A Vintage Strawberry Shortcake Party

It really doesn't take much to railroad sway my children into a specific party theme each year because let's face it, they're still too young to catch on!  So for my oldest daughter's 4th birthday in October (yes, I'm super duper lazy behind when it comes to blog posts) I was able to talk her into a Strawberry Shortcake party.. And not that new, modernized Strawberry Shortcake that's out now, the adorable, vintage Strawberry Shortcake from the 80's (and whom my childhood bedroom just happened to be decorated in). Really, why do they have to change things? (shaking head)
So now the fun started--Can you believe my mother just happened to have saved the Strawberry Shortcake candle from my sister's 6th birthday party?? Here it is:

 She also happened to have a large roll of vintage SS ribbon that I used on my cupcake toppers and the kids goody baskets.

I found the image on Google, and imported it to Microsoft Office and made round labels that I then cut out with a circle hand punch. Aren't they pretty? :)

So I'm not going to go into all these details on how everything is/was made unless someone asks for the details. I'm just going to go ahead and post the rest of the pictures from the party. I make as much, if not everything, by myself and take such pride in creating these parties for my babies. 

Upcycled noise makers that I made "my own":

I always make all the hats for the kids and the birthday girl:

The kids (old and young alike) played the Bean Bag Toss and I handmade strawberry bean bags.  We also had a "Pin the strawberry on Strawberry Shortcake's hat" game as well as a pinata.

 I ended up running out of time while decorating this year. The snafu we ran into was another party rented the hall the previous night which is when we usually decorate. They didn't leave until almost 11 p.m. We got in there and decorated for about 3 hrs but had to get home to our girls. I tried to get back early enough the next morning but still ran out of time so I really wasn't happy with the way the dessert table looked. There were supposed to be balloons on either sides of the wall hanging and I would NOT have put the crockpot on there.
The food consisted of strawberry shaped chocolate lollipops, cupcakes, pink snowballs, various strawberry flavored cookies, strawberry swirl lollipops, sandwiches/chips & strawberry banana punch.

I had grandiose plans for the cake, but I'm not a baker by any means, and by 3 am I was fighting with fondant and just so frustrated.  Luckily I had made enough pink buttercream to be able to cover the entire cake so I settled gave up.  In the grand scheme of things, the cake actually fit in better with the vintage feel than what I had planned on making. Oh, that's right, I meant to do that! :)

 Goody baskets for the girls-These are actually Easter baskets I got on clearance after the holiday for .50 each!! What a steal. I added that same vintage strawberry ribbon my mother gave me and added in Strawberry Shortcake coloring books, a strawberry plate, SS banks, bracelets & adorable sunglasses.

 Strawberry shaped bubble containers from the Dollar Tree.

 Here's the room all decorated.  My sister had found me a deal on vintage curtains and a bed canopy that we used to decorate the windows and the dessert table.  They REALLY added to the feel of the room and I think it looked so girly and pretty!

 Happy Birthday banner I made:

 I made/stitched this apron for her to wear.  I got the inspiration (and a few other elements) for the party from Little Pumpkin Grace. 

  I made homemade strawberry freezer jam and strawberry shaped cookies for the adults to take home.  The strawberries came from our summer trip to the strawberry fields.

Happy 4th birthday, my beautiful angel!  The day I became your Mommy was the most blessed day of my life!

 I hope you enjoyed our party pictures. I tend to go overboard when it comes to photographing my kids. I'm still learning and really hope to become a better photographer...someday. Right now I'm just enjoying being Mommy.