Thank you for joining me for daughter Emma's 5th birthday celebration, a bubblegum blow-out that fit her sweet, bubbly personality perfectly. Pop over to these posts for all things bubblegum:
- Invitations
- Making a clay-pot bubblegum machine
- Making bubblegum necklaces and bracelets
- A bubblegum-inspired menu
- Bubblegum tablescapes and room decor
Today's post wraps up the bubblegum party series with fun activities and favors.
In honor of her 5th birthday, Emma chose five favorite songs for her favor CD, "Emma's Bubblegum Pop." Designer extraordinaire Katy Larson designed four different CD covers in our color scheme of pink, green, yellow and blue with Emma's silhouette on the front. We played the CD during a game of musical chairs, then let each girl take a copy home.
We made the most of the chairs we rented for the party, carrying them outside for musical chairs, then back inside for cake.
One of the party graphics Katy designed was a vintage gumball machine full of colorful gumballs. She also made this empty version, perfect for enlarging for a rousing game of "Pin the Gumball on the Machine." I bought a package of round neon stickers from the office supply section of Wal-Mart, which worked perfectly as gumballs for our nostalgic game.
Too soon it was time for our guests to leave, but we sent them home with a few party treats.
Along with a party CD, each girl received a penny candy jar of gumballs, a swirl pop and a bottle of bubbles.
Find these bubble bottles -- three to a pack -- at Dollar Tree.
We enjoyed unseasonably warm temperatures the day of Emma's party, and many of the girls enjoyed blowing bubbles in the springlike weather. Gracie is one of our favorite bubbly friends to giggle with.
These swirl pops -- found on clearance at Wal-Mart -- matched our color scheme and vintage candy shoppe theme perfectly. Clustered in vases of gumballs on the buffet, they looked so happy and bright.
I searched high and low for penny candy jars and found the best price at David's Bridal. These little jars are cute, but they are tiny! Each one holds only 10 or 11 standard-size gumballs. I did not have time to embellish the jars before the party, but they looked cute clustered in a pretty pink metal pail.
Speaking of cute and tiny, here are a few pictures of the Birthday Girl:
Wish upon a bubble ... and your birthday dreams might just come true!
Our friends newlyweds Neil and Haley Scott joined us for the afternoon, and Emma loved blowing bubbles with them as the party wound down. She was so cute jumping into the air, trying so hard to blow bubbles into Mr. Neil's face. He was a good sport to get down on her level to bear the the full force of a bubble assault.
(Don't you wonder how many people might stumble onto A Little Loveliness after googling "bubble assault"? That thought makes me giggle.)
Of course, giggles are never in short supply when this little cutie is around.
Happy Birthday, My Sweet, Bubbly Girl!
“A smile starts on the lips, A grin spreads to the eyes, A chuckle comes from the belly; But a good laugh bursts forth from the soul, Overflows, and bubbles all around.” -- Carolyn Birmingham
