sparkle.

We celebrated this girl's birthday last weekend, and I couldn't stop smiling for days after. She is so loved! It was so great seeing all her friends come together, and she was beaming all night long. She is such a shining, sparkly girl. I love her.

For her party, I decided to pull together a lot of Eliza's favorite things into one big, sparkling star-themed party. I have to say that everything came together so nicely. With the help of a lot people, I was able to get everything created and set up, and still feel like I could sit down for a minute before the event started. I have a friend who once told me that her mom used to say, "You should always give yourself enough time to sit down and have a cup of tea before the party starts." I've always tried to take that advice, but never really succeeded. Luckily, I had a lot of helping hands and a happy, little girl.

Eliza loves everything sparkly. So, I went to to town with the glitter. My friend and I made sparkling, star halos, gold wands, and metallic star clips, as favors. I made some tea light lanterns, covered in glitter stripes, and sparkly star garlands. Eliza loves her tent at home, so Sam's brothers helped pitch a couple of tents out of old sheets, and strung up stars and twinkle lights inside. We laid out a ton of slow sticks for the kids, but it didn't get dark enough for any of the glow fun!

As an activity, I had the kids make "stardust in a jar." Each child got a jar of water and glycerin, and filled it up at the "glitter bar" with metallic stars, gold and silver glitter, and even glow-in-the-dark glitter. They were supposed to glow like those "fairy jars" you see on Pinterest, but it didn't get dark enough. Eliza still plays with her jar at night. We go in her tent with a flashlight, charge it, and watch it glow when she shakes it up. 

For dinner, we grilled chicken and vegetables, and a few friends made some amazing salads. I'm all about adult food at kids' parties- we need to eat, too! I made Nutella and peanut butter sandwiches and cut them out with a star-shaped cutter for the little ones, as well.

My friend, Christyn, made THREE cakes for Eliza. It was all she wanted for her birthday. She has been talking about her "birthday sparkle cake" for weeks. So, when I asked my friend if she could make one, and she showed up with three gorgeous, sparkling cakes, I wanted to cry. Eliza was so happy. We stuck sparklers on top and everyone sang to her. She got faux shy, and made that little smile she does. And then daintily attempted to cut into the cake with a fork.

After cake, all the kids ran around in the field waving sparklers. Eliza was intrigued, but nervous. So, mostly she just waved around an unlit sparkler and then we all retreated to the trees to get out of the wind. It was randomly so cold! Like, freezing. The adults' teeth were chattering, but the kids were too busy having fun to care.

Oh, we all felt loved that day. And, Eliza had so much fun, and felt so special, I just know it. I felt like it was just a whirlwind of smiling faces and glitter. And then I would look over and she would be waving her wand and jumping up and down with laughter, or finger painting with the glitter that she and her friend had dumped on the table. She was just so happy.

The next day she totally had a birthday hangover and kept falling asleep all day. It was kind of funny. We have been playing with new toys, and reminiscing about her "bir-day pah-ty," and we still keep finding glitter all over the house. Happy Birthday, Eliza!