Birthday of Beauty

At one time or another your little girl will want that beauty makeover party. A new hairdo, a fresh coat of nail polish, and a little lipstick makes for some very happy girls. This is a really fun at home party that works best with about 15 girls (more or less, depending on the help you have). There are a number of professional party companies out there who will come to your home (or you can go to their place) and do it all. At a minimum, you should have 2 adult or teenage (even better!) helpers at this type of party.

The Invitations
	Easy

	Buy any sort of “girlish” invitations (Barbie, ribbons and bows, flowers, anything feminine.) Then add some text to the cover or inside that indicates what type of party it is.

	Moderate

	Use your computer! If you have publishing software, you can generate a side fold or tent fold card with appropriately feminine picture(s) from the clip art gallery (brushes, combs and mirrors would work well in addition to flowers and hearts, etc.). Here are some samples of text you might use for the inside of the invitation (remember these are only suggestions—play around and have fun.)
	It’s {Child’s Name} Birthday! Come on Over for a Day of Beauty. OR Come to Spa {Child’s Name} and Celebrate With a Beauty Makeover! Date: Time: Place: RSVP: (Optional) We may get messy so please bring a smock.

	Go all out

	Buy enough medium to large size hair rollers (not the sponge type) so that there’s one for each invitation. On a piece of paper that’s approximately twice the width of the roller, write or print your invitation text (see suggestions above). Fold the paper lengthwise so that it’s no wider than the roller. Roll it up and place it inside the roller-it should expand a little to fit once placed inside. Secure with a bobby pin or piece of ribbon pulled through the roller and tied. The invitations can be easily hand delivered, or you can find envelopes to fit and mail them.



Decorations

	Easy

	Keep it pink! Buy lots of pink (purple would be fine too) balloons, crepe paper, and table covers. Place baskets on the table filled with combs, hairbands, nail polish, lipsticks, etc.

	Moderate

	In addition to the above, make a “Beauty Salon” or “Spa” sign for the entryway as the guests arrive. Establish 3 separate stations, one for hair, one for nails and one for make-up. Each should be covered with a pretty but disposable cloth, and have a basket on it with the paraphernalia for that activity. Have a variety of nail polish and lipsticks to choose from, and don’t forget to have remover and cold cream on hand just in case. I’m sure you know this but let me remind you that hair items should not be shared. At the hair station each child’s hair should be done with a new comb or folding brush and new scrunchy or clip. These items can be marked with the child’s name and then taken home later as part of the “goody bag”. The same advice holds true for lipsticks.

	Go All Out

	In addition to the above, buy (or make) a bunch of helium filled balloons with a long ribbon attached to each one. Attach to the ribbons some small, colorful items such as butterfly clips, barrettes or pony holders (try not to make it too heavy) and float the balloons around the room. Give each girl a balloon on the way home.



Entertainment/Crafts and Activities

	Keep in mind that the primary activities at this party will be the hairstyling, the nail polishing and the make-up application. Be sure that you and your helpers know how to do a few hairstyles. Besides pigtails and French braids, etc. the girls enjoy having their hair done with a crimping or curling iron. (Caution: use irons with extreme caution and when not in use keep them someplace high where the girls can’t reach them). If you need, there are many books available that explain, in detail with pictures, how to do many of the popular hairstyles. Check out the library and your local bookstore. Other than getting the girls to choose a color, the nail polishing should be a breeze. The same is true for make-up, which for most will be just some lipstick and blush. Hint: Have lots of Q-tips, cotton balls and tissues on hand! If you have enough help, divide the girls into 3 groups and have them rotate from one station to the next. When each girl is done—take a photo! You can develop them and send one along with each thank you note or, if you use a Polaroid, each girl can take their “glamour” shot home with them (see the “frame” activity described under “easy” below.)

	For the very young, these activities will likely be enough and you may only need to fill some time with a game or two. With slightly older girls you may want to add some games or crafts to the agenda. In any case, remember to keep the length of the party and the age of the guests in mind when planning out your activities. Pick and choose, your child may prefer some ideas to others. Hint: always have an extra game or two on hand (they can be ones that don’t need much preparation). You can always eliminate an activity, but there is nothing worse than having a house full of youngsters with nothing left to do! The following are some suggestions.

	Easy

	Perhaps the easiest thing to do is to hire one of the many professional party people who will come to your home and take charge of everything. They handle everything from soup to nuts, usually come with all the necessary supplies and sometimes even provide the invitations for you to send out. If you’re on your own with just some helpers—don’t panic! You can do it. Have your helpers man the stations as described above and have the kids rotate so they’re busy most of the time. If you need to fill in some time (generally, this will be on arrival or after cake) there are plenty of fun, easy choices. As the girls arrive you can have them string beads for necklaces or bracelets. You can get wonderful assortments of beads from craft stores, art supply stores and children’s toy stores (shop around!) Use elastic cord for the stringing as it allows a little room for sizing errors. When they’re done they can wear their jewelry for the party. Another good “upon arrival” activity is to make picture frames. At a craft or art supply store buy pre-cut frames made of matting that will fit a Polaroid snapshot. At a table provide glue, glitter, sequins, feathers, etc. for decorating the frames. Make sure each child puts her name on the back before decorating. As they finish, place the frames aside to dry while the party continues. When each girl has finished her hair, nails and make-up have her pose for a “glamour” shot to be taken with your Polaroid. Sometime before the end of the party place each girl’s picture in the frame she made. Give them out as a parting gift when they leave. The moms will love this as much as the kids.

	As mentioned earlier, you may need to fill some time with a game. Some fun and easy ones include freeze dancing, bubble dancing (this is freeze dancing on top of a big piece of plastic bubble wrap), or the “runway relay.” For the relay game hang two large sheets of sturdy drawing paper side by side (leave a few inches space between them) on a wall at one end of the room. Be sure that the papers are at a good height for the girls to reach. On the floor in front of each paper place a marker or crayon. Divide the girls into 2 groups and have them line up at the other end of the room. When you say “go” the first child on each line does a “runway walk” (you know—like the fashion models!) to the paper, picks up the marker and draws the outline of a face. As each girl finishes she returns to her line, hands the marker to the next one in line and then goes back to the end of the line. The next girls up should draw the hair and the next girls the eyes, and so on. Play continues with each girl adding an additional feature until everyone has had at least one turn. If you like you can declare a winning team or (my preference) declare two winning teams (one could be “most beautiful” and the other “most charming” or “most original” and “most humorous.”) Each child can be given a prize of some treat or hair clip.

	Moderate

	An alternative to any of the above ideas would be to play “pin the curlers on the lady.” Use felt in a variety of colors to create a woman’s face, hair, and shoulders. This should be glued on to a sturdy piece of cardboard or foamboard. You can buy inexpensive squares of felt at any craft or fabric store. Remember to make the head BIG. Line the girls up then, one at a time, blindfold the girls, hand each a Velcro roller (they stick to the felt), spin them 3x (eliminate this for the very young ones) and set them toward the board to stick on their roller. Each girl gets a turn and then you can declare “1^st prize winners” (those whose rollers are closest to the head) and “2^nd prize winners” (everyone else). An alternative craft the girls might like is to make headbands. For these you’ll need a plain headband for each girl (fabric works better than plastic), cloth ribbon in pretty colors and patterns (about 1” wide, in lengths of 3-4ft.), glue (a hot glue gun works best but must be handled by an adult) and perhaps some small artificial flowers. Fold one cut edge of ribbon over about ½” and glue it to one end of the band on the inside. While holding that end use your other hand to wrap the ribbon around and around, holding it at a slight diagonal and making sure that each wrap partially overlaps the one before. When you reach the other end, trim any excess ribbon leaving enough to fold over ½”, and glue it to the inside end. Bows can be added made of the same or other ribbon and flowers may be glued on. (Hint: if the flowers have a wire stem place them on the band as you are wrapping and wrap right over the wire which will anchor it in place.) Allow the bands to dry completely before wearing.

	Go All Out

	For girls who are old enough to handle a needle and thread making their own scrunchies is a lot of fun. Have several different fabrics on hand in bright colors and pretty patterns. Scraps are fine, so explore the bins at the fabric store, or you can use old scarves and even neckties. For each scrunchy you’ll need a piece of fabric about 6” long and 4” wide, a piece of ¼” elastic about 4” long and a needle and thread. Fold the fabric in half lengthwise with the wrong side facing out. Sew the 6” seam closed, leaving the ends open. Turn the fabric right side out, and then pull the elastic through the “tube” of fabric. (Hint: this is easier to do if you attach a large safety pin to one end of the elastic or tape the elastic to the end of a chopstick). Sew the ends of the elastic together securely, and then baste together the ends of the fabric. Keep in mind that if you want more “scrunch” you just need to use a shorter piece of elastic. Another great activity is to make barrettes. Buy the metal barrette backings at any craft store. Set out a nice variety of ribbons (fancy trim works nicely too), sequins, artificial flowers, etc., as well as scissors and glue. A couple of adults wielding hot glue guns would be ideal! There are many ways to decorate the barrettes-let the girls experiment and be creative. One idea is to make a loop of ribbon and glue it onto the top of the barrette. Then, run another piece of ribbon under the top bar (center it), bring up the ends and tie a knot. Place the knot in back and pull the ends down to look nice (trim if necessary). Glue the knot to secure it further. For a bigger bow make a bigger loop. Another method is to cover the barrette back with ribbon, then make any fancy bow you like and tie it to the barrette as described above.


Food
	Personally, I like to keep the food as simple and easy for mom as possible (i.e., pizza or, if you’re really ambitious chicken nuggets and fries). This is particularly so when the kids are on the younger side. They don’t eat much and they don’t like much. The exception to this is of course THE CAKE. Spending some extra time (or money) on a unique and special cake makes a great impression on the kids and is well worth the effort. Remember, depending on the time of the party you won’t need to serve a lunch or dinner, just some snacks and the cake, and maybe some ice cream. Whatever your inclination, here are some ideas you can use as a jumping off point. Have fun and let your imagination run wild!

	Easy

	Set out dry snacks such as pretzels and chips that are easy to pick up without messing up the nails. Carrot and celery sticks work well too.

	Moderate

	Make “finger” sandwiches (pun intended!) Trim off the crusts of sandwich style bread and fill with peanut butter and jelly or with cream cheese. Cut each sandwich into 3 rectangles. At one end of each rectangle spread the top ¼ with some strawberry or raspberry jam “nail polish.”



The Cake

	Easy

	Find one of the many local bakeries that will make you a specialty cake. Some will simply decorate a standard sheet cake with an appropriate design, while others will make a theme cake in a special shape or however you like. It’s easy, the kids love it and, considering the cost of baking (let alone the time), very affordable.

	Moderate/Go All Out

	Make a Lipstick Cake! I’ve included this cake in both categories because while it’s very impressive, it is relatively easy to make. Either buy a log cake or bake your own jellyroll cake (use a mix or do it from scratch if you’re so inclined). The log will be the tube case of the lipstick. Frost it in a solid color like a yellow/gold or blue/gray (like Clinique!). The frosting can be easily made by adding food coloring to store bought or homemade white frosting (Wilton cream colors work particularly well). With a contrasting color pipe two horizontal lines across the bottom of the tube, about 2” apart, for the twist part of the tube. (Use a store bought little tube with a writing tip or mix another color and use your pastry bag). With a fork make vertical lines in the frosting just between the two lines. For the “lipstick” that sticks out of the tube buy a frozen pound cake (nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee). Defrost the cake and trim it to the desired shape. A little rounded point at the top looks great. Place the straight short edge right up against the top of the “tube.” Frost with a pretty pink frosting. What could be more fun?



Goody Bags

	Have bags ready ahead of time with each child’s name on it. Leave them open so each girl can put their comb, lipstick and other stuff from earlier in the party into it, including any prizes they’ve won. Other items that are fun to include in the bags, besides edible treats, are butterfly clips, nail polish, barrettes, hair jewels, ponytail holders, hair claws, nail stickers, etc. Good sources for these items are the large chain drug stores, beauty supply stores and the price clubs. Also check out “accessories” stores and catalog suppliers like Oriental Trading. Remember, you can break up packages of multiples to save some money.

Partying Words

	Whatever you do, and whatever choices you make, try to relax and enjoy the party. Remember that kids are a very forgiving audience. Use disposable items wherever you can to keep clean-up easy and this will be a fun party that you and your daughter won’t soon forget.

Birthday Themes:
Birthday of Beauty	Birthday Bug	Clown Around	Cooking
	Space Soiree	Sports

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