Frozen-Swim Party Prep

Prepping for Kinley's party pretty much started over a year ago. 

We went to Mila & Ella's 3 year old party at the NRH Acquatic Center and pretty much they minute they left, Kinley and AG were asking for a joint party there for their birthdays the next year.  Leslie and I thought their enthusiasm would wane some during the year but, it never did. 

It was only when Frozen came out that they insisted on a Frozen-themed swim party. 

It was an interesting challenge for us. 

I, for one, have never done a character-themed birthday party OR a birthday party away from our home.  So, it was totally out of my realm.

But, with this Spring being as crazy as it has been, once again, God protected me and guided me totally by sharing the responsibility of this party with Leslie and by having it away from our new, totally in chaos, home. 

Leslie and I quickly transitioned frozen ice to swimming as best we could with our invitation. 

This invitation took some time to prep in itself. 

We knew we wanted a picture of both girls on it somewhere since people would be getting the invite as guests of one girl who might not know the other.  We had so much fun taking pics of the girls dressed like Anna and Elsa. 

We took pics inside and outside and added snowflakes in a tree when it just "needed something more."

(we're crazy) 

But, all in all, these girls love posing for pictures together and they had a blast. 

 

 

Our first (of three) late night craft nights for the party was putting together the invitations.

 We had a foldable invitation and cut out glitter snowflakes on my silhouette (and as if that wasn't enough, we added rhinestone stickers on top) for the front.

 On the inside was a pic of the girls from their photo shoot and the actual party details.

 They turned out so cute.

 Definitely the most in-depth invites I have ever made (and without Leslie...probably won't do again :) but, we got so many comments on them and the excitement just started building for the party when the invites went out.

Leslie and I worked on lots of separate projects from home.

 I made a slideshow of the girls with tons of pictures I have of them together since they were babies.

Kinley and I punched out circles and snowflakes and sewed some garland. I busted out some ruffled streamers.

And we made some giant popsicle stick snowflakes and spray painted them with blue glitter spray. There are some very sparkly trees and bushes in our backyard still.

 

Leslie worked on pretty much everything else...table décor, coloring pages, food labels, water bottles, ordering party favors, paper goods, stringing cotton balls for garland, and making these amazing door signs for each of the girls with pics from their photo shoot.  

 

We all came together for a second craft night/sleepover when the hubbies were both out of town and strung punch balloons on tulle and wrapped party favor necklaces with tulle bows.

 

(side note...I have NEVER used tulle for a party until this one. Leslie is the queen of using tulle and could not ever even think about having a party without multiple rolls of tulle being used. I learned how truly simple and un-girly I am when it comes to party décor. Kinley much prefers Leslie's style)

 

 The girls love, love, loved having a sleepover at the new house and played and played and did their own version of a "bow hunt" while we were crafting. I had to text Ben these pictures while he was away actually hunting. Kinley and AG's version of a bow hunt is so, so different than his.
We had previously ordered shirts for the rest of our families for the party but, we had to make our shirts that night.
 I am pretty sure every mom can channel Elsa with this shirt.
As a group, they were so cute all together. We are SO all wearing these one day on our Disney World trip.

The third craft night solely involved making our wall garland. There is a gigantic wall of windows in the party room at the NRH rec center and we thought and thought and thought about how to make an impact on that wall. We knew we wanted very layered garland and the giant popsicle snowflakes but did not know how we were going to hang it all, especially with the set up time we were given (only 15 minutes in the room prior to the party.)
That day it just came to me.
Lay one long piece (think 12 feet long) of packing tape down, tape everything to it and then put another long piece on top.
 Then, we just fold it in half, already assembled, carry it in and duct tape it to the wall.
 Amazingly, it worked and was so cute!
 We had to let it hang off a giant piece of furniture in my house for a few days. All in all, I loved planning this duel party!
 It was so fun to do those late night projects with a friend and have someone to bounce ideas around with. It was such a fun experience and I think God knew we would need that special one on one time together post-move from Wade Ct. It was a way to keep us spending lots of time together even though we weren't living on the same street anymore.
 Thank you Lord, for your hand in every detail.
Party pics to come soon!