The Birthday Unicorn.
I proclaimed that I would never do a birthday party for my kids again. Because well... we have 5 kids. That's just a lot of birthdays in 1 year. A lot of planning. A lot of money. A lot of stress. But, my sweet Makkedah was turning 8 and I was totally digging this whole unicorn thing so I just went for it. We planned a sweet and simple birthday party for her and her friends and it was the best time. I wanted to share some of the incredible shops and vendors that we used for some ease in your own birthday party planning.
I had planned in advance the gifts I wanted to get her for her birthday and I could think of nothing better than some handmade dolls. These ones are made from the incredible Strange Folks Dolls. I was utterly blown away by the results. I had sent her some pictures of Makkedah and told her a bit about her personality- her joyful spirit, her kind heart, and asked that she create a doll to look like her. The doll on the left is what she came up with. And the doll on the right is her precious friend that got to join in on the fun. Kristin makes her dolls with "coffee stained linen/cotton, beautiful vintage buttons, wool stuffing, crocheted clothing, and simple embroidery in a "sketched" style." When the package arrived in the mail, I kid you not, I cried. I was so touched with the love and care she put into creating these dolls for my daughter. Every little details absolutely floored me. I could not wait to give these dolls to Makkedah- more on that later.
It was so fun adding little details into her special day. These adorable gold glitter cupcake flags are from the genius at Magnolia Bloom Boutique. They have the most fun selection of party and picture décor!
See those tiny pieces of confetti on the ground? Let me tell you a little story. I had a bomb-diggety GINORMOUS confetti filled balloon from Magnolia Bloom Boutique and I was so excited to take pictures of it and have all the girls "oooo" and "ahhhh" at it. My husband arrived back from the store from filling it with helium and all my kids were so excited. Not even 2 minutes after getting it in the house, it popped. And confetti was everywhere. I didn't even get to take a picture. I was FUMMING. I could feel myself losing it inside and was about to yell at the kids. I held my breathe and told them all to start cleaning up the mess. I was so freakin' annoyed and bummed out.
And then the kids just kept making a bigger mess as they were "cleaning." Little pieces of confetti paper where everywhere and nothing was really getting cleaned. I took a moment to take a deep breath and gain perspective. And I threw my hands in the air and just said, "Let's spread it around all across the floor!" The kids started rolling around in the confetti and laughing and we just made it part of the décor. I had messaged the wonderful people over at MBB and told them what happened and how bummed I was at first and their response was "Scatter the confetti across the tables and make lemonade out of lemons."
YES. That is precisely what we did. And later in the day, during the party, all the girls picked up handfuls of confetti and we made fun Boomerang videos of blowing confetti. The perfect plan!
I had told Strange Folks Dolls about the unicorn party and she added in some super special unicorn fabric for the dolls skirt to go perfectly with our theme and colors!
This drop dead gorgeous cake is from the amazing Gray Duck Bake Shop and Mary was an absolute joy to work with! I gave her my vision for the cake and our color scheme (of mint, light purple and pink) and let her run with her. I was shocked at how incredible this cake looked. I took ALL of my willpower to actually cut through the cake because it was so beautiful. It was a work of art that I just wanted to keep forever. But... I'm really glad we cut into it because it was freakin' delicious!!! And even the layers of the cake were colored to match our color scheme and everyone at the party was amazed at how pretty the inside was too- a neat little surprise as we cut the first piece. The girls fought over who got to eat the horn and ears but shared very well. There was literally not even ONE CRUMB left of this cake- it was so tasty!
Of course, I'm the mastermind behind including "Unicorn poop." Whipped up a batch of sugar cookie dough and made these beauties with the kids. (I'm sure there is a good recipe on Pinterest) but we sent one of these bags home with every guest.
I wanted a neat crown for Makkedah to wear on her special day and Spilt Mylk was the perfect place to go! I gave her the color scheme and she went to WERK! She also created matching headbands for her sisters to wear and it was the cutest thing! Makkedah completely loved her birthday unicorn crown and it was the perfect compliment to her whole outfit! Spilt Mylk makes a ton of awesome accessories for all different occasions. I am so glad we went with Jasmine! (And our letterboard is from Lowell & Co.)
Seriously... would you have been able to cut into this cake???!!!
Each girl had a personalized mason jar glass to take home as their favor. I created custom unicorn stickers to apply to each cup. They were filled with colored streamers, candy and gum and matched our color scheme, a small notepad gift, colored paper straws and a silver unicorn necklace.
Party hats, unicorn figurines and small cake stands are all little goodies from the dollar section of Target. Go wild, mamas!
And these gorgeous streamers, perfectly tailored to our color scheme are from Magnolia Bloom Boutique as well! They really made the whole décor come together!
I don't know if I can accurately describe my love for The Cookie Creative. I mean look at them- they are gorgeous! And they are cookies! UN. REAL. And believe me, they taste as good as they look. The detail that went into creating these themed cookies is extraordinary. Each one, hand-crafted with absolute precision and creativity. I have never seen such a pretty cookie in my life.
Makkedah's custom shirt is from the lovely talents of Tutus by Lisa. She designed this entire shirt and did such a stellar job of adding the colors, wording and design to make such a fun birthday shirt. It fit her perfectly and can (and will) will be worn again and again! I love the glitter pieces she added in and she was so much fun to work with in creating the perfect shirt for Makkedah.
I was thrilled to have a special gift ready for Makkedah to open at her birthday party. It was these stunning handmade unicorns from Unicorn Garden Dolls. I love the detail put into these precious little dolls and how soft they are. They are built so uniquely and carefuly and I love the handmade touches. It feels so one-of-a-kind and special. And the mother and baby combo just put it over-the-top fantastic!
This gorgeous PERFECT mint tutu was made by Tutus by Jess. She handcrafted this custom tutu to blend in perfectly with our entire theme. It is SO WELL MADE and she was great to work with and made sure to get the perfect shade of mint. I can't wait to use this tutu over and over again!
I knew these dolls were something special. And I wanted the moment Makkedah first saw them to be set apart. So, a few weeks before her unicorn birthday party, I planned a special date for her and I. I dropped the other 4 kids off with my mom and Makekdah chose to go to Starbucks. We got our drinks and got cozy in our chairs and I told Makkedah all the things I love about her. I told her how blessed I am to be her mom and see her blossom into such an inspiring and loving young girl. I told her how honored I was to raise her and walk through life with her, teaching her, laughing with her and crying with her. And then I gave her the doll that was made to look just like her. And I will never forget the smile on her face.
This party was unlike other parties. It was not stressful. It was just fun and lovely. Just the perfect addition of little unicorn goodness all around. I wanted to share each of these shops Instagram accounts for you to follow as well. I was extremely blessed to connect with each shop owner and really touched to see their artistry and talents come through in each of the areas of expertise.
Unicorn Garden Dolls - Use code "MEGHANJOY10" to get 10% of all orders worldwide
Strange Folks Dolls - Celebrating their 1 year anniversary- yay!
Gray Duck Bake Shop - Offering special pricing if you mention my blog
Tutus by Jess - Use code "MYREPFRIEND" to get 15% off entire purchase