We just did a princess party for my dd4's birthday this past May. 13 little princess (and 2 princes)- yes...I know this was crazy, but the guest list just sort of snowballed. Anway, here's what we came up with:
Food: Royal Tea Party Theme-
tea sandwiches-
(pb& J sandwiches and cream cheese sandwiches cut into flowers/hearts with mini-cookie cutters)
princess punch- rasberry sherbert with pineapple juice and sprite
strawberries
mini snack-cups on pink and M and M's
We did ice cream cone cupcakes (at my daughter's request), but I've seen very cute princess cakes made using a bundt cake with a princess doll in the middle. The cake becomes the skirt of a ball gown.
Games-
Ariel's Grotto Treasure Hunt- Children dug through a tub filled with sand to find "treasures" like shell rings and bracelets, princess superballs, etc.
Rose Petal Relay Races- Relay races of various types- one was a hand-off of a silk rose
Cindrella's Royal Ball- We used a kid's microphone to announce each child as they entered the "ball" and then played freeze dance. We played music from our Disney Princess CD.
Jasmine's Magic Carpets- A version of musical chairs- but I used cut up pieces of cloth that looked like little carpets. Each time the music stopped, I removed one...until we got down to two children and one carpet.
Storytime with Belle- I had a college student (who I hired to help out) read the children a version of Cindrella while I set up the tea party tables. It calmed everyone down and helped them transition from games to food.
Crafts:
Princess Hats- We skipped the tiara idea since a lot of the girl's came wearing tiara's that went with their princess costumes. Instead, I took glittery birthday hats (just plan pointy ones from Party City) and threaded about 8 inches of tulle through the top of each one (just tie a knot at the end of the part that is inside the cone of the hat). Then I let them decorate their hats with glittery princess stickers. They were very cute and something a bit different.
Magic Wands- We used crazy straws with a piece of wide ribbon tied to the end of the "crazy" part. We then threaded a few foamie shape beads on the straight end to make it more festive.
Coloring Castle- This was the big hit! For 19.99, I ordered a giant cardboard castle that the kid's could crawl in and out of. I put out a basket of washable markers and they just colored away. I tried to set the party crafts up in "stations" so that I could handle crowd control (remember 15 kids). The castle served as a optional activity when kids finished early.
Coloring Pages- I also printed out a few princess coloring pages from the internet to have as "extras" for children who arrived early, picked up late, etc.
Candy Boxes- They also colored and stuck stickers on white boxes that we then filled with candies that were displayed in clear glass containers. We used lots of colorful candies (like princess gummies, red hots, lemon heads, etc.) and the kids each came up and my college helper helped them scoop what they wanted.
Decorations-
We bought punch cups and glued tiny little gems around the outside and tied ribbons around the handles. Another good idea would be to use fancy goblets with ribbons tied around the stems (we had a few little siblings, so we opted for cups with handles-but 7 year olds might like goblets).
Pink tablecloths on four kid-size card tables. I found little tiered plate holders
that held sandwich sized plates. I put these in the center of each table with the tea sandwiches, fruit, and candy on it. The kids each had little princess plates and napkins.
We also decorated a wing chair with tulle and flowers for the birthday girl to sit in when she opened her presents. We had extra tulle, so we did the stairway and deck railing too.
I stuck the magic wand from CRT in the wreath on the front door to set the stage for the party.
Party Favors-
wands, hats, coloring books (from craft stations)
rings, bracelets (from treasure hunt)
candy boxes
I made a mistake by not preparing party bags to hold everything as they received it over the course of the different activities. Luckily, I still had a pack of party bags leftover from dd1's party and we pulled these out at the end to give everyone someplace to put everything.
Someone on these boards suggested a personalized princess CD. They weren't very expensive when we looked into it...but we just ran out of time to order them. They would have been a great idea though!
Those little bottles of bubbles that are used as wedding favors would also be a cute idea with little ribbons hot glued to them.
There are lots of great princess party ideas! Have a fun time planning!
