jaina's mary poppins birthday party

"In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.

You find the fun, and SNAP, the job's a game!"

The job truly was a game, throwing this Mary Poppins party for my little girl. She has fallen head over heals for "Poppy" over the past few months, and it was so fun to surprise her with all her favorite characters.

I can not believe she actually wore her whole outfit! That hat is an Easter hat from the Dollar Store that I spray painted black and added daises and cherries to, and the scarf is crocheted. I found the top, skirt, and shoes at the thrift store. The umbrella was from Amazon, and the "carpet bag" is actually one of my grandma's purses!

Somewhere just after "Super-" you realize this word is 34 letters long...

Also, we fit that hat stand in my Pontiac Grand Prix. ; )

I made these simple cupcake wrappers using this pattern. So easy, and it really finished them off. Never setting naked cupcakes out again!

 Notice the "tuppence", Jane and Michael's picture, and snowglobe I made with just a picture of St. Paul's Cathedral!

  

Babybel Cheese Umbrellas! These are becoming one of my favorites. You just pull the center tab off of the wax as normal and cut them in half. Then you cut bendy straws off right after the ridges, and stick them in the cheese. I make these the day ahead of time and just keep them sealed well in the fridge. 

If you ever need an old-fashioned medicine bottle, just pick up a teeny bottle of Jager. ; )

The Spoonful of Sugars were Pink Velvet cakeballs dipped in white chocolate. The secret is to dip the chilled cakeballs in a little bit of the melted chocolate and stick them to the spoons. Once that's hardened it's much easier to dip the whole spoon in the chocolate without the cakeball falling off.

These were actual mini caramel apples! I used a melon baller to scoop out the apples. After tossing them in lemon juice I squeezed each apple-ball multiple times with paper towels to make sure they were as dry as possible. Then I used Wilton's Salted Caramel Candy Melts (which must've been some sort of limited edition, cause I can't find them anywhere online) to dip them just like cakeballs. From the sound of the chatter on Pinterest, dipping them in traditional caramel doesn't work, so the candy melts were my solution. They turned out great!

The penguin waiter scene is one of Jaina's favorite parts, so I dressed up this little guy with some felt to serve the food. Also, over the penguin's shoulder you can just barely see the Mary Poppins outline I drew on the mirror with a whiteboard marker. "Cheeky." ; )

There's one key piece missing from the dessert table, and that's the awesome vintage wallpaper backdrop that I spent hours on. If I had known I wouldn't have my backdrop I would've used a lot more color in the linens. The wallpaper was mounted onto a three-paneled piece of cardboard, and the strong winds that day just turned it into a sail. It would've knocked the entire table over if I had left it. So that bummed me out for about two seconds, but I got over it. If anyone wants to rent a backdrop or photo booth for a Victorian tea party, let me know!

I'm pretty proud of this chalkboard. I have horrible handwriting and am not very good at drawing,

so this is a big win for me. And those are carnations like the one Mr. Banks and all the rest of the men at the bank wear in their lapels. (Extra points for anyone who can tell me the name of the bank in the movie without looking up the lyrics. I have listened to the soundtrack - quite literally - hundreds of times, and I still can not tell what they're saying.)

The Chimney Sweep Brushes were Rice Krispy Treats dipped in chocolate!

I thought it would be fun to have real roasted chestnuts at the party. Turns out no one else remembered Bert saying this line, not even Zach. I guess that's what happens when you've seen the movie 15 odd times.

That's what Jane, Michael, and Mary Poppins say after they each take their medicine.

The drinks were really limeade, pink lemonade, and iced tea. ; )

Lemonade is one of her favorite treats. Or, "Sowry!", as she calls it. (sour)

She looooves her Daddy.

The favors were mini chalkboards and chalk in "carpetbags" that I sewed up.

The line on the card is what Bert says before they jump in the chalk picture.

This horse has been at my grandma's house for ages.

It's gone through children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren!

 

 

 

Thank you so much to everyone who came and helped out! Jaina had a wonderful day. Especially once she kicked her shoes off and found some sticks. ; )

 

Two years old is gonna be a lot of fun!

Party Credits
Party Styling: Kara Hallead of Kara's Domestic Life
Photography: Faith Scheuerman
Costume: Vintage, Thrifted, Amazon, A.C. Moore, and Dollar Tree
Chocolate Coins, Silver Spoons: Party City
Paper Straws: Kikkerland
Mini Chalkboards: Hobby Lobby
Decor & Linens: Vintage