every day, at some point,

you can catch my daughter

flipping through the 

american girl doll catalog.

so for her 7th birthday,

we decided to do an 

american girl doll party.

her favorite color is blue so we picked

the colors navy, hot pink and teal.

we also used the american girl logo for inspiration

and incorporated stars.

because we were doing it outside,

i thought pinwheels and bunting would be great decorations.
the party went late so that we could watch
a movie outside with a projector so
we also used a lot of tiki torches.
the yard looked so pretty!

since the dolls were the main focus,

we tried to use miniatures of many of the party items.

the invite

the cake 

i decided to use 6 inch cake pans to make a smaller scale cake.
there were 3 layers so that it still had some height.
it was just frosted white and 
then i strung some mini bunting around.
i used 2 of the teal stripe straws to hold the 
"ella" banner i made.


the food
i wanted the dessert table to be set up out
in our yard.
it rained all day so we had to
wait until the last minute to set it up.
the large ella banner was cut using the cricut
and then i used streamers to ruffle the background.
 mini cupcakes (from target)
with tall tiny flags
{wooden skewers with scrapbook paper}
 licorice wrapped in bunches with paper
{idea from pinterest}
 mini poptarts on a stick
{recipe from here}
swirly suckers {amazon} for girls
pretend suckers for dolls {made by pippaloo}
cookies wrapped with bakers twine
in cake pan cake stand
-my wonderful sister did all the bows-
chocolate frosted cupcakes
{sparkle star and age 7 toppers}
 popcorn bags for the outdoor movie
cans of lemonade-a favorite of the birthday girl
{lemonade banner attached to dowel rods}

american girl wraps for cans
-could also be made for water bottles-
{make them waterproof by using packing tape!}
the girls LOVED these.
they had so much fun finding "their" doll.
 drink station
 name flags for straws
{the pretty stripe straws are from polka dot market}
goodie bags for girls and dolls
{more goodie bag details here}

other details
pinwheels for girls and dolls
{how to make pinwheels}
mini plates and cups for the dolls
{american girl party supplies from joann fabrics}
i thought these were kind of pricey,
but they were a favorite of the girls.
they were all pretending that their dolls were eating too!
 matching pinwheel barrettes i made for
the birthday girl, her sister and their dolls.
 birthday hats for the dolls
welcome sign

activities:
 dinner
 making bracelets
 {we wanted to make them for the dolls too, but ran out of time}
 waiting for the movie to start!


thank you letter

--we did a little photo shoot on her birthday with some of the
party goods that didn't make it into the party pictures--
pinwheels!!

birthday girl, doll and their suckers

all paper party goods will be available
in my etsy shop

check out the links and party ideas {some not used}
on my pinterest board

we had our

american girl doll party

this weekend!

the weather and mosquitoes

did not cooperate,

but it ended up being a great time!

while i'm getting all the pictures in order,

i wanted to share the goodie bags.

we made a goodie bag for each girl

and a goodie bag for each doll.

the girls' bag:

each girl got matching pinwheels for her and her doll,

a hat for her doll...

for the dolls we got eraser food which was the perfect size.

we also found these eraser phones!

i bought both at "5 below" where everything is $5 or less.

i bought the lollipops from pippaloo on etsy.

she custom made them to match the ones i bought for the girls.

she has tons of other cute foods for the dolls.

i will definitely be buying some more for christmas stockings!

{the pink chevron stripe mini bags are from: shop sweet lulu}

favor tags for both bags can be custom ordered

from my etsy shop!

i just LOVE pinwheels!

they are so pretty and colorful.

i figured they would be great

for our girlie outdoor evening party.

there are so many different

tutorials on how to make them.

since i took bits and pieces from all

the great advice,

i wanted to share what i think

is the most easy and pretty way to make them.

you will need:

coordinating papers

spray glue

long pearlized straight pins

glue gun

small beads

lollipop sticks - 8in & 4in (for dolls)

push pin (did not make picture)

 first spray the back of one paper generously with spray glue.

 place other page on top

 trim to 5 inch squares

 cut from one corner towards the center.

i just eyeballed it, others may want to fold diagonally

to create lines to cut on.

 all 4 cuts made

 put a dot of hot glue in the center and fold one corner in.

hold till dry.

 repeat until all four corners are folded in.

 this is the part that varies in each tutorial.

i used a pushpin to create my hole.

it is strong, so easy to push through and it creates

a hole that is a little bigger than the pin

so the pinwheel will spin easily.

 stick the pin through the hole.

 add 3 small beads

(this helps keep the pinwheel away from the stick)

 put a dab of hot glue on the end of the lollipop stick

then slide the pin into the middle of it.

 bend the pin so that the pinwheel is facing forward

instead of up.

 pretty, right?

 for the doll version, make a 3 inch square

and use the 4 inch lollipop stick

all ready for the party!