to Target, the library, friends' homes and sometimes, even WinCo.

The past week or so, she has added a new way to play. I will find one slipper mysteriously laying on the stairs, when questioned Princess A responds: "Cinderella lost her slipper on the stairs." When I asked who was going to pick it up, she responded, "My Prince." Then she flits over somewhere to continue her play. I love watching our little princess.

the lost slipper

Princess shoes

Smiling on the stairs

Princess A with her tutu skirt - revisited

I found a fun fairy princess craft kit at the store. It had a wand and supplies to decorate a tiara. I cut out a tiara shape, punched a few circles and squares with my paper punches and then opened the glue and glitter and gave them to Ms. A. She had such a fabulous time, especially with the glue and glitter.
At one point, she put glitter on her star wand and when I turned my back to get something, she blew the glitter all over her, the table and floor. We are still finding pieces of glitter in her hair, on her face and throughout the apartment. Now I remember why I don't use glitter in my crafting projects. :) Ms. A had a great time, so I can't complain too much.
I had Enrichment this afternoon, so when I came home and the project had dried, we put them together. When I asked her if she wanted to wear her tutu, she got very excited. I asked her if she wanted pictures and she went into the living room and started to pose. Every time I took a picture, she raced to the camera to see herself. When I asked if she was done, she replied, "No, mommy! Please take more pictures." We also made some bugs with egg carton bottoms and pipe cleaners. One is on her shoulder and the other in her hand. We had quite the craft day. :)
I love her funny face in the last picture. She was so excited to make a silly face.

Princess A with her tutu skirt

I found a fabric store that is amazing! Their selection is HUGE! I will have to visited it again.

Anyways, I was able to find the supplies to make Ms. A her skirt. She was so excited. She especially loved the sparkles for the waistband and wanted a necklace, so I made one out of the extras. She was excited about her headband also, until the headband got a 'bit tricky'. It kept falling off.

Princess Tutu skirt

I was checking out some blogs and I came across this cute idea for a tutu skirt. I can just envision my little princess dancing and walking on her tippy toes in this little gem. It looks so easy. I may go looking for the supplies here.

Princess A

I went to check on Ms. A during her nap and found her awake with her carousel on her head. She was so cute, I quickly grabbed the camera while Reed went to see what I was laughing about. I told Reed to ask her to stay laying down, but she wanted to sit up. I quickly snapped the picture and then sat her up. The picture of her sitting up was after her crying. She sat up in the headboard and told me I could take her picture. :)

My Dandelion Princess

In Greece, Ms A had this fascination with dandelions. Every place in Greece we visited, she found some. She would hold them until we returned back to the hotel later that day. Some times that was the only way we could get her to go where we wanted to visit. It also gave us something to distract her when it was nap time and we weren't even close to our hotel.

Our tour guide joked about her flowers as an offering to Zeus or Apollo.

We went for a walk this afternoon and she spotted some dandelions which she promptly suggested that "we pick them".