For my daughter's 4th Birthday we made her a Garden Party.
I made the invitations out of old gardening magazines. I cut lots of flowers, butterflies, and birds and glued them into a 5x7 collage on cardstock. In the middle of the collage I had a computer printout saying, "Roses are red, violets are blue, Sarah's turning 4 and wants to invite you...to her Garden Party." Everyone loved the invitation so much that most still have it on their refrigerators. At the party, I decorated the yard with balloon flower bouquets that I attached by the string inside large flower pots. The children had their faces painted with butterflies, flowers, lady bugs, birds, or a sun. Then I purchased small plastic flower pots with paper slip-ins that the children could color. Then they filled them with potting soil and a small marigold. I also gave them plastic watering cans that I personalized and decorated beforehand and they used these in lieu of goody bags when the butterfly piņata was smashed open. We played pin bug on the flower. I made a large construction paper flower and printed out bugs on 3x3 stickers to make it easier for the smaller children. The highlight for the kids were the wheelbarrow races. We made two teams each with a child and a dad. We made it into a relay race and everyone had a great time. We served fresh vegetables with dip, garden and fruit salad as well as 6ft. heroes. I made a butterfly cake decorated with pastel M&Ms and a sunflower cake with yellow frosting and mini chocolate chips in the center. They were so pretty that we didn't want to cut them. I also made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting sprinkled with crumbled chocolate cookies to look like dirt and a gummy worm hanging out of it. I also stuck a lollipop in the middle of the cupcake with construction paper petals around it to look like a flower in a flower pot. The kids loved it. Before the guests left, along with their potted plants and watering can filled with candy, they received a birdhouse magnet with the party details on it. In the thank you note I enclosed a wallet size of the birthday girl. Everyone raved about the party and is looking forward to our next one.
