Wizard of Oz Party

We are off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz.  Anna turned one and mom decided to use her favorite movie of all time as the theme for her party. I figured I might as well choose while I can. 

Invitation:

The first item to complete was the invitation. I took some inspiration for the font from an invite I found via Pinterest (Inspiration via Pinterest/Etsy), but designed and created all the other graphics myself using Photoshop Elements. I was very happy at the way it turned out, even though it took me probably longer than it should have to complete. 

Invitation

 

Return Address Label

Thank You Card

Dress:   

The next item to complete was the birthday dress.  I definitely wanted Anna to have a Dorothy dress, but wasn’t sure that I wanted it to be an exact match.  So after searching Pinterest and Etsy, I still didn’t find what I wanted and went shopping for a pattern and designed my own.  Knowing how well (or not so well) that Anna keeps shoes on, I wanted to make sure the dress had some red sparkle.  I found ruby slippers, to go with the outfit but since Anna is walking everywhere the slipper style didn’t last on her feet long.    I found my blue gingham fabric and red sparkle buttons at Hobby Lobby.  Then, I found a cute plain white T with pucker sleeves at Wal-Mart to wear underneath as well as the Red sequin accent fabric.  I love how the dress turned out. Now she can wear it for the 4^th of July too, if I want.  I also created a hair accessory flower using the gingham fabric and a sparkly button center.   

 

Birthday Bib: 

After going through all the work to sew Anna’s dress I didn’t want her to ruin it with her cake eating. I then decided I would strip her down for the Cake eating but give her a special bib to wear.  I used a current bib as a guide to create a pattern. I traced the bib and then gave myself extra room for seam allowance.  I cut 2 pieces of fabric.  I drew and cutout patterns for a number “1” and two heeled shoes.  I then ironed WonderUnder to the gingham and sequin fabric before using my patterns to cutout the appliques for the front of the bib.  I ironed the cutout fabric into place and then zigzag stitched to finish the edges.  I then baste-stitched red ribbon and gathered it to form a ruffle to sew around the edge of the bib.  Finally, I sewed on hook-and-loop tape to fasten the bib.

 

 

 

Decorations:

While I could have gone nuts with decorations I was on a budget since I was currently loving my time as a stay-at-home mom.  Here is how I brightly decorated Anna’s party.

The cake table was a red table cloth with a yellow runner displaying Anna’s first year of pictures by month. 

Cake Table Centerpiece:  The table centerpiece display was created using vases that were inspired by the famous movie characters with poppies and her pictures by month. I found my vases at Dollar Tree and designed and painted each of them to resemble a movie character. I filled with floral foam to hold inexpensive silk poppy flowers that I found at Old Time Pottery.  I designed and printed Anna’s pictures by month to create a flower photo. I then printed 2, cutout and glued two of them together onto bamboo skewers to add to each vase. 

 

Bunting: Anna and I headed out to Home Depot and looked through the Glidden paint samples and found a rainbow of colors to use to display a Happy Birthday Banner.  I used the larger solid paint color samples, one for each letter. I then used a Cricut to cut out letters saying ‘Happy Birthday Anna,” in white.  Next I glued the white letters onto the paint samples.  To complete the banner, I used a package of double fold bias tape to hold it all together.  Each paint sample letter was placed in-between the bias tape fold, spaced evenly and then sewn into place. {see tutorial for additional photos and details}

Entry:   On the front door, I used a blue berry wreath and accented it with red poppies and a gingham fabric bow.  I then tied rainbow colored balloons outside and used brightly colored pinwheels (from Dollar Tree) in the front pots that flank the front door.
 

 

On the dining table I continued the use of the red table cloth & yellow runner along with a variety of other Wizard of Oz collectibles that I already had from my collection to add to the theme. 

I ordered personalized plates from Hallmark.com

Cake:  My cake decorating skills are just a step above novice and so anything too elaborate was out of the question. I loved the ideas on Pinterest for ‘Rainbow’ or ‘tie dye’ cakes.  I created a two layer 9x13 pink, blue, green & yellow cake.  I then decorated the top of the cake to resemble the yellow brick road.   My favorite part was creating a rice krisipy treat shoe to top the cake.  I molded the rice krispy treats into the shape of a highheel shoe, frosted it with red frosting and added lots of sugar crystals to create some sparkle.

 

 

 

 

Sweets: I baked cutout high heel sugar cookies, decorated with red frosting and sugar crystals, and a large bowl of jelly beans in a rainbow of colors. I was fortunate that Anna’s birthday was near Easter so the accessibility of finding brightly colored, tasty, jelly beans was easy.  My favorite are the Jolly Rancher flavored ones.