"So mayst thou live, dear! many years,
In all the bliss that life endears ... ."
~ Thomas Hood
Mary Ashley's Birthday Craft Fair began at noon Saturday. As we waited for guests to arrive, the girls played in Mary Ashley's room and I fussed over final party details. Joe's mother and her friend Joy came over an hour before the party started, and they helped me pull everything together. Once all the guests arrived, we served basket lunches to the girls. Our Alabama weather has been so varied this January -- upper 70s one week and mid-30s the next -- so I wasn't sure what to expect Saturday. But we were blessed with a mild, sunny day perfect for picnicking outdoors.
Birthday Craft Fair Menu
Cocktail-Size Croissants with Turkey and Lettuce
Kettle-Cooked Potato Chips
Broccoli Salad
Fresh Strawberries
Cupcakes
Pink Lemonade
I spread a quilt in the yard so the girls could sit together in the sunshine to enjoy their basket lunches. I picked up the basket above on clearance at Hobby Lobby awhile back. I love the neutral linen liner with crocheted lace and button accents. I had four of these baskets and picked up the rest of our wicker baskets at Dollar Tree. Little touches like buttons hot glued to toothpicks carried the theme into our picnic.
Pink lemonade was the drink of choice at Mary Ashley's Birthday Craft Fair. I designed the liners and straw toppers with digital papers from SunshineLemons and cut the liners with scalloped-edge scissors.
Above, friends Claire, Emma Cate and Kristy gather with Mary Ashley for picnic fun. After lunch, the girls spent a couple of hours making crafts and playing outside before coming back to the sitting room for cupcakes and presents.
My icing turned out thin for this party, so I was disappointed in the look of my cupcakes. The taste and toppers were great, though, so the girls loved them. I made the topper above by punching two scalloped circles. The scale of the larger circle was too big for the smaller one, so I pleated 1-inch strips of paper, wrapped the pleated strips into a circle, and hot glued them into place.
Half of the cupcakes were pink Mary Ashley cupcakes, and the other half were buttoned up with the number 9. I glued nearly half of these toppers upside down. Thankfully I caught my mistake before offending our birthday girl with cupcakes topped with the number 6. I made the candy buttons by filling a button mold from Fancy Flours with Wilton Candy Melts. I punched the smallest and larger papers by hand and used my Cricut Mini to cut the middle scalloped circle. Tiny buttons from Wal-Mart added the final touch to our toppers.
Joe and the boys had a full day of sporting activities Saturday, so we served cupcakes at the craft fair and saved the small cake above for the family to share. I cut the bunting triangles from shabby chic wafer papers from Queen of Tarts Wafers.
Chic & Unique Celebration Cakes
When I saw the cover of this book, I knew it would be the perfect inspiration for Mary Ashley's birthday cake. Click the title above for more information about this beautiful cake decorating book.
"May the sun shine, all day long,
everything go right, and nothing wrong.
May those you love bring love back to you,
and may all the wishes you wish come true!"
~Irish Blessing
Here are a few of the sweet friends who joined us for Mary Ashley's Birthday Craft Fair.
Kimber's smile is as sweet as her cupcake.
And friends Emma, Emma Cate, Mary Ashley and Kristy are cute as a button!
When the girls sat down to enjoy their picnic, I asked them to raise their hands if they like making crafts. All hands went up, so I was eager to get started on our creative projects as soon as the girls finished their lunch.
So have another round of cupcakes, drink your fill of pink lemonade, and join me next week for shabby chic crafty fun.
