A Dora Birthday Fiesta!

Last Sunday was our gorgeous Charlotte's third birthday.

The birthday girl with her cake.

Her main wish was to have "a Dora and Boots party" at home. She's seen her older sister have a few extravagant parties (mid year, when I have plenty of time to plan them) and wanted her own special occasion.

I was happy to oblige.

I ordered some printable invitations, favour tags and food tents from Etsy store CKFireboots (found here). I've found printables are a really convenient way to go, giving me lots of options to email or print invitations and to print out everything else whatever size I want.

A few weeks ago, Grace and Charlotte helped me make little "Backpack" party bags from purple plastic noodle boxes. We made 24 in total, and the girls had a great time filling each one with seven different items (a mini Dora colouring book, small pack of crayons, party blower, balloon, lollipop, Dora biscuits and mini M & Ms). We glued the favour tag on the back, and I glued Backpack's facial features on the front. I was pretty happy with how they turned out!

The back of the party bags.

"Backpack" party bags ready to be given out.

I had hoped that the weather would be fine and we could have the tables with food and drinks outside on the lawn. But after several brief showers early in the day we took the safe option and brought everything under cover. The kids still spent most of their time outside, and there was only one more light shower. But with the food, we figured it was better to be safe than sorry!

The welcome sign (before it moved to the front of the house).

Grandpa made a Swiper who spent his time lurking near the cubby.

The back yard before we moved the drinks table to the deck.

The decor on the deck was very colourful.

I purchased a traditional donkey shaped pinata, and filled it with a bag of wrapped lollies. We hung it under a tree, and the kids were all very excited to line up and take turns hitting it with a big stick Neil cut from an old broomstick. There were some tears after one of the bigger boys accidentally beheaded the donkey (without dislodging the lollies), and it eventually took a whack from Daddy to bring the lollies tumbling down.

The pinata.

Charlotte taking her turn to hit the pinata.

Daddy dealing with the donkey.

Collecting the loot.

I was disappointed that I hadn't organised more activities, like a pass-the-parcel game, or 'pin the tail on the donkey'. We had some Dora colouring sheets we never got around to using, but the kids all seemed quite content playing in the new cubby and on the swing set. I'd hoped to have some craft available (decorating little wooden maraccas) but hadn't been able to find anyone in Australia who could supply them unpainted.

Having fun on the swings.

The birthday cake was inspired by several images I found on Pinterest, without copying any one in particular.

The "Dora and Boots" birthday cake.

Blowing out the candle.

The Sombrero biscuits were copied from an image on Pinterest, as were the "Map" cheese sticks and to some extent the "Star" cupcakes. Some of the other food (like sweet corn and a mini taco bar) attempted to follow the Mexican fiesta theme.

Shortbread Sombrero biscuits.

"Star" cupcakes.

"Map" cheese sticks.

The savoury table.

A vegetarian mini taco bar.

My husband feels I go overboard with theming and decorations that aren't necessary and that the children can't appreciate. And to a certain extent, he's right.

However, it is a creative outlet I enjoy. Something to plan and look forward to. And most of all, an expression of love for my vibrant, affectionate, spirited and adorable daughter.

A beautiful Charlotte smile.

Throughout the day, Charlotte smiled in a way that made it clear she was enjoying herself.

She felt special.

And that's what counts.