How is she 3?! I planned this party so far ahead of time because I knew I’d be recovering from giving birth. And yes, less than 3 weeks from giving birth, here I was hosting a bustling birthday party for 30 people. But it’s what I love to do!

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Lily is obsessed with Sofia the First and the songs from the show! I started planning about 6 months prior in order to do a little at a time as I knew this party would come out amazing based on all the small details coming together for a big impact.

Once again since her party was in March, I knew to plan ahead and watch for Valentine’s sales on decorations and candy. I utilized my PhotoShop skills, a lot of supplies I already had from my scrapbooking stash, and my Cricut (cutting, scoring, writing machine) that I love for party planning. It really helped me do some new things I’ve never been able to do on my own before. And once again I think one of the easiest ways to theme this party was simply using Sofia stickers and rhinestones.

Location: Our Home

This was our first birthday party in our new home and the backyard was a great space to hold it. I love March in Florida except for the wind. It’s always windy on this weekend! We ended up not using the fabric overlays on the tablecloths because they kept flipping up, but it was a good way to add color to the tables if the wind was calm.

Invitation

The graphic designer in me wanted to design something myself, but I knew I didn’t have the time to devote to it with a baby on the way! I turned to Etsy and ordered her invitation deisgn there and then printed them on Shutterfly. I did however design her own Sofia address label and printed those through Shutterfly as well. Since the invites went out before Valentine’s Day, I was able to use some pretty floral postage stamps. We sealed the back of the invitation envelope with a Sofia sticker.

Decorations

I found a door decoration on Etsy I liked and decided to make it myself. I used a combination of PhotoShop, my Cricut (cutting, print to cut, and writing features). I think it came out AWESOME and it’s hanging in her room now. Check out the Disney options Cricut offers!

You can find other Disney princess items for the Cricut here:

I focused on the kid’s table mostly because it’s where the action would be. I ordered a table runner from Amazon.com to bring in the lavender. A roll of tulle went a long way with decorating chairs, vases, and more.

I filled containers with crystal jewels and tissue paper from Hobby Lobby and stuck a cake number on a stick inside for a simple tabletop decoration.

Glass container, jewels, tissue paper, ribbon, and #3 from Hobby Lobby.

Each child had a cookie from Cookie Cousins of Orlando on their plate, and extra ones were on the table as well. I wrapped up lavender cutlery in a napkin and tied a ribbon around them to add to the tablescape.

Balloons by Renee provided the balloons and arch. For the table balloons I placed those in tins I got at the $1 bin at Target. They are awesome to work with, and I’ve used them for several events. I simply placed a Sofia sticker on them, a rhinestone banner and some ribbon to dress them up.

The paper Disney banner, window decorations, and dangles were from Party City.

Activities

Upon arrival, the girls picked out a tiara, necklace, and a bracelet with crown charm they got to keep. These came as an awesome package on Amazon. I used the sheer drawstring bag in the favor bags themselves to keep the plastic accessories and lipgloss together.

I forgot to snap a photo when it was filled, but the basket on the left was filled with tiaras.

We decorated wands/scepters (from Michael’s) with stickers and I had some styrofoam swords for boys/kids who wanted to use those.

A face painter from Eye Candy Face and Body Art turned the girls into princesses.

However the best part of the party was when Princess Sofia and Rapunzel arrived….

The Princesses

I hired Orlando Princess Parties to come her party and they arrived in style. The girls ran to the door to greet them. Sofia the First and Rapunzel were in character the moment they walked in (in fact, before so as they park down the street so the kids don’t see them arriving). They sang songs, danced, twirled, read a story and interacted with all the kids wonderfully. They took photos and did whatever our little princess wanted whether it was playing, sitting down to watch Sofia the First on tv, or pretending to be Sleeping Beauty. They even performed a mini coronation and helped Lily make a wish and cut the cake. I cannot say enough about this awesome princess/character company! We’ve had three interaction with them over the past year or so at various events and they are top notch.

Goodies

Once again, the Cricut Explore came in handy! I designed the labels in PhotoShop and then used the print and cut feature on my Cricut. I bought a tiara in the Cricut DesignSpace and added a rhinestone to those to place on the Sofia bags. I added a bow tie, also found in the Cricut Design Space, to the James bags. Bags, tissue paper, rhinestone strips from Hobby Lobby.

I filled the bags with:

• Princess lip gloss
• Sofia coloring books (boys got Mickey) ($1 at Michael’s)
• Plastic ring/bracelet
• Princess tatoo
• Sofia plastic cup (boys got Mickey)
• Sofia $1 fun pack (boys got Mickey)
• In addition, they got to keep the tiaras, crowns, jewelry, wands, and swords.

Outfits

Lily’s outfit was from the Disney Store. I like their dresses better than those at the theme parks (plus they’re less expensive)! Her tiara and amulet were also from the Disney Store. Her hair bow I got at the UF Craft Festival this past year. Daniel wore a Prince Charming shirt I found at Carter’s, and his little crown is from Etsy.

Food

Publix for the win once again! From their deli platters to the bakery, everything was perfect.The Chick-Fil-a nugget platter was just right. If in doubt, order the larger size. We definitely needed it. My Mommy friend was skeptical at her party at the large size, but she was glad she ordered it as well when it all disappeared!

For the food cards, I found these chalkboard stands at Michael’s and added a Sofia sticker to each (Michael’s). To add a little dimension I used 3D glue dots instead to raise the sticker a bit.

I added the Sofia characters to the cake myself I bought at Once Upon a Toy at Downtown Disney (now Disney Springs). It was so simple and the total cost was just over $50 plus the figurines!

Need more ideas?

Check out my Etsy store for customized items like invitations, stats signs etc.! I’ll be adding Sofia things as I go along.

I’ll be posting these images over on Pinterest if you want to pin to your idea boards.

Like what you see? Leave a comment below! 🙂