Night Owl Pajama Party!

Emily turned 7 this weekend, and with that came (in my opinion) the best party I’ve ever thrown. We decided to try to celebrate her day on a much smaller scale than we had in the past.  She was only allowed to invite 9 friends, and we gave her a few options: a spa party at home, going to the movies, taking her friends out to dinner, or a pretend sleepover.  She already knew she wanted an owl-themed party, and LOVED the idea of the pretend sleepover.  About 30 milliseconds into scanning Pinterest for ideas (and pinning everything we loved) we had our complete theme: a Night Owl Pajama Party!

I found a super-cute invitation on Pinterest, but since I didn’t have the same materials as that creative momma I tweaked hers a little and came up with this version:

Inspiration for Invitation

I really didn’t have to do too much for this party, which was a refreshing change.  I planned a few crafts for the girls, hung up some inflatable owls, and had Emily help me create a list of songs she wanted played while the festivities carried on (her playlist was a TOTAL hit).  As far as munchies all she wanted was pizza, chips, and Oreo pops.  Easy peasy!

Here’s how the party went down:

The girls arrived all cute in their jammies (yes, I almost died from cuteness overload), and immediately went upstairs to play in Emily’s room.  Once everyone had arrived I sat them all down and made sure they understood the plan for the night and the rules of the house (no locked doors, no throwing things down the stairs, the toilet was not a Barbie jacuzzi…).  I then brought them all downstairs for crafts.  I had already laid everything out on the table so they could just dive right in: owl coloring pages I found on Pinterest and super cool glittery crayons, foam door hangers with glittered foam owls and flowers, and glow-in-the-dark pony beads and owl charms for making bracelets.  They LOVED it.  I had them tell me what they wanted written on their door hangers – even though they are all old enough to do it themselves I was afraid that “messing up” might ruin someone’s evening.  Most of them wanted KEEP OUT, although one of her friends was very clear – NO BOYS ALLOWED!  Before the party my mom helped me decorate small bags with their names and owl stickers on them so that as they finished their crafts I could drop them right in their bags to make it easier when it was time for them to leave.  I also decided not to use anything that required drying time (paint, glitter glue) for the same reason.  The girls worked quickly – I was thankful that our babysitter was there to help keep things moving along!

Owl Coloring Page      Owl Charms      Pony Beads

     

    

After crafts they ate their dinner and then went back upstairs to play.  Once I had everything cleaned up downstairs I called them all back down to sing happy birthday and get their blanket and sleeping bags ready for the movie (Emily chose Hotel Transylvania).  During the movie I just kept the cake, chips, and juice coming.  They stayed snuggled on the couch and floor (looking SUPER cute) until their Mommas came and the movie was over.  And that was it!  In addition to their bags full of craft projects I also sent them each home with one of the inflatable owls I had used to decorate the house.  Although to be honest the house was only decorated for about an hour, since as soon as Emily told everyone that they could take one home the girls immediately begged for their owls and down they all came.

                        

Inspiration for Cake

Inflatable Owls

Everyone had an excellent time – not even the slightest hint of an argument, they all loved the food and movie, Julia stayed away from the party (thanks Mom & Pam!) and Emily felt like a million bucks.  And I have to say it – I felt like a Rockstar Momma.  Happy 7th, Sugarbear!

LOVE this girl!