Claire has been crazy about carousels ever since she was a baby. I remember walking past a carousel (that was not functioning) when she was just saying her first words, and hearing her very quietly, very urgently saying, "Horrrse. Horrrrse. Horrrrse." And now, as soon as we walk in to the zoo, the first thing she wants to do is go on the carousel. This was a fun party to put together, and the pastel colors just looked so beautiful together.
I made the invitations with my Silhouette Portrait, using Jamie Koay's Ornate Carousel Horse tag and a PhotoShop brush set of scroll banners by http://lileya.deviantart.com/.
I made the backdrop with plastic table cloths from the dollar store, following the directions I found here. I used my Silhouette Portrait to make the bunting.
The Carousel Horse .svg file is by Erin Doran from the Silhouette Design Store. It was really easy to use, four layers that just layered on top of each other. I made the "3" using a doily .svg file by Jamie Koay. I bought the gold paper from Jo Anns, and found out that it was really hard to use. It tore in some places and didn't cut all the way through in other places. I ended up having to use my Exacto knife a lot to finish the cuts. The paper is discontinued now.
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I fell in love with this Godinger carousel cupcake stand on Amazon. They had a cheaper white one that was more like wire, but I really, really wanted the more expensive chrome one, so I saved my credit card cash back to buy it. I figure I can use it for other occasions, too. Halloween carousel with witches and ghouls? Mickey and Minnie carousel? I will find a reason to use it :-)
I found a set of three ceramic carousel horses on Ebay. They are now adorning her dresser :-) The white stands are candle holders I found at the thrift store that I spray painted white and decorated with some adhesive-backed gold trim I found in the dollar bins at Michaels.
I found this pack of beautiful pastel marshmallow twists at Home Goods when I was shopping for serving dishes. I was so excited that I put down the dish I was buying in order to pick it up and then realized when I got to the checkout that I didn't even have what I came there for. They were nice and soft, and tasted great!
This pretty brown horse is a coin bank that I found at Target, and the roll of tickets was purchased on Amazon. The "C" dish is from Ivy Lane and I found the sixlets at Jo Anns, perfect colors and a little shimmery, too. They were delicious!
I found this little lady on Etsy. I used craft glue dots to attach her to the plate so she wouldn't accidentally be knocked over. They were perfect for each other!
The carousel horse clip art is from JW Illustrations on Etsy; doily .svg file from Jamie Koay. The paper straws are from ShopCherrySprinkles on Etsy.
I was going to buy some Martha Stewart paper flowers, but they weren't quite the right colors. After I found some instructions, I realized that paying $15 for paper flowers was crazy, and I made them myself in about 15 minutes.
For the chandelier decoration, I used some tissue paper balls from Ikea, and glued little white flowers to them. I made the paper carousels with my Silhouette Portrait using Samantha Walker's Carousel Hexi Box tutorial.
The cake was a Disney Princess Garden Royalty cake from the local grocery store, without the characters. It was chocolate with strawberry filling and whipped icing, and tasted AMAZING. I bought a carousel music box from Amazon and used it as a cake topper and a gift.
I didn't want to put the carousel directly on the cake, so I rummaged through Claire's play market and found this York Peppermint Patty mini container. I turned the lid upside down and attached some gold trim to the edge. It was perfect for hiding the metal disc at the bottom.
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The Birthday Girl loved it!
My mom made the Funfetti Rice Krispie treats, using this recipe, and I found the pinwheel party favors at Jo Ann's on clearance for 70% off. Score!
And finally, the cookies! I made the carousels with a cupcake cutter (very proud of myself for being creative instead of just copying someone else like I normally do ;-) The peach colored icing flowers came from a local cake store, and the gold shine food paint is from Tru Color, all natural made with annatto seed.
It was a beautiful party for a beautiful little girl who loves beautiful horses :-)
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