Sophie's Spa-tacular Birthday Party...

Every year, as her birthday draws near, I ask Sophie what kind of birthday party she would like. I love trying to come up with something creative, and I always include her in the planning process. Her first real party was when she turned two. We had a little tea party for Sophie and two other little friends, and they sipped juice from a plastic, petite wineglass and each had their own miniature cake all done up in a box and a pink bow. It was simple and sweet and I remember asking her to tell us all how old she had just turned. She stared at her fingers for a minute and proudly stuck up two fingers and declared that she was now "Two-ie". She melted my heart with those words, and I'll never forget that moment...

Well, she is now seven, and seven just sounds so "big girl", even though she is still very much our baby. On Sunday, a day early, we celebrated with a spa party at her request. It turned out to be so much fun, and went off without a hitch, thanks in part to a few trusty assistants. Sophie and I made the invitations (with a touch of glitter, of course), and instructed each girl to wear their pajamas. We greeted each guest at the door with a new pair of slippers to wear and take home, and then sent them to their appointed stations to begin their beauty treatments.

Krissy and Maggie...

I divided the girls into three groups: nails, facials, and waiting area. The first two are self-explanatory, of course, but the waiting area was a hit as well, as the girls could choose to browse through the latest American Girl catalogue or hairstyle book while my assistant, Hannah, offered them chocolate covered strawberries and a glass of "wine" (sparkling apple juice). They giggled and chatted and I even caught them sitting with their legs daintily crossed at times...

One of Sophie's favourite babysitters was on hand to do nails, and the girls chose between their favourite polish colours...again enjoying snacks at their leisure. I used an old school desk for this area, and it was perfect for the job!
(note the candles were the "flameless" type...)

The final station was perhaps the favourite: the facial treatment! While one girl had her face smeared in cream by my good friend Krissy, the other girls waiting their turn tried out the cooling eye masks to take away all the puffiness from their "tough" weekend!! Someone inevitably took that first lick of the cream and discovered it was none other than whipped cream...! Of course, the news spread and from there on in, each girl just had to take a lick! I provided the girls with their own headband to keep their hair out of the mess, and their own little facecloth to have the cream removed. Very hygienic I am...

Hannah, my trusty assistant, floated around topping up drinks, offering more food (party mix, carrots and dip, the strawberries, and potato chips), and giving hand massages with hand cream... which every girl enjoyed. We then shifted gears and moved into the living room and played that old favourite: pass the parcel/hot potato/hairdryer (in keeping with the theme!). I had gifts for each girl, so after a few games, I drew names for door prizes as a way of doling out the rest. Sophie blew out the candles on her cake (a yummy berries and cream cake from the Superstore) and then opened her gifts.

It was a fun party and all the little girls were very well-behaved and seemed to have lots of fun!! It definitely helped that I was well organized (thanks to my lists), had great help, and everything went very smoothly.

Now I can breathe that sigh of relief that always follows hosting a birthday bash and get back into the Christmas scene!! I'll be offering up a modern day twist to the Twelve Days of Christmas and also posting more decorating and gift giving ideas, and showing you a few more funny traditions that have found their way into my household...