My (baby) big girl's ninth birthday has come and gone, and it was wonderful. Leila is very much her mother's daughter, and has had a spa-theme in mind for her birthday party since right after she turned eight. This was one of my favorite parties to throw, and also one of the simplest. She kept the guest list super small, so I was able to let them do some really fun DIY projects and have a bit more creativity at the party. It was elegant, but simple and I hope you enjoy reading about it!
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I personally like to get the party invitations ordered well before I start any real planning. I think the invitation really sets the tone of the party. Fortunately for me my good friend is an
amazing graphic artist, and came up with the cutest invitations! I told her the theme, and that I wanted it to be girly, but not "little girlish" and this is what she came up with. You can order them
HERE if you want to plan a spa party of your own!
The decor was kept incredibly simple, and utilized what we already had around the house. The only things I bought were some super soft microfiber towels (they had three-packs at the dollar store) which we ended up using later for taking off their face masks. I just rolled the towels, and placed them on one of the shelves in the kitchen.
I *did* buy a really cute light up "9" marquee that was on sale at Michael's. It added a fun, little touch to the party, and is now hanging on a wall in Leila's room.
I asked my girl what activities she wanted to do throughout her party. She really wanted to do face masks, with cucumbers on the eyes, and "to make something" but she wasn't sure what. Together we decided on make your own lip balm, body scrub and perfume. With any more than just a few kids it would have been too much, but with the small group that she invited it was perfect!
When her sweet guests arrived Leila asked what activity they should do first, and they unanimously decided on the DIY lip balms!
The girls were SUPER into this one! I explained how to make their lip balms, and I don't think any of them made a peep, lol! It was simple. Just scoop some vaseline into a
lip balm jar until it's about half full. Then pour some kool-aid in until you get the desired color. Top off with a little more vaseline until the jar is just about full, mix again and that's it. (I snagged some coffee stir sticks at my Starbucks, and that's what we used to mix. They were the perfect size!)
I didn't take into account how sour the lip balms would be (the kool-aid not only tinted them, but flavored them as well!) so I added some stevia to each lip balm as well. Sugar would have worked perfectly, but we didn't have any. Stevia did the trick just fine! The kool-aid we used was tropical punch, lemonade, cherry and grape. Grape turned into a crazy grey color, but the girls loved it! The tropical made the prettiest color in my humble opinion ;)
Next up was the DIY body scrub station. For the scrubs we filled a
two ounce mason jar about 2/3 with coarse ground salt. I had quite a few difference fragrance oils (purchased
HERE) available for the girls to choose from, and told them to add 6 drops of any combination of the fragrance oils their salts. Once they customized the fragrance to their liking I added
sweet almond oil to each mason jar until it was just about full. I had tiny, little disposable spoons available for the girls to mix their scrubs up.
A sweet friend gave us some
dried rosebuds and
dried jasmine for the girls use in their scrubs. It made a really beautiful touch!
I framed this and had it at the activity table:
After the DIY lip balm and body scrub the girls started getting hungry. Since the party was from 2:00 to 4:00 I didn't have a full spread available, but I did have some nibbles out. My girls
always request mac and cheese, and strawberries so I of course had those, with a few of Leila's other favorites.
Fancy lemonade is always another request. This party took place right after I was sick, and on house arrest for two weeks so I had time to glitter up the fancy lemonade ;)
After snacks the girls were dying to get to the face masks! I picked up
a few at Ulta (after a coupon, and the face masks being on sale it came out to less than $10 for three big face masks!) We also had sliced cucumber for their eyes. You know, because nine-year-old eyes need soothing! ;)
Before we got started with the masks I gave each girl their goodie bag. Inside was a super soft, wide headband, that I had them each put on before we did the mask (The headbands were found in a three-pack on clearance at Target), they also got a glittery nail file, and two
mini face masks to take home. Their DIY projects served as the rest of their party favors.
While the masks were drying it was time to start the DIY perfumes. To make these I again had several
fragrance oils for the girls to choose from. They each got to make two different perfumes. I found some really
gorgeous roller bottles for them to make their creations in, and after a quick explanation the girls got going. These were easy - just add (no more than) five drops off fragrance oil or essential oils, top off with
sweet almond oil or
fractionated coconut oil and that's it. Word to the wise - this was perfect for the eight and nine-year-olds. Coco (almost six) mixed just about every fragrance and made her own, let's say
interesting creation. Keep a close eye on smaller kiddos. Coco is super proud of her perfume, and asks for me to wear it often. I smell awesome on those days ;)
And what's a party without cake?? Once the masks came off it was time for cake! Sweet and simple, just like the party!
The party was so much fun, and I can't wait to do another one in just a week and a half for Coco....stay tuned for that theme ;)
Sources
Photography: Katie of
Blush House Photography. We were truly spoiled to have Katie come and photograph Leila's party! She got so many incredible shots! If you are in the Bay Area, contact Blush House for your photography needs. They specialize in weddings and boudoir shots. You can see more of their work on
Facebook and
Instagram.
DIY Lip Balm: *
labels * kool-aid (any grocery store) * vaseline (any grocery store)
empty lip balm jars
DIY Body Scrub: *
2 oz mason jars * coarse salt (any grocery store) *
fragrance oils *
sweet almond oil *
dried rosebuds *
dried jasmine
DIY Perfume: *
metallic roller bottles 8 *
fragrance oils *
sweet almond oil
Invitations:
Top That! Designs
If you liked this party, I would love for you to
PIN it!
