Oui! Annette is Three!

This year, Annette woke up to a Birthday Card from Little Bean.

A cupcake for breakfast was a dream come true for her.

The kids and I spent the day playing and making lots of big messes. When my 1 year old and newly 3 year old weren't  'helping' me decorate cupcakes and wash strawberries, they were making other less-supervised messes that I didn't even attempt to clean up until after our evening shindig at the Wonder Place.

We had Annette's party at this same kid friendly place last year. It was her favorite thing ever last year, so we booked it for this year too. Why fix something that ain't broken?

Annette's favorite book characters inspired me to plan a French themed party. You know, Nancy, Belle, and Madeline:) 

I used a projector to shine these googled images onto white butcher paper. Then, I used a black permanent marker to trace the image onto the paper.  I ran out of time, but had planned to paint the outside 'frame' part, and then they might have looked better laminated. But, Annette still loved them. We took them home and colored them after the party. 

For the paper awnings above, I used three pieces of poster board and tacked them to the wall on the underside. More on that below.

The invitations.... Oui! Oui! Annette is Three! 

This creative gal from Etsy designed them for me. Then, I downloaded the design to Office Depot's website and had them printed in color there. They even cut them for me. Much easier than printing them at home in my opinion. 

I addressed them using french titles just to add a little fun and fancy flair to the envelopes :)

We had 'french' fries...

 'French' toast bites

and fruit and cheese.

It took me a little bit of thinking on how to come up with these paper awning deals. I used white poster board and figured out a way to cut and tape 3 pieces together to make each awning. I basically cut out the two triangle-ish size pieces making sure to leave a 'fold' on the inside of each to tack to the wall. Then, I used clear packing tape to attach the top piece (which also has a hidden fold on the top inside to allow me to tack it to the wall from the underside). Then I made the edges scalloped and painted the yellow stripes on there with a small foam roller. We hung them with several push pins. I quite like the way they turned out. It was sad to chunk them after the party, but we certainly don't have room to store them.

Macaroons by Nonnie (Isaac's talented mother)

Strawberry cupcakes, requested by the birthday girl herself ...

and some other french inspired doodads.
The food label cards were free printables from this fantastic website!

 Sweet Avery sipping on some strawberry lemonade.

There was a lot of creative play and fun going on all over the place.

 I found this popsicle easel idea on this website via Pinterest.

Here is Noah the Race Car Driver painting a masterpiece using a mini-easel.

While his dad applied the final touches...

Annette LOVES the dress up center.

We had a cookie decorating table using Nonnie's famous sugar cookies.

Did somebody say 'cake'? Charlie does not miss a chance to eat some goodies.

Strawberry cake with pink icing per Annette's strong request. I'm no Cake Boss.

Having a daughter has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember, and I am soaking up all the girly stuff I can.

  I'm crazy grateful for her. Thank you, God, for blessing us with this precious girl.

She looooved being the center of attention during the birthday song. Just like she did the first two years. Who knows where she gets that?

So many thoughtful gifts from kind friends. We have been busy from morning til night playing with all the new toys and books and dress up stuff.

She insisted she had to put the dress on that Granny got her. Immediately : )

We had so much fun celebrating your special day, Annette!!!  You are a wonderful, spirited, joyful girl and I can't wait to watch you continue to grow.

xoxoxo

~morgan