HELLO…I would love to yell this over a cliff side covered in moss.  I feel so happy to be back on my blog again, frantically typing away.  I have been away for far too long due to family medical issues and it completely depleted all of my energy and inspiration.  Making sure your family is 100 percent healthy is more important than anything in the world and taking a hiatus from life, pressures and work is a much needed thing.  I love that we are back and healed from our darker place this summer and now we are blasting into summertime fun with this colorful My Little Pony 5th birthday, that was over the top yet simple in execution.

Every year my husband kindly reminds me that somehow I need to lighten my load when it comes to party planning.  I get pretty obsessed and want to make everything from scratch and that is all fun and games until you have a guest list of like 50 people.  So, it comes time to edit that fun-filled fantasy of making the entire party’s displays to perishable items.  Take it down a notch.

This year I did SPRINKLE DONUTS from Donut Time in Buellton, all stacked up on a cake (something I saw when I searched MY LITTLE PONY on pinterest).  Lots of things came up: rainbow displays and donut cakes, and rainbow floats.  So here is my version of ideas that are out there, but I always make them my own no matter what.

I also did crafts from The Oriental Trading Company and those turned out to be a blast.  Also, please note that is a great site for finding fun crafts, activities and ideas for summer learning and entertainment for your little ones.  Check it out.  We did DIY unicorn wands and DIY unicorn banners with adhesive stickers made of felt.  Darling, I tell you.  And the donuts were delicious.

We also fell in LOVE with Party-Pros party supplies which included this darling box full of photo op lips, glasses, unicorn horns, unicorn headbands and all kinds of darling eye-candy.  The box came with unicorn balloons, heart balloons, a unicorn party crown, cupcake wrappers and toppers, a happy birthday balloon banner and other colorful balloons.  This made our birthday pictures so sweet and we got some silly photos to remember this special day as well.

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Rainbow Dash and her bestie enjoyed a little moment in front of the rainbow.  This was such a simple display, I must say.  I bought three pieces of white poster board not too thick.  I cut around the edges, rounding them to appear like clouds.  I stapled them together overlapping slightly with one in the middle, a little higher than the other two.  I taped streamers in rows of 5 or 6 color-blocked all the way across the rainbow.  And blew-up several opalescent white balloons and taped them to the white poster board until it covered them.  Then I got out my staple gun and stapled the posters to the old shed.  I trimmed the streamers at the bottom and voila I had a cheap, but very visually enjoyable large rainbow display.  If only the wind had cooperated.

Another simple aspect of the party was showcasing my daughter’s ponies in ball jars that I already owned.  I found powdered sugar, popcorn kernels, and pink and white sand to fill them 1/4 full and just stuck a pony inside.  It really was a fun way to have My Little Pony characters present in the decor.  I had rainbow goldfish and rainbow fruit and veggie platters.  These required just chopping up veggies and fruit which is so much easier than deciding to make all the cupcakes from scratch and come up with some casserole or food that would require slaving away in the kitchen.

The craft table idea was very fun and nice to have the shade of the canopy.  I recommend doing simple crafts that are mess free and easy.  Something where only one or a couple parents need to be present to assist.  The unicorn banner and wand were fast and enjoyable that I mentioned above.

I always do a pinata and try to stuff it full of toys not just candy.  I learned the hard way this time by letting everyone hit it 2-3 times and really everyone should hit it once and then line-up again and get a second or third hit.  When kids miss out on hitting it because it busts open too soon, it’s just such a sad moment.  But man can these kids hit.

The major excitement for the party was the gigantic unicorn sprinkler that saved the day since we were in the middle of a heat wave and basically were lucky people still wanted to come to the party and endure it.  The most precious moments for me at the party were when I looked over at the kiddie pool stuffed to the brim with little girls and boys splashing about without a care in the world.  It goes to show you how little children need to be happy.  They just need friendship and that could just melt my heart.  But the Gigantic unicorn sprinkler was icing on the cake!

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And to finish with unicorn floats.  These were seriously so fun.  I would recommend mixing some martinellis with some kind of tropical fruit juice.  Then add a scoop of rainbow sherbert, frozen raspberries, and a wedge of orange on the side.  Unicorn straws were a total hit too.  Poor the martinellis on top of the ice cream and make it frothy.  Yum.  It was such a refreshing drink on such a hot day and a way to be really festive.  I also wore rainbow strands of hair and rainbow eyelashes to get into the happy Pony Ville spirit.

Enjoy making your special party plans

&

Don’t over do it; try to simplify.  Good luck!

A couple things featured in the pictures and other inspiration:

Bright Tassel Garland (on the house)

Unicorn Straw (floats)

Bubble Blower (used for fun around the sprinkler)

Unicorn Pinata (looked like Princess Celestia!)

My Little Pony Movie (just to get into the pony spirit)

My White Maxi Dress (I loved this length and it can be worn for so many CA occasions)

#5 Balloon (any number available and this is special to highlight)

My Little Pony Blind Bag (I used these for decorating the cake)

My Little Pony Candyland (just to spice things up at Nana Nutt’s)

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