I helped to plan my niece's eleventh birthday party last September and it was a blast! INVITATIONS: I went to the dollar store and bought eleven, little, pink purses. The material of these little purses was very stiff so I was able to write all the information of the party directly on the fabric. At the top I wrote Girl's Night Out" in 3D gel pens. Below this I included all the who what where when and rsvp information. Inside the purses we threw in a special suprise! We saw an ad in a magazine about customizing your own M&Ms so we ordered pink white and blue M&Ms that said "Get ready to party!" on one side and "Emily's 11th Bday". We recieved them in big bags so we put handfuls in pieces of lacy material and tied it at the top. Also to keep organized we made a list of the eleven party guests near our computer and our two phones so we could check off the girls as they "rsvp-ed". FOOD: The girls were told to come from 5:30pm (fri) - 12:30pm (sat) so when they arrived it was about time for dinner! In our house we have a grand room which our kitchen is included in but our dinner plan could be done in any kitchen. We set up five dollar plastic trays we previously bought white plates pink plastic silverware and light blue wine glasses. Then we had five food stations run by my husband my daughter our two friends and myself. They were drinks salad sides entrees and desserts. Each girl could go around with her tray to all the stations and pick out exactly what she wanted for her dinner. At the drinks station we had our blender and were able to make: strawberry smoothies lime smoothies raspberry lemon smoothies lemonade coke and sprite. For our salad station (run by my husband) we had bowls of lettuce tomato onion cucumber peppers ranch dressing italian dressing croutons bleu cheese and cheddar cheese cubes. My husband was given gloves so he could handle the food with his hands. At the sides stations we had three big cake pans of french fries onion rings and tortilla chips with salsa. For entrees we made chicken wings spaghetti with sauce and stirfry. At the dessert station we had chocolate cookies sugar cookies brownies with frosting and three types of ice cream. The girls loved this special way of doing dinner. It took about one hour and a half. This was the only food we had for the girls that day but we also put over ten bowls of munchies around the house including tortilla chips popcorn chocolate covered pretzels dorito chips skittles m&ms veggies and fruits. As the stream of girls coming to get food slowed down my husband and I left the other three adults to man the stations as we prepared for the next... ACTIVITIES: We wanted the girls to have some sort of spa experience. We would have organized this spa ourselves but we thought the girls would be unimpressed with the quality of our work so we hired a professional :) For 200$ we got 2 women to come to our house and give 12 girls manicures & pedicures and to do their hair. The girls absoultley LOVED this but if it is over your budget setting up your own stations would be equally as fun! It took about two hours so at this point it was around 9pm. As the ladies were finishing up my husband and I rushed upstairs to set up for some crafts! craft 1: DECORATE YOUR OWN SCARFS- We put a few yards of cheap white cotton fabric then I cut it into long thin strips. Then we took these outside and spread them out on the lawn. We gave the girls each five colors of fabric paints they could use which were in small plastic containers with snap-on tops. Then we showed them they paint pictures with their brushes or splatter paint their scarves (which most girls chose!). We had a girly coloring sheets and crossword puzzles on a table outside for girls who finished early. craft 2: TIE-DYE SHIRTS- This craft was also outside in a different part of the lawn. We bought the girls two things to tie-dye: 1) 2$ t shirts 2) 1$ socks. First we wrote our names on the clothing. Then we provided tons of rubber bands for the girls to tie their shirts up. We bought our three tie-dye colors in three big buckets so the girls could stand around and dye their tshirts on their own. We followed directions on the box which instructed to leave the shirts in the dye for ten minutes then wash it in water. At this point it was around 10:30 pm but we had one more activity- dancing! In our front lawn we put tiki lights all over the lawn and made mixed CDS of party music! This was a suprise and the girls were extremely entertained until 12 pm. Then we sent them upstairs to watch A Cinderella Story. After the movie was over we checked in periodically. The girls stopped talking around 2 am which was good in my opinion :) We let them sleep until 9 am. We told them to get dressed and gather all their belongings in the front hall. All the girls met downstairs and my husband opened the door to reveal a LIMO. Every jaw in the room dropped. They scurried outside and jumped in the limo. We ordered it for two hours which was a perfect time because the girls were tired from the last night. We told the driver to take them to the mall. When they were gone my husband and I were able to finish the cleaning of the entire house! We also prepared a platter of donuts muffins bagels and juices because we never provided breakfast. The girls came back around 1130 munched on some breakfast and waited to be picked up. By 1230 all the girls were gone. We took our daughter to open presents with us. This was a good idea because a lot of girls in our neighbor have very different lifestyles and the presents had a very wide range in price and size. This way no girls felt bad about the gifts they gave. This party was so successful I would recommend it to every preteen girl! "