Grace Turns Six! (A Rainbow Unicorn Party)

My tiny dark-haired baby is now 6 going on 16!!

Leading up to the move, Grace was particularly emotional.  She’s old enough to know what moving far away implies, and she was very sad about leaving everything familiar behind.

She’s as social as the day is long which means moving away from her girlfriends felt a bit like the end of the world.  We decided to be proactive and plan her birthday party a month early so she could spend it with her best gals :)

Unicorns currently reign supreme, so that was our theme for this year’s party.

I decorated the dining room and whipped up some party treats the night before while Grace was having a sleepover at my sister’s house.

I loved watching her take it all in when she arrived home the next day, shortly before the party started.  She’s so enthusiastic!  The compliments are sincere and many with this girl :)

My friend Ashleigh is a very talented baker and cake decorator, so I hired her to create Grace’s dream cake.  She spotted one on Pinterest when I was looking for party inspiration and she decided that was the one for her! She had her heart set on a stand up rainbow, so that was her favorite part.  Ashleigh made it out of Laffy Taffy, so it was edible too!

Rainbows and unicorns seemed to go hand-in-hand in the inspiration posts I found.  Grace may have been all about the unicorns, but I found the rainbow elements to be the most fun!  Those rainbow bars are basically Rice Krispie treats made with Fruity Pebbles and they were so good!

Unicorn Fur (aka cotton candy) was the clear favorite among the birthday girl and her guests.

The rainbow fruit platter went over well, especially the marshmallow clouds.

I’m the healthy eating police, so you know I had to include a veggie rainbow too! Even the ranch “clouds” didn’t persuade the girls to eat much of it though. Lol

Grace chose pizza and crazy bread for lunch and that was a hit with everyone!  How can I blame them for preferring pizza over vegetables?!

Grace is an arts and crafts enthusiast, so we started the party with unicorn coloring pages and plenty of markers, crayons, and embellishments!

I could not have enjoyed, or heck even pulled off, the party without the help of my dear friend Carrie.  She was so sweet to all the girls and was incredibly helpful and hands-on.  Such a blessing she is!

Props to my sister too…she fed and entertained Drew in his room until he took his nap! :)

While browsing Pinterest for ideas, I came across an idea for a “pin the horn on the unicorn” game.  The lady who originated the idea had hand-drawn a unicorn onto poster board and she created sparkly horns from scrapbook paper.  I decided to pull this off at 1am the night before the party, so I busted out a sharpie and some sidewalk chalk and went to town on Grace’s easel paper.  I printed horns online and called it a win!

The girls cracked themselves up with how far off they were with the horn pinning.  A couple of them were crafty and felt the edges of the paper as a guideline.  I was happy to see them enjoying it :)

Next up was piñata time!

This unicorn piñata might as well have been Fort Knox!  Made of solid cardboard with the candy trap door on top, this thing was nearly impenetrable!

Every girl whacked it about 2 times per turn and had two turns.  That’s 44 hits for those keeping track at home!

They beat it in the air.  They beat it on the ground.

Finally mama took a few swings at it!

All of my pent up moving frustration couldn’t even break that thing open!

We did some damage, but then I had to just rip the thing apart!

Candy finally fell all over and the girls were very sweet about making sure everyone got some :)

Grace’s friends brought thoughtful and generous gifts, and she was delighted with each one of them.  Grace loves gifts and is great about showing excitement and gratitude for everything she receives.  It’s been a learning process for her, and I’m very proud.

The party was loads of fun and I’m so glad Grace and her friends enjoyed themselves.  It was a wonderful send-off and made sweet memories for her to hold onto when she’s missing Michigan :)

July 3rd is her actual birthday, and we wanted to make the day special even though we’ve had a lot of ups and downs between moving and broken bones and dad’s new work schedule.

We started the day with sprinkle pancakes which is a birthday tradition around here.

After that Grace opened her gift from us: a giant lego horse farm!  It took the whole day to assemble and she didn’t mind that one bit :)

We Facetime’d with grandparents and she received many sweet text messages throughout the day.  Another package arrived before dinner and it was a hot air balloon lego set that included a couple of girls she “needed” to round out her collection :)

Grace’s other passion is Beanie Boo animals.  She received a package with one of those the next day!  Such a lucky girl :)

We are pizza’d out over here, even by the kid’s standards, so Grace picked McDonald’s for dinner.  She and Andy enjoyed their meals while Avery, Drew and I ate “home food” as Avery calls it.  The little ones haven’t come to appreciate McDonald’s just yet ;)

Earlier that day Grace gave me some ideas for her birthday cake and Avery helped me make it!  Yellow cake with vanilla buttercream frosting, pink “fancy” writing, and rainbow sprinkles.  It ended up being very tasty!

We sang happy birthday and enjoyed cake and ice cream all together.  Drew went to bed after that and we finished the night with a couple rounds of Candy Land.

It was a great day of celebrating our Grace Ellen.  We love you so much Boo Bear and we are so excited to see what God has in store for your life!

Party Details:

Plates – http://www.walmart.com/ip/9-Lisa-Frank-Rainbow-Majesty-Dinner-Plates-8pk/38235766

Cups – http://www.walmart.com/ip/9-oz-Lisa-Frank-Rainbow-Majesty-Paper-Cups-8pk/38235869

Piñata – http://www.walmart.com/ip/Unicorn-Pinata/44757364

“Pin The Horn on the Unicorn” game –  (horns) https://www.pinterest.com/pin/45599014956239088/ (unicorn drawing) https://www.pinterest.com/pin/45599014956145927/

Cake Inspiration – https://www.pinterest.com/pin/45599014956145892/

Rainbow Bars – http://www.food.com/recipe/fruity-pebbles-treats-289757

Unicorn Coloring Sheets – 

http://www.momjunction.com/print-coloring-image/?pageid=120300&print=2014/12/Rainbow-Unicorn

http://www.momjunction.com/print-coloring-image/?pageid=120300&print=2014/12/Japanese-Unicorn

http://www.momjunction.com/print-coloring-image/?pageid=120300&print=2014/12/Fairy-And-Unicorn