Esmé's Fourth, 7 months and 24 days later

Before I can even begin to address Theo's birthday I need to right a wrong. You see, I never got around to documenting Esmé's birthday. It was a busy summer, yes, but this is first and foremost a blog about our family and its milestones, and it's been nagging at me that I skipped this very important one. And since Blogger will not allow me to back-date posts, I cannot discreetly tuck this one where it belongs in the archives. So here it is, chronologically sticking out like a sore thumb but better that than not at all, I think. Especially since her party was a collaborative effort that would not have happened without the diligence and creativity of my mom and a few talented gals I found through Etsy. And so without further ado, I present to you Esmé's Enchanted Fairy Party.



Grandma made fairy skirts--satin, tulle and tiny bells which tied on with ribbon--for each and every girl (amazing!) while I ordered a "lot" of fairy wings (surprisingly inexpensive) through eBay. We nestled each fairy outfit among the ivy growing over the fence. Each girl could pick her ensemble and then was sprinkled with "fairy dust" to make the transformation complete. Oriental Trading company provided gnome hats and beards for the boys. The kids got to keep their outfits in lieu of a goody bag.



Fairy-and-gnome-approved snacks.






Daddy did his part by making an enchanted forest on the playroom chalkboard.












The fairy and gnomes were able to customize their headware then they headed out to the neighbor's backyard for some role-playing.

















Party-goers made their own fairy/gnome cottages with found objects. And then we had a few rollicking rounds of pin-the-beard on the gnome.



The birthday girl was serenaded with toadstool cupcakes complete with edible butterflies (thanks Etsy!)!

All in all the party was a success. Esmé and her pals enjoyed themselves thoroughly. And it was a lot of fun to plan and execute. Hard to imagine what we'll do next year. Esmé's latest idea? A fairy fruit fly party. This one might be a little harder to pull off.