The older group of girls in our Miss Manners program met at my house last Saturday for a "Pancakes and Pajamas" party. Today I want to share with you the decorations and menu. Next week, I'll show you our program and craft.
I had been wanting to do a sleepover theme with the girls so we could talk about etiquette when you spend the night at a friend's home. I decided a Pancakes and Pajamas theme would be perfect! It was originally planned for December, but had to be rescheduled due to everyone's holiday plans. I found the invitations on etsy. I had them customized and then printed them at my local copy shop. The girls were told to wear their PJs and they loved it!
Jewell was a big help with the decorations. I had looked at tissue paper pompoms at Party City and Hobby Lobby. They wanted $6.00 for three. We knew we could do better. She is a whiz at making tissue paper flowers. We decided to double the amount of paper she uses for flowers in order to make them fuller. Three packs of tissue paper from Dollar Tree made us nearly twenty pompoms! And we were able to customize the colors!
I flattened the tissue and cut the pieces into quarters. Then we randomly layered the colors in stacks of 12 sheets each. We folded them and tied them off with lengths of white curling ribbon. Before you open them, trim the edges in a soft scallop.
Jewell worked hard to separate the layers and fluff each one. We used them in the table decorations, hung some from the lights above the table and tied them on the backs of the chairs. Each girl took one home at the end of the party.
I dug into my fabric stash and found a piece of linen-weave fabric with a paisley print that I had bought to use in Jewell's room for pillow shams. That project never panned out, but the fabric made a beautiful table-topper and jumping off spot for my color scheme. You can see it well here, under the Rice Krispy treats I made with Fruity Pebbles instead! There was one at each girl's place setting.
Brack did his part by drinking lots of Starbuck's mocha frapps over the last month so I could use the bottles! Peel off the labels, use a little Goo Gone, run through the dishwasher, and, "Voila"! I used tags on the glasses to indicate where each young lady was to sit. Pretty blue-striped paper straws finish it all off. Thanks to Brack, I have 24 of these glasses. They have now been tucked away in storage. I'm sure they'll make an appearance again soon.
I used striped square paper plates from Party City as chargers. Several years ago, my Aunt gave me about 25 clear glass luncheon plates. They have really come in handy! They were the perfect size, and they allow the pretty plates underneath to shine through. I choose to use a blue zebra-striped napkin to mix it up a little.
I planned a brunch theme, so I carried through and used Fruit Loops as part of my table decorations!
Here is a look at the overall table-scape.
Very pretty and oh, so girly!
I decided to keep the menu very simple. And I mean SIMPLE! We had to have pancakes, right? So I went with silver dollar-sized frozen buttermilk pancakes. Usually you just stick them in the microwave, but you can also bake them on a cookie sheet. Perfect! I set up a pancake bar with chocolate chips, pecans, fresh blueberries and strawberries, sprinkles and whipped cream. The girls loved it. Well, duh! I also cooked bacon and sausage links ahead of time and kept them in the warmer in my oven until I needed them. I already mentioned the cereal and marshmallow treats that I used as part of the place settings. I finished off with strawberry cheesecake muffins that I baked the night before (a Martha White mix, I must admit!). See, I told you it was easy!
After the girls were seated, one of the mothers came around and offered them orange juice or milk to drink.
Since it is quite a drive to our house, I invited the mothers to stay. They enjoy the time to visit, and they get to sneak a peak at what the girls are doing!
I want to say a special "thank you" to my dear friend, Melissa Lester, who took many of the photos I am using today. Melissa was my book club "partner-in-crime", and we planned many parties together before she moved to Birmingham last summer. Her girls are still part of our Miss Manners club, and she makes the trip for each party. Melissa is the assistant editor for Victoria magazine. She has an amazing blog called A Little Loveliness. I hope you'll visit her and poke around a little. Trust me, you'll be in awe!
Well, that's it for menu and decorations! I'll be back next week to show you what we did for our craft, tell you about our lesson for the day, and even give you a glimpse of what the girls did "after" the party was over!
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I'm so glad you stopped by my neck of the woods!
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