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Springtime in Paris Party

Friday, May 4, 2012
Kate's birthday is actually in June but the end of school year schedule this year is beyond complicated because both boys are "graduating" or moving on to new schools.  Also, in our HOT climate a lot of people leave during the summer.  So we celebrated Kate's birthday about a month early.

I LOVE making all these decorations for her parties.  On a day to day basis, I am not really crafty but I have had so much fun working on little projects for Kate's parties the last few years.  I wish I had discovered this side of myself when the boys were young.


I know there are a billion photos in this post but oh well...this is probably our last party like this and I want it all documented for Kate.  We have no other scrapbooks.

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The art table where all the girls got to be a French artiste.


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My Mom was a big help making the croissant sandwiches:)

Kate was so excited when her friends started to arrive....

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Once the girls arrived, they had a few activities to choose from.

One of the activities was making a beaded necklace or bracelet...

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I had some wonderful teens help out at all the activities.

They all made Spring paintings....

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I thought they created beautiful masterpieces!!!

The girls also had their nails painted by some teens but I did not get many photos of that...

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One of the high school girls was a fabulous face painter.  She did french poodles, fluer de lis, eifflel  towers etc...

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Kate got a fleur de lis on her arm and a design on her face...

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Then we played pin the tail on the french poodle.  Our sweet friend and neighbor, Kyle drew the poodle for us and Kate made the tail:)


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After that, we had lunch (croissant sandwiches, mixed berry fruit salad and sparkling french pink lemonade) and cake/cupcakes...

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Kate, Harry and Mimi (my Mom)

I LOVE that Harry sat down and shared a seat with Kate.
 {Unfortunately,Will was at his future high school for some placement testing}

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I know ...out of focus but too cute to leave out:)  Kate ADORES her Habu!!!

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Harry was a big helper as always. Some of his friends even dropped by to say hello and have a cupcake...
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After the cake, the girls made Eiffel Towers out of marshmallows and toothpicks (thanks for the idea Bagel!)

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I want to add that although this looks like a lot--- I did this party on a pretty low budget.  I started looking for things a few months ahead and bought everything on sale or with 50% off coupons at Michael's and Hobby Lobby.  I got the art canvases on sale for half price at Aaron Brother's framing.  The cake was a super deal.  I took the photo to one bakery and they quoted me a price of $120!  I said no thank you.  Then,  I took it to my local Kroger grocery store and they did it for $30!!!!  And because I am a little anti-goody bag, I did not have them.  The girls all took home their bracelets or necklaces and canvas paintings as their party favors:) I only share this so you know that this was very doable for someone on a budget with advance planning and some coupon clipping/printing (I get the Michael's coupons on-line).  

Are y'all as exhausted as me after that post?  That took forever to post!!!  Thank you for all the get well thoughts.  I am still sick.  I have some kind of virus and am in bed in my jammies with my laptop doing this 3 hour long post.  I definitely had too much on my plate the last 2 weeks and it caught up to me.  I think I am going to go juice now and then sit out in the sun for some vitamin D. Hopefully, that will help to kick this crud!

Have a GREAT weekend!

36 comments:

  1. You did such a great job with the party and decor. I love that you got the cake for only $30...it looked so expensive!

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  2. Beautiful! Love all of the decor. I love that you did such an elegant party so affordably! $30 is a steal for that wonderful cake. Hope your feeling better soon.

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  3. This party is absolutely PRECIOUS. Very creative and personal...I could not love it more. What a lucky little girl Kate is! PS - Love your outfit for the fete as well. :)

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  4. what a gorgeous party my friend!! i love all the details & YOU look gorgeous!!!
    love what you're doing with your hair & the outfit is perfect!!
    xox

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  5. Oh, my goodness! I wish that I could have an amazing party like that . . . and you to plan it!!! You really DO have such an amazing sense of style and an ability to make things magical and so special for your kids - what a special gift! I love the pictures; you can just feel the excitement of the day looking at them. And the picture of Kate and Harry is priceless. You also look tres chic in your apron in the photo of all of you together. What a special and beautiful family you've got! Glad to hear it all went so well. Now please get feeling better very quickly. :)

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  6. You did such an awesome job. Adorable party. Kate is precious and your hair looks beautiful!

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  7. Happy Early Birthday, Kate!! Kim, I swear I did a double take when I saw you in these pics. Now, granted I haven't visited your site in a while but I SWEAR you look like a college student in this pic! I LOVE your hair longer and you look SO young :) I'm jealous and I am immediately growing my hair out... Hope you have a fabulous summer! Will be in San Antonio in a couple of weeks as my oldest is graduating from the Air Force basic training - not looking forward to the Texas heat :)
    Kim & Katiebug

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  8. Happy Early Birthday, Kate!! Kim, I swear I did a double take when I saw you in these pics. Now, granted I haven't visited your site in a while but I SWEAR you look like a college student in this pic! I LOVE your hair longer and you look SO young :) I'm jealous and I am immediately growing my hair out... Hope you have a fabulous summer! Will be in San Antonio in a couple of weeks as my oldest is graduating from the Air Force basic training - not looking forward to the Texas heat :)
    Kim & Katiebug

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  9. Very lovely party. I hope you don't mind but I pinned it for reference later. I can see where it can be very simple but make a statement. Love it!

    Kim O

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  10. What a fabulous party. I love all the detail. I think their gifts were much better than goody bags.

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  11. The party looks lovely! I am sure all the girls had a great time! I hope you feel better soon.

    Hugs,
    Robin

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  12. My goodness, what a beautiful party!!! Loved the cake, especially! Where did you find the perfect dress??!! Love that this was accomplished on a budget...oh, did you make the banners?

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    1. Gale, Thank you. Yes, I made the banners from free fonts on line and scrapbook paper. I got the dress from Groovy Girlz on Etsy.

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  13. Ugh...Kim almost thought you were one of "the girls"! What a fabulous party..you did such an amazing job and Kate makes quite the mademoiselle....loved seeing all the beautiful highlights..fabulouso!

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  14. You are an incredible Mommy and beautiful to boot. What a fabulous party!

    Jill

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  15. I love how simply you did everything, I think it turned out beautiful! Hope you feel better soon.

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  16. Adorable party! Your hair is gorgeous! Feel better:(

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  17. What a lovely celebration! Looks like everyone had a wonderful time and I hope you enjoyed the weekend with your mom, too! I love that you gave out some ideas for doing a party on a budget. Parties are something I, for the first time, am really trying to do on a strict budget. I've spent a lot of money rather needlessly doing these over the years (and so much of it on goody bags, too) because I wanted things perfect but the kids don't even notice! With some good planning, they all have a great time no matter what you spend! Good job!! I hope you can rest up and are feeling better soon!

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  18. Oh my. That was a great party for Kate! Well done Mom!! I'm sorry you are under the weather. How much Vit D do you take? There is new research that says the 200 IU they've been telling us is a "good" daily dose, is peanuts!! (no pun intended!!). I'm taking 8000 IU and my vitamin D levels are still low! It takes a while to get them up.

    Feel better soon,
    Snick :)

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    1. Thanks Snick! My doc has me take a lot of D but I forget sometimes. I think I just was not eating very healthy for a few weeks and was doing a lot of running around. I got run down. I feel awful. Luckily, it is the weekend!!!!

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  19. Super cute party Kim, you did a great job! The banners turned out cute, so many fun activities, and I just love Kate's face as Harry is lighting the candles....precious!!!:) Happy Birthday Kate!!!!

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  20. Happy early Birthday Kate.!!! Your party looks like you had a grea time. OH Kim even feelinh "under the weather you lok amazing" absolutely love the long hair. Hello to Harry, Will and , Dave..

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  21. Wow, Kim, it all looks so pretty! And Kate was obviously thrilled with it. I love the special little details and I have to say you look great, too. I'm LOVING your hair and that outfit. Hope you're feeling much better soon.

    Gin =)

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  22. Such a cute party theme and kate looked adorable as usual. Good job mom!

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  23. Wow, what a fabulous party! Glad you had plenty of help. And as always, it is so much fun to see pictures of your beautifully decorated home. I hope you are feeling better.

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  24. AMAZING Birthday... Love all the fun things the girls did..
    you always have fun parties..
    and by the way YOU look AMAZING...
    love you tons..

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  25. What a fabulous birthday and such sweet memories you are making for Kate and the rest of the family! Simply adorable!!

    You look beautiful -- even though you haven't been feeling well. Take it easy and feel better sooN!

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  26. Love this party post! You did a great job! We are in party mode here too! Hope you feel better soon!

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  27. SO cute!! Everything looked perfect (as always!!). You had some super cute activities!!

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  28. Beautiful party & photos Kim! Love the ones of Kate & her cake... darling!

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  29. OH MY GOODNESS, every last detail was perfection and it looked like all of the girls had a lot of fun!
    What a fantastic afternoon for Kate and her friends...... and you did it all on a reasonable budget. That is just the icing on the cake:)

    xoxo,

    Lisa

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  30. ohhh what a sweeeeet sweet party! yes...those june bday are tough....i have an aug child (and due yet again with another aug) those are tough too!

    cute theme ...esp liked how brother's friends 'stopped' by for a cupcake...that is sooo my boys and their friends too!

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  31. Gorgeous party! You are so creative!

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  32. What a wonderful party! I loved the theme and in perfect Kim fashion it was AWESOME! I hope your feeling better. I love checking in:). Michelle and Meaghan Grace

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  33. this is adorable! Kate is SO cute and I love the decor and the cake!!

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