I can’t believe my first born baby girl turned THREE this weekend. Feels like yesterday I was in the hospital with her. Time flies SO fast! Anyway, we didn’t do a party for Denver’s 2nd birthday, so she was ‘long’ overdue for a birthday bash. The older she gets the more she becomes interested in her theme of choice and of course, has her own group of friends! This year I asked her what kind of party she wanted to have, first she said, cookies, then she said cupcakes. When I said both of those things would happen, no matter what kind of party she had, she said, ballerina. You got it, girl.

I was, not so secretly, thrilled that my little girl was requesting a girly themed party! I can do a lot with this one! I wanted to embrace December this year and do a festive theme. So, I decided to go with a Nutcracker Ballerina birthday party! I’ve always loved the Nutcracker story and I thought it would make her birthday that much more possible.

I found the sweetest invite over on Paperless Post by Meri Meri Party so that’s where I started. I had seen Meri Meri do The Nutcracker in the past, but their colors this year were beyond perfect- they did a beautiful mint green and blush pink. I thought it really captured the girly ballerina Denver (and I) wanted to channel! I sent out the invite early to all her little girl friends. The challenge for me was the location. Beach parties are typically the thing to do around here, but of course, I was picturing an all white ballet studio with wood floors and big mirrors – good luck to me. I happened to find the PERFECT space, a new yoga studio on island – Breathe St. Thomas. It was exactly what I was looking for- thank you to the entire Breathe team for letting me take over your space and cover your floors in confetti!

I only invited a few of Denver’s friends and their mamas, I was looking forward to doing an intimate party with less than 20 people, and that is exactly what we got! I set it from 11am – 1pm to do a ballet lesson followed by craft and lots of sugar and brunch! Miss Lisa, D’s Ballet teacher came and taught ballet for 45 minutes. I made a pink tutu for each girl to wear, they danced around and even got some time in the parachute. After that the girls sat around the table and made their own snow globes.

Do you remember this craft? I had one that I made when I was little in my snow globe collection, so I thought it would be a fun thing for girls to make ad take home. I got mini ballerinas and bottle brush trees on Amazon and mason jars at a local thrift store. I used weather proof glue and glued down the ballerinas and trees to the lids before hand. I set out bowls of fake snow and Studio Pep iridescent confetti in the center of the table. Each girl filled the jars, mamas filled the rest of the way with water and screwed on the lid. Shake it up, and you have a magical snow globe!

I set the table, so each little girl had a seat, I got most of the party supplies from Shop Sweet Lulu– all by Meri Meri Party. I did their Nutcracker poppers on each plate, the girls loved cracking them open and finding a gold crown inside. I did a blush plate and mint silverware I added the holographic pink in the cups and blue in the napkins. I filled the center of the with my Pearl and Jane peppermint garland and of course, more Studio Pep Carousel Confetti. At the end of their table I displayed a Nutcracker and some bottle brush trees, I had the Nutcracker story for every guest to sign and the letter board out lining the ‘Acts’ of the party. I also had their party favors displayed here.

For favors my mom made the most gorgeous Sugarplum Fairy wands. Fully equipped with shimmering snowflakes and ribbons galore. An added bonus, Katie from Fancy Free Finery sent me the sweetest star headbands and clips for each girl. The colors matched the cake topper, which brings me to the “Land of Sweets” table.

Keeping with the Nutcracker theme, I wanted this table to feel like you were entering the Land of Sweets just like in the story. I created a balloon garland out of Studio Pep carousel and iridescent balloons, for an extra pop I added giant pink peppermint balloons from Studio DIY. The table had a small bar of mimosas, pink lemonade and water, and array of fresh fruit, yogurt parfaits and a stack of warm cinnamon rolls that acted as the cake. Moving right into the sugar. Suga Mama’s Bakery provided the cinnamon rolls as well as peppermint sugar cookies, chocolate cupcakes and macarons. And the Pointe shoe cake pops. I can’t. It was all SO cute and especially delicious.

I covered the table in more confetti, added a custom “Land of Sweets” banner by Pearl and Jane and hung the sweetest print from Lindsay Letters. I pilled things high on cake stands and sprinkled in a few bottle brush trees to make it as magical as possible. Once the girls had a sugar high we opened gifts and dances to Christmas Carols.

Oh, and how can I forget Denver and Rays outfits? I got their tutus from iLovePlum Denver’s is made of suede and Ray’s was velvet- they looked so luxe and gorgeous, I love how fluffy the tutus were. I had Little Blue Olive make custom Sugarplum Fairy and Nutcracker crowns for the girls which just made the whole thing. They looked absolutely adorable running around in their ballet slippers, they are memories I will cherish forever.

And of course, my girl Alexandra of Alexandra Marie Photography captured these sweet moments, so I didn’t have to. Thank you for giving the gift of memories!

A huge Thank you to Alexis for making the dessert bar come to life, Adrienne for the confetti and balloons that made the theme pop, and to Katie for sending the cake topper and favors, they are beyond gorgeous. I am so honored to be able to showcase your craft in something I love to do!

Happy Birthday Denver Blair, you are the light of our lives.

xo,

Kelsey