16256

Tinkerbell Pool Party -13yr- Bubble Machine

July 2007

Sarah in Mount Hermon, CA, USA

Special Mention

A friend of mine wanted a Tinkerbell Pool Party for her 13th birthday, and so I told her I would help her plan it. 

INVITATIONS: We just made our own invitations on the computer and we added Tinker Bell stickers to embellish.  We said, Grant our wish and fly over to Never Land to Celebrate ______ 13th Birthday!!" Then the Time and Date Place ("Second star on the right!" and our address) and the final "Hope to see you FAIRY soon!"

BEFORE THE PARTY:  We decided to dress-up as the characters- My husband was Captain Hook (Black pants White frilly shirt Red coat Homemade pirate Hat and Hook and a foam sword) I was Wendy (Blue Nightgown and slippers) My 1 1/2 year old was Peter Pan (Lime green shirt we just cut up the bottom Dark Green sweat pants we spiked his hair and he had a foam sword.) my 13 week old son was Michael (we just put him in pink jammies! Like the Movie!) and the Birthday girl was Tink (Green Dress Green shoes with Blue Pom-pom on top and wings). 

DECORATIONS: The Color Scheme was different shades of Green Pink and Purple.  We decorated different parts of our yard to resemble Never Land.  Our Yard wraps around our home so we made Never Land in a circle. 

To begin with we have 2 Redwood trees that everyone must walk through to get to the top level of our home/patio and they had to walk under a homemade cardboard sign that said "Welcome to Never Land!" with 2 stars on it and hanging pink streamers. Immediately to the Right we made a cardboard Pirate Ship a sign saying "Walk the Plank" (near the stairs!) and my son's stuffed animal Crocodile. Straight ahead was the Lost Boys Fort. 

We brought out sleeping bags and pillows and my Rocking chair. The Indian Camp followed.  It was in our little "Redwood Forest"  and we had a teepee setup (my son's) and we had Native Americans peeking around the trees (we decorated paper plates with feathers and such) and a tissue paper fire blazing.

Finally was Mermaid Lagoon! We had a bubble machine (beautiful! Really set the mood! And cheap! $13 at Target) Balloons we made a "waterfall" and "pool" out of blue tablecloths (at the dollar store) and mermaids we found online (cut slits in the tablecloths and have the mermaids peeking out of them).  We had the tables decorated with pink tablecloths purple plates and green cutlery napkins and cups. We were going to buy Tink Plates and such but the cost was too high and I think it also would have been TOO MUCH Tink. 

I bought a diamond shaped hole punch and made my own confetti (I got paper that matched all the colors). It took a little work but it was better to have paper confetti (bio-degradable) than glitter everywhere (and it's SOO messy when clean-up time arrives!).  To make inexpensive centerpieces I got small hot pink tins that I filled with candy.  Then I put Tink stickers on Pixy stix (front and back) and stuck them in the tins. 

We also had flowers from the Garden and set them in crystal vases and bowls with colored water (pink green and lavender) on the tables (SO inexpensive yet elegant).  We had hanging Tinker Bell's everywhere (we got pics online and made our own Tink hanging decorations).  We also set up a loveseat off to the side of the home (decorated with a Tink blanket) and it was the perfect place to take pics and open presents. One of the best parts was the Beverage fountain! It really set the mood and all the girls loved how fancy it was!

ACTIVITIES: When the girls first arrived we gave a tour of Never Land stopping briefly at each location.

#1. "Welcome to Neverland" sign- we applied glitter to all the girls' faces to get them in the mood (we couldn't do much in the way of make-up cause they were going to go swimming shortly.  You could also do tattoos).

#2. Pirate Cove (to the right)- My husband Captain Hook "sleeping" near the ship.  "Oh it doesn't look safe this way! Let's go straight in a safer direction!"

#3. Lost Boys Fort- I read a short version of Peter Pan to kill some time for latecomers.

#4.Tiptoed through Indian camp

#5. Mermaid Lagoon! This is where we spent most of our time. First we alternated between taking pictues of each girl with the Birthday Girl eating snacks and making crafts.  We made 2 crafts-Candy Butterfly Bracelets and Photo Holders (Oriental Trading Company has great inexpensive crafts!). 

Next the girls went swimming (we live at a Christian conference center and they went to that pool) for a few hours.  While they were swimming I ran to Costco to get the pictures developed and to pick up the pizzas.  I also had to clean-up the craft mess and setup for dinner. (Whew! Good thing I had lots of help!) When they were done swimming we ate Dinner (Pizza Chips Veggies and Pixie Punch) and opened presents. 

Then we went on a Birthday Cake Treasure Hunt! I told the guests that Captain Hook had stolen the cake and he'd left some riddles for the girls to help them find it.  They went on the hunt (just around our home) and while they were busy with that I prepared the cake on the table.  When the Hunt lead them back to Mermaid Lagoon we sang Happy Birthday and ate handed out goody bags and said our goodbyes. 

The Tink goody bags consisted of the Photo Holder the girls had made and a photo of them with the birthday girl (they all loved this!) the Butterfly Bracelet they'd made bubbles Pixy Stix Tink Pencils a Tink Sticker and it was all placed in a Tink Bag. 

CONCLUSION: This took a lot of work! And a lot of helpers but to see the look of magic in these girls eyes makes it all worthwhile!  They left so happy and excited. And that made me cherish this time with them! P.S. Some extra ideas for you-lighting the candles before the party (then of course blowing them out) makes it easier to light them when it's time.  If you have animals you might want to keep them in a safe area or locked up (my cat kept trying to escape the whole time!).  Make sure you have batteries and film/clean memory card for your camera (or that it's completely charged!).

Some good advice we all sometimes forget! Oops! =) Enjoy your party!           "

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