Finding Neverland Inspired Birthday Party
Excited to share a little fairytale magic with you today! This Peter Pan inspired FINDING NEVERLAND Birthday Party that Lynlee of Lynlee’s Petite Cakes created for her daughter’s birthday is full of charming, magical details for boys and girls alike… from Pixie Juice and Pirate Treasure to Neverland Cupcakes, Crocodiles, Mermaid Lagoon Sand Art, and more!
In a nod to the Peter Pan story and the Finding Neverland movie, she even turned the banquet tables into “beds” and used a dresser as the dessert buffet! And the kids even learned out to “fly” by sprinkling pixie dust and jumping on the trampoline… how FUN! Suffice to say, no detail was left undone.
Read on for LOTS {and LOTS!} more magical images + all the whimsical, creative party details!
PARTY DETAILS, as told by Lynlee…
“My daughter, Anabelle, was turning four this year and when we were deciding on a theme for the celebration, we wanted to find one that appealed to her and also would work for a co-ed party since many of her friends and their siblings are boys! Thus, we finally settled on a Neverland premise, which would appeal to all the guests – male or female… young or old!
The Peter Pan story provided so many ideas, but also required a little bit of narrowing because of the vast array of possibilities! To aid me in focusing my thoughts, I drew inspiration from one of my favorite movies: ‘Finding Neverland‘. The movie follows Peter Pan’s author, J.M. Barrie, as events in his life in the Victorian era motivate him to write the enchanting play.
From there, I concentrated on the overall Victorian feel with ornate, black décor in the Darling children’s nursery, contrasted with nature and trees at the party’s location to represent their journey to Neverland. I also utilized numerous silhouettes, corresponding to this time period, and also representing Peter Pan’s search for his shadow. I wanted the children to feel as if they were being transported to this magical land and encourage them to believe…
In creating the invitations, I utilized a scrapbook paper background that depicted London’s landmarks (most notably Big Ben) and added a silhouette of Peter Pan flying, along with the word ‘believe’. The images and green, black and cream colors set the mood for the party, while the wording inside invited guests to ‘…come with us where dreams are born and time is never planned… just think of happy things and your heart will fly on wings forever in Never Never Land.’
The party took place at a local park and the focal point included two ‘beds’, anchored by a dresser, to set the mood of the Darling’s nursery. The beds were actually kids tables where they would dine and inspired by none other than Jenn from Hostess with the Mostess! The beds were made to look like they belonged to the Darling boys, John and Michael, and both the décor on the bed and the respective nightstands corresponded to their accessories and roles.
The small chairs were dressed up with black and green tulle with a Peter Pan silhouette. My mother was a tremendous help with her remarkable sewing skills! At the beds, the young guests were offered green pixie juice in vases from Ikea, as well as a lunch served in kraft gable boxes, including small sandwiches, cheese sticks, green grapes and of course, some Pirate’s Booty popcorn! We had additional lunch boxes and pixie juice for the adults at a separate table.
The dresser came from my home and included the dessert, as well as decorations, including silhouette cut-outs of Anabelle, my husband and myself that we had done at a trip to Disneyland! I debated on an entire dessert table selection, but decided to focus on my specialty: cupcakes! The chocolate and vanilla cupcakes were garnished with fondant toppers representing all the characters from Peter Pan. Above the dresser was the ever-so-popular party frame, Ung Drill, from IKEA with the question ‘Do you believe?’
To aid the children in imagining and navigating through Neverland, I hired Ms. Louisa from the fabulous and enchanting Fairytales & Tutus ballet studio my daughter attends to read Peter Pan and transport the kids from the nursery into Neverland. I had fairy wings and tutus available for the girls, as well as pirate gear (scarves, eye patches, hooks and inflatable swords) in treasure chests that my father helped to stain. Ms. Louisa also brought additional costumes, such as mermaids, Indians, and the lost boys, just to name a few! The children were free to choose their outfits, which was so fun and added to the imagination-play, as my daughter had three costume changes throughout the party!
I filled little jars with pixie dust and made little wooden compasses for all the children. After hearing the story, they learned to fly by sprinkling the magical dust and jumping on a trampoline! Ms. Louisa then led them through activities from sinking pirate ships with cannonballs at Skull Rock, jumping over the crocodile, swimming through the Mermaid Lagoon with bubbles and a pow wow at the Indian Camp. Ms. Louisa’s presence at the party was invaluable, as it allowed the kids to play all together and utilize their imagination, while the parents watched and enjoyed without worry. I cannot thank Fairytales and Tutus enough for helping the children (and adults) to believe.
I added to the nursery/Neverland décor with a bookcase and additional furnishings, such as clocks, ships and wooden blocks I made with Anabelle’s name (from a DIY tutorial seen on the Martha Stewart website. I placed quotes from the characters with the décor in small frames and silhouettes cut out with the Disney Classic Cricut cartridge attached to canvases – both purchased from Michaels. Stuffed animals, such as a crocodile and dog to stand for Nana, softened up the decorations. One of my favorite elements included two tee pees we made from instructions on the site Sew, Mama, Sew! Another hit with the kids was a table I set up at the Mermaid Lagoon with plastic bubble bottles they could fill up with colored sand.
Since imagination and costumes were already enormous components of the party, we could not do without a photo booth! With the help of my parents and their piping and sewing talents, we created a backdrop, which I embellished with a ‘Happy Birthday, Anabelle’ sign I made. The props were stored in a mini toy box I bought from Hobby Lobby and painted, along with another frame and a sign to be held up reading ‘believe’.
Lastly, the favors were stored in oversized wooden blocks (also from Hobby Lobby and painted) on a beautiful table my father-in-law made. The guests were sent home with shadow puppets I cut out from my Silhouette and glued on wooden sticks, along with a flashlight and a Peter Pan book to read the story over and over again. And, since it was such an inspiration and a movie that makes me cry every single time I watch it, each family received a ‘Finding Neverland’ DVD with the final quote from the movie: ‘Just Believe’.”
- Event Styling, Signage, Cupcakes & Photography: Lynlee’s Petite Cakes
- Entertainment: Fairytales & Tutus
42 Comments
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Lynlee did an amazing job with every little detail! I LoVe that the party involved actiivities that encouraged imagination! I Believe!
Positively gorgeous. Love love love this party! Perfection down to every last detail.
So many details! I’m so impressed that EVERYONE was thought of in the planning. What a wonderful memory for Anabelle and her friends!
So many details! My favorite thing about a party is the details… everyone. accounted. for. :)
What an amazing party! The details are are perfection!
Really lovely!! I love Peter Pan and this is a great combination of so many of its whimsical elements :)
Omgoodness such cuteness! I love it…. all the pretty little details!
This has to be one of the cutest, best styled, and most imaginative parties I’ve seen. I love every detail!
I love this! I am a fan of Peter Pan movie and Neverland! Love the details!
What a beautifully detailed party! There was a little touch of magic and pixie dust around every delightful corner!
I really like this a lot!
Thank you so incredibly much for the amazing feature and for all the amazingly flattering and kind words!!! Such an honor!
Every detail is spot on! What a beautiful party!
Everything looks gorgeous! My great grandmother played Mrs. Darling in the original stage play, so this party theme would be very meaningful for my girls. Fabulous ideas!!
This was one of the most amazing parties I have ever seen! You did an incredible job friend! Thank you so much for being my friend and for allowing me and my family to be a part of this wonderful event. (Not to mention our daughters being best friends!)
I was there and it was incredible! My family and I had a blast.
Lynlee is so creative it is outstanding. Weather she is planning an event or making cupcakes everything is always beyond perfection! Congratualtions!
This is just adorable! So creative and my kind of party. I am determined to make the UK have parties like the US . US Parties = ROCK!
Oh my word….so adorable. Everything!!
Wow, this is really creative and unique!
What a fantastical party filled with every detail from Peter Pan. I just adore the beds for tables and the dresser is such a cute touch. The boxes of food for the adults is so fun. She just thought of everything!
What an amazing creation here. Super cute! Makes me feel so inspired!
I just found this blog. How amazing! This party in particular looks so perfect and delightful. Each and every detail was so well-thought out. I am amazed.
I look forward to seeing more creative and wonderful party ideas on this blog.
Thank you,
Juanita Ecker
I love the colors and this party is pretty unique and fab
The party looks wonderful!
What a lovely party theme. The choice of great party favor boxes keeps them simple yet full of style, a plus when creating a great party. Not to mention that I’ll bet they had something very delicious inside.
This party looks amazing! I wish i could have gone to this! I just used fitango.com to help me plan my dinner party it was so helpful and made the planning process so much easier you should try it out!
This is absolutely adorable! I love everything about it. How creative!!
Wow!
Oh my goodness, this is just amazing. As a fan of Peter Pan, I wish I could’ve had a party like this when I was a little girl! Then again, maybe I could throw a party like this for my niece in the future instead!
This theme is so unique to me. The gator is cutee as well as the colors. I approve
What a fabulous idea. Truly creative! Love the Fairy Wings.
OMG… I just decided to do a neverland themed birthday party for my little girl.. same issue.. girls with brothers. I had ideas of what I wanted and so googled to get more ideas and found this site. AMAZING.. what a great birthday party.
Ok i must know. how the heck did you make the compasses? I LOVE those.!! and the Pixie Dust in the jars.. where oh where did you find all that. If you say Hobby Lobby I will scream. We dont have them her in California! ;)
What great inspiration.. thanks soooooo much!
This is such a unique and beautiful party. The details are fantastic!
http://notebookchallenge.blogspot.com/
Love this party! I am trying to duplicate the Do You Believe sign? Is it for sale anywhere?
Enchanting! Where did you get the cupcake stand? Stunning!
What font did you use? I love this idea. Do you make any of these items to sell?
How did you make the compasses?
hi could we buy any chance buy your set of printables? looking for our party which is only in two weeks. yikes.
hi there, could you help guide us with the printables? we are not savvy with creating our own and loved yours!
I LOVE all of the details that went into your fairy tail Neverland party! We just (and I mean this last weekend) had an Alice in Wonderland party and my little girl decided she wants to have a fairy party and I thought what better theme than Neverland so both the guys and dolls can enjoy the festivities. :) Thank you for your inspiration
JUST BEAUTIFULL :) NEVER STOP DREAMING AND KEEP SMILING :)
I love everything! Can you tell me the font that you used for the quotes?