Fit for a Princess

Want to make your little daughter look and feel special on her birthday?

I suggest a Princess Tea Party, this party idea works well with girls ages 4-8. I have planned many tea parties and the kids seem to love it! A great thing about this theme is it doubles as a party as well as an etiquette lesson. Set the the tone beginning with the invitation, I like to personalize the invites myself, I always use a fairy tale or poem inside to create the magical feeling. Invite your guests to dress in their pretty princess attire or you can have several different princess costumes at the party for them. You should have tiaras or crowns on hand for the princesses as they arrive.

You want each and every guest to feel special, so I decorate the tables with kid friendly China ( I purchased at a second hand store), I have bells for the girls to ring if they need any service, the bells also double as place settings which holds the name of the Princess who that seat is reserved for. Each chair is decorated with a bow made from Tulle and a nice pretty plastic flower.

Each princess is served by fairies (I like to use older siblings, dress them in black and white with a crown, wand and fairy wings..it's adorable)

MENU

The menu is simple since kids are picky:

PB & J sandwiches or a meat & cheese sandwich, all heart shaped...heart shaped cookie cutters from a local craft store work just fine

Chips

Cookies

Pink lemonade

ACTIVITY

I also suggest a craft activity for the children, one that works well is creating a picture frame..(this will require adult supervision, a great opportunity to get parents involved). You can purchase picture frame kits for cheap at orientaltrading.com.

No party is complete without pictures....so get creative, grab a Polaroid camera and take a picture of each girl dressed in her princess attire, and put it in the picture frame they created to take home as a memento.

Try it out....the little princess in your life with simply adore this party!

The spirit of spirits!

As the weather begins to warm up, everyone is feeling cabin fever and ready to get out and spend time with friends and family. In the spirit of Spring I will share the recipes for some of my favorite Spring & Summer cocktails.

Lemon Drop Martini

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces vodka (use a good-quality vodka)
1/2 ounce Triple Sec
1 teaspoon superfine sugar or to taste*
3/4 ounce freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Ice cubes
Superfine sugar for dipping
Twisted peel of lemon

Preparation:

Mix the vodka, Triple Sec, sugar, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice; shake well (supposedly the cocktail is to be shaken 40 times to make sure the sugar is well blended).

Pour strained liquor into sugar-rimmed martini glass and garnish with a twisted peel of lemon.

NOTE: To create a sugar-rimmed glass, take a lemon wedge and rub the drinking surface of the glass so it is barely moist. Dip the edge of the glass into the superfine sugar.

Makes 1 serving.

Jolly Rancher Cocktail

Ingredients:

16 pieces of your favorite flavor of Jolly Rancher hard candy ( I like apple)

1 cup of Vodka

Ice

Preparation:

Place the unwrapped candies and cup of vodka in the blender fill with ice. Blend well until smooth and serve. This is an easy tasty cocktail!

Makes 3-4 servings.

Tropical Fruit Mimosa

Traditionally served with brunch...but as you know by now...I feel like you can do whatever you want, so serve it up at your next cookout...it will be a hit with the ladies!

Ingredients:

1 (12oz) can apricot-mango nectar

1 (12 oz) can pineapple juice

3/4 cup cold water

1 (6oz) can of frozen orange juice concentrate thawed and undiluted

1 (750 milliliter) cold champagne

Preparation:

Stir cans of apricot- mango nectar, pineapple juice water and orange juice concentrate together in pitcher until combined. Pour in chilled champagne just prior to serving.

Makes approx 15 servings

Try these simple cocktail recipes...let me know how they work out for you!

Enjoy!