10% Cooler!!! It started with a Netflix account. Followed by several My Little Pony marathons. Then an innocent comment by Bronwyn, "Mom, I think I want a My Little Pony birthday party this year." At first I'm thinking...hmm...themed party? Then, I watched a few episodes and how could we not throw a My Little Pony Party!!! I think all the planning turned Jack into a bonafide Brony (which is not a nickname for Bronwyn...even though we almost bought her a Brony t-shirt thinking it was a nickname...oops!) The kids helped plan the entire event--down to choosing the activities and naming them. Bronwyn, of course, had veto power over every detail. Dad helped execute many of the details and never judged our craziness. Minnie and Pop Pop came. They thought they were coming to take pictures and celebrate--in reality they were our manual labor (hee hee...I mean THANK YOU MINNIE AND POP POP). Thanks to photographer extraordinaire (Pop Pop) we have loads of pictures. So, let's look at the party and then the little girl deserves her own post to celebrate just her and her birthday!!! WELCOME No denying a party is happening at this house! Next time we will email the neighbors in advance as many a peep occurred that morning through neighboring windows :) Little sneak peak at what's to come! This was fun...a ballooned lined walkway to greet our friends. Pop Pop used wire and golf tees to secure the balloons. Notice the cutie marks. We did each of the "Mane 6" on the sidewalk! Dad was going to do it as he is the artist in the family. But timing is everything...so I will try not to be too embarrassed by my chalk art :) Something new this year--I designed all the printables instead of ordering them. Of course thanks to Pinterest not a single idea is mine but "inspired" by a pin :) The execution however belongs to me with my family of helpers :) Let's get the party started. Our foyer welcomed each child. Bronwyn greeted her friends with huge hugs and tons of excitement!!! Bronwyn greeted her friends with huge hugs and tons of excitement. Here's B with one of her 1,215 BFFs (Bridget!) ACTIVITIES Welcome Activity: Spike's Birthday Scroll Apparently, Spike coughs up scrolls to help Twilight Sparkle send communication to and from Princess Celestia. Anyway...seemed like a coloring messages on a large birthday scroll was a good idea. I traced the basic pony shape onto the paper roll and the girls decorated as they saw fit! They all could have spent more time here, but once all the girls arrived we had more fun in store for them. After everyone left Jack and some of the neighbor girls helping us at the party finished decorating all the ponies :) Activity #1: Rarity's Dress Up Station Rarity is the fashionista pony. Thus, we had to start this party off with a little Spa experience. Pop Pop helped hang all the Tutus and Dad decorated the deck for us! We had a few tutu's for each of the Mane 6 ponies. We lucked out and everyone was able to find a tutu they loved. These were so easy to make and Bronwyn helped me a lot. She picked out the colors for each pony and helped me count pieces of tulle and keep track of the patterns :) I love this shot Pop Pop took of the tutus! We decorate the hangers with some ribbon and then clipped on both a cutie mark tattoo that we bought from a talented artist on Easy and a picture of the pony I designed and printed. After the girls picked out their tutu with the matching cutie mark tattoo--they came over to the beauty station to paint nails, apply the tattoo, and if they chose either color their hair with hair chalk or pin a pony extension. Thanks to our neighbor friends the girls were royally pampered. Admiring her cutie mark! When finished the girls posed with a photo booth frame. We sent these pictures to them with thank you notes after the party. Aww...you are beautiful my rainbow princess!!! Activity #2: Fluttershy's Pony Rides Fluttershy's talent is communicating with all animals. So we were very glad she convinced Rainbow Dash's Cousin, Maggie Dash to come spend time with the girls at Bronwyn's party. This is Bronwyn's first time on a pony. I was a tad nervous whether she'd enjoy riding or not--but she was so excited about this activity that I wasn't all that nervous. It totally lived up to her expectation! Whew...that would have made for a party don't huh? Seeing as my girl's favorite movie is Mr. Peabody only because it has PEE in it...this seemed appropriate. Look hard and you will figure it out! Here's the crew. Everyone loved the pony and I think all rode her more than once except one or two shy girls. As the pony rides took place we also had other activities going on. Never a dull moment! Activity #3: Apple Jack's Boppin' for Donuts I'm a sucker for a cute printable. I made these activity signs, placed onto a wood doll and ribbons dressing it up. Super cute...thanks Pinterest :) Apple bopping seemed a little dangerous for this age group. Turned out donut boppin' wasn't as appealing to the younger kids. Bronwyn was the only one her age that participated...her two BFFs that are older and her brother were the other takers. Now, once the contest was over (yes, Bronwyn won!) no one hesitated to come PULL a donut off the string and eat it. Good grief :) Activity #4: Rainbow Dash Relay Found these hoops at Party City for a bargain. Hmm...what to do with them? First we tried to do a hula hoop relay race. Rainbow dash loves a good race. These girls...no so much! The girls all had to hold hands and get the hoop from one end to the other. It didn't go very far until we helped out. A lot :) Always have a back up game. We had a lot of fun hopping through the hoops as fast as we could...anything to pull from the goody bag! Activity #5: Twilight Sparkle's DIY Book Bag Twilight Sparkle is a favorite of Bronwyn's. This pay has cool magic powers and loves reading. The girls (and Jack got in on this action) decorated book bags which doubled as a party favor. I set out a canvas tote for each girl. We had fabric markers, letter stamps, and felt stickers laid out for everyone to use. This was a very popular activity and they spent 10-15 minutes completely engaged at this station. Enough time for me to slip inside to start setting food out on the buffet with a lot of help from Minnie. Each bag had a My Little Pony book in it and a Thank You card from Bronwyn. My little girl is so sweet, she decorated her bag with all her friend's names on it and had I love you, by their names. Activity #6: Pinkie Pie Party Games Pinkie Pie is the party planner pony. Bronwyn had me dress as this pony for the party, if you couldn't already tell. One of the games we played is being demonstrated here by Arden--keep the balloon in the air using your party hat. We should rename this "keep the balloon from going in the street using any body part you can!" I didn't get a picture but Minnie had cut up pool noodles and the kids used them as golf clubs to shoot the balloons into pink tubs. It was a lot of chaotic fun. We reigned them back in with three words, "pin, tail, pony!" You think, how cliche? Let me tell you something...FAVORITE ACTIVITY by far. Who knew kids loved to be blindfolded so much. You know what else I learned? They're all a bunch of cheaters. I think this girl and little Maddie were the only two who either have an incredible honest streak or just couldn't figure out how to see through the blindfold :) Cheater! PARTY FOOD We didn't get a great picture of the food--because the ponies were very hungry and gobbled it up before we could stage a few shots :) We had Twilight's Friendship Sandwiches (nutella/ Turkey); Apple Jack's Apple Dips; Fluttershy's Bunny Food; Rainbow Dash's Sonic Fruit; Rarity's Popular Corn; and Pinkie Pie's Party Mix. Here's a shot before all the food was played out...but you can sort of see the cute food labels we made. Table setting before the ponies arrived. Rainbow plates for all but we personalized to their pony a bit--with a mane made out of tulle as a seat cover; cutie marks on the milk bottles; sticker set; and color matching straw and flatware. We added a drop of food coloring into the bottom of the milk bottles. When we poured the lemonade it changed colors. We called the drinks "Twilight Sparkle's Magical Punch" The rainbow desert table was a lot of fun. Kids and I made and decorate the cake pops. Minnie and I made and decorate the cupcakes. I bought a rainbow cake but we put the balloons in it as decoration. I loved the balloon topper!!! And here she is blowing out her cupcake candle. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRONWYN!!! A bit blurry (iPhone shot!) But here's a shot of the delicious rainbow cake. Each layer was flavored based on the color--red was strawberry, orange was well--orange, green was apple, purpose was grape. It was a surprise as everyone bit in and a definite favorite of the kids and the moms. Yummy! Happy 5th Birthday my Love!!!