THE fairy party....

It all started with the invitations, and included a long enough lead time to really get caught up in the idea. The hired help* said that I could do as much, or as little as I desired. The fairy would entertain the {18} children for an hour-and-a-half, and the fairy's helper would prepare and serve all of the food, including the {supplied} cake, then they would clean up the mess.

I wanted the party to feel magical, so the decorating was where I put in most of my energy. The early weeks were spent online gathering ideas, then the school holidays were spent perusing the internet for supplies. The week before the party was spent tying up the loose ends, and awaiting the goodies to stock the party bags {they never arrived}. The day before was spent spit-polishing our home. The day itself was uber-relaxed and went off without a hitch. The after-math... we'll talk later.

So shall I fill in some of the nitty-gritty details?... if anyone is at all interested.

The first step was to make some magical flooring. After a little thought, I decided that it would be unreasonable to make a whimsical quilt in time for the party {mostly because I don't quilt}; but I've had the idea of making an artificial grass meadow for a long time {probably 18 months as it would be perfect on the concrete of our balcony, out the front of the cubby house} so I bought a couple of meters of the {cheapest} artificial grass from my favourite hardware, a few fake flowers {hydrangeas?} from spotlight, and a hot glue gun.

I cut the 'grass' into a more organic shape, then attached the individual flowers in a 'meadow-like' way. It was a pleasant way to spend some of the grand-final.

I also made some toadstool cushions using the foam from our old couch, but two was as far as that went...

Next I wanted some ambience for the ceiling, something colourful that would bring it into the awareness of the 5 and under crowd. I've seen these martha stewart tissue pom-poms around, and thought they would be the ideal solution. To buy them though, would have cost me a small fortune, so instead I spent my pennies on a bulk purchase of tissue paper and got folding. I used the directions from here, but used pipe-cleaners instead of the florist wire... and {after a little practice} they worked out rather nicely.

The 'fairy cage' was made from a packet of black pipe-cleaners {total price $2} and was supposed to house a fairy, but alas we were unable to catch one in the weeks leading up to the party...

The garland was made using a butterfly punch and a 1 3/4" circle punch, and some scrapbook paper {spotlight again}, then sewn together on the sewing machine. Fast and very pretty....

When I realised {on friday} that the party bag fillers {vials of fairy dust and fairy bracelets and a fairy ring} weren't going to make it {I ordered them online on the fifth!} I decided to make another {mega} batch of marshmallow toadstools... but this time I took some photos so that I could share them here. They are easy to make, but definitely time consuming. I made about 50 in a few hours, however only 25 of those had the dots done.

The process is this :: melt some white chocolate in a small bowl :: once melted and smooth, add the chocolate food dye {chefmaster candy color red} and mix until consistent :: place the large coles marshmellows on a wooden skewer, then dip and rotate in chocolate :: let excess drip off, then stand in fridge until set :: once all of the tops are set, place them upside down in an egg tray :: dip a white pascal marshmallow in melted white chocolate and attach to base :: place in fridge to set :: once holding together firmly, add the dots of {melted} white chocolate using the blunt end of a wooden skewer :: enjoy!

I used some to decorate the room, and the rest were added to the party bags...

There were other details that I did to make the day extra special, like the custom made chalkboard on the arch out front, and the balloons lining the way in... but mostly the magic all came together in the end because there were 18 awestruck little fairies, and a very talented fairy, who came and made a little Daisy girls day so very special.

It was great, and fun, and now I'm heading off for a little lie down and a well earned rest...

1. if there is anything I have forgotten, or anything else that you want to know, just drop me a comment...

2. * I almost forgot!! the hired help was Pixie Mischief ~ you can find them here...