Last week we made invites for Ashley's party, I sent them off and got busy studying for my 5 EMT/CPR tests. Then the day before the party I thought, "Hey, maybe I should plan this thing." So I started moving furniture around and brainstorming and thought a spa was just what my ten year old needed to feel special. By the way, she loved it!
Anyway, I had Jesse pick up a few things in town and scrounged around the house for the rest. The good news- this party can really be done on the fly. :o) The night of the party we sent the boys away (which they did happily- no way they were going to hang around for all the giggling and girl talk). The best part is they went to a wrestling tournament and Jaden took 2nd place in his class. He was so excited since it was his first time and he thought he'd "suck".
So back to the party...
Here she is right after blowing out the candles. Super happy because by this point she had finished a hair treatment, hand scrub and pedicure.
Party favors were a pair of flip flops to wear home with their fresh toe paint. I had a young woman volunteer to help me give pedicures (so nice of her). Ashley and I made jelly bean wraps to hold the flip flops together.
Candy jars...any real spa has an abundance of the yummy stuff we like (for me it would be fruit and smoothies, but the girls thought this candy was great).
If you like Chex mix you've gotta try this **Cherry Chocolate Chex Mix...
The party room finally ready (Ashley hiding while Gracee poses). The settings had face cloths and nail files. The center piece had brown sugar scrubs *(see bottom for recipe) and nail polish choices.
Food table (I also made pizza and had red creme soda for them). See my lovely new antique yellow deviled egg plate? Aunt Judy was the inspiration behind that since I was reluctant to pay just because it was an antique, really pretty up close though.
Tres Leches...definitely a girl thing since the boys around here don't like it. You can find my recipe
here (which is really Vanessa's recipe, hehe).
These were a great addition to the party from my friend Emily. Ashley adores them and they are hanging in her room now. Emily claims they are easy to make, but she is way talented and I'm not sure I dare to try. ;o)
Posing before the party. Gracee must have taken this when they were filled to the brim with excitement and giggles.
All in all it was a great way to celebrate her birthday.
Special Spa Recipes...
*Brown Sugar Scrub
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
5 drops grapefruit oil
5 drops orange oil (maybe 10...we liked the orange oil)
Scrub onto hands. Rinse with warm water.
Hair Softening Spray
10-12 oz. spray bottle
1 cup warm water
2 Tbsp. aloe vera gel
15 drops peppermint oil
7 drops lemongrass oil
Spritz on hair as a daily leave-in moisturizer.
**Cherry Chocolate Chex Mix
10 oz. white or milk chocolate
10 cups chex mix
1/2 box cherry cake mix
Melt chocolate. Pour over Chex and stir until coated. Cover with cake mix- I dumped and stirred until it all stuck, but you can put it all in a ziploc bag and shake it around if you'd prefer that.
Voila!! Now I need to get it together for Jaden's Skylander party this week. :o) Oh happy mommy!
