Lydia of The Party Wagon shared her favorite childhood book with her young daughter, who instantly fell in love too… so much that she wanted her 9th birthday celebration to be a Little House on the Prairie Inspired Party! Set on their neighbor’s horse pasture, the party came to life with everything from prairie attire and themed activities to pretty flower cookies & crocheted party gifts. Lydia put such a fun, modern twist on some old fashioned fun!

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• Ornate woodgrain flower cookies & quilt cookies
• Aprons, bonnets & pails with monogrammed crochet tags
• Homemade candles in vintage tea cups, crocheted pillows, & book party favors
• Pony rides, hunting for beads in the “Indian Territory”, & Button String activities

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Lydia…

My daughter is hooked on reading Little House on the Prairie books!  I began reading the books with my daughter and it has become just as much fun for me as it is for her.  I originally thought we might read one or two of them, but my daughter is on a mission to read them all and to keep going on to the ones written by Rose (Laura’s daughter)!  It has been so fun to share one of my favorite books of my childhood with my daughter, and it has become a great history lesson for her- it is so interesting to know how children and parents lived during the pioneer days compared to our modern day lifestyle!

This party was so fun to plan with my daughter- this was her 9th birthday, and so she had many thoughts and ideas of what she liked.  First, she liked pretty.  That was perfect because, throughout the books, “Ma” likes everything to be pretty.  Rusty and old was not something my daughter loved, and so we focused on what was most interesting to her- covered wagons, tee pees in the “Indian Territory”, and the prairie itself with lots of wildflowers.  My daughter wanted the colors to be blue, red, yellow, and a little bit of pink.  We have read so many of the books that we used parts of several of the books to incorporate details to the party.

Invitations

• Designed by Loralee Lewis and were printed on vintage handkerchiefs.  I spent a great deal of time in vintage shops and came across many old-fashioned handkerchiefs that I sent to Loralee and she printed the invitations on them using my mother’s drawing of a covered wagon with the Ingalls in the wagon.
• I folded the hankies around an insert that told of facts about the Ingalls and life on the prairie…such as children couldn’t laugh or play on Sundays, they must only speak when spoken to, Laura first tasted lemonade at Nellie Oleson’s birthday party, popcorn was an extra-special treat, girls knitted, sewed, crocheted, and embroidered for fun, Laura loved to listen to her Pa play the fiddle, and many more fun facts.

The party was set on “the prairie” which was our neighbor’s horse pasture.When the guests arrived, they chose an apron and bonnet made by Aimee Broussard Handmade.  The fabrics for the aprons were a mix of floral, gingham, ticking, and solids.  My daughter wasn’t crazy about the traditional calico prints that were popular in that time, and so I found florals that were a little more modern.

Each guest had a tin pail with a crocheted tag with her initial on it.  The girls used the pails throughout the party.

A fiddler played the fiddle throughout the party and was a great way to set the mood of the party- lively and fun!  The fiddle played a large role in the Ingall’s family and was a constant source of entertainment.

Desserts

• We wanted to keep the food simple and so we served cookies, cake, and old-fashioned candy.
• The desserts were set on a table and then I put a covered wagon top over the table.
• Wheels were added on the side to give the look of a covered wagon on the prairie.

Cake

• This gorgeous gingham cake was covered in gingham icing/sugar sheets and fondant flowers to represent the fabrics of the time and the wildflowers on the prairie.
• I loved the idea of making quilled fondant flowers as quilling was an old-fashioned art.
• The top of the cake had a beautiful fondant wooden bucket of overflowing flowers.
• The fondant flowers, topper, and icing sheets were made by Brenda of Sugar High, and the cake was baked and carefully assembled by Kathi of My Sweet Things.

Cookies

• Many of the beautiful cookies were made by Renee of Bee’s Knees Creative and were full of wild flowers.
• Renee made crocheted flower cookies, gingham cookies covered in flowers, personalized cookies, and mini flower cookies.
• Truly gorgeous! Better Bit of Butter made quilt cookies designed just for this party and put together to resemble a quilt.  There were 2 designs of beautiful quilt cookies.
• Stitched flower cookies by BBSweetsLove were served- they had button flowers and were so pretty, too!

Candy

Vintage #9 lollipops and lollipops that spelled my daughter’s name were served.  They were made by Vintage Confections.  We used old-fashioned All-Sorts Licorice to add to the the candy display.  I also used handmade crocheted flowers as part of the display of the number 9 lollipops. Button candy from Andie’s Specialty Sweets were lovely on the table.  Buttons were a source of entertainment for children on the prairie and they often made button strings to give as gifts to young children.

Popcorn was served in blue striped sacks within paper sacks wrapped with tatting and lace.

“Laura’s First Lemonade” was served in tin cups tied with a crocheted flower for thirsty pioneer girls.

Tablescape

Most everything that the Laura and her family had was made by hand, and so I wanted the party to reflect the hand-made feel.  The tables were set with mismatched lace table cloths, wildflowers, vintage embroidered handkerchiefs for napkins.  The napkins and forks were tied together with personalized ribbon.  Chairs were draped in muslin to resemble flour sacks.  I embellished tin plates by surrounding them with a lacy ruffle that my daughter loved.

Favors

One of my favorite favors~ In each chair was a gift for each guest- a handmade, hand-embroidered pillow with their names on them.  Prairie flowers were stitched on each pillow and a grasshopper was stitched on to several of the pillows to represent the grasshopper invasion that was a large part of the story of the Ingalls.

My daughter and I made candles for each guest and we poured them in vintage tea cups.  Candle light was a source of lighting during the pioneer days, and we wanted to share that with the guests.

Books- guests could choose a book from the Little House series.

Guests also took home their aprons and bonnets.

Activities

The guests enjoyed games and activities that Laura and Mary enjoyed on the prairie.  Hunting for beads in the “Indian Territory”, playing “Who Has the Button” and “Blind Man’s Bluff”.  Jumping rope was very fun for the girls, too!  We also had a pony at the party- that was a big hit!

Our Little Party on the Prairie was such a wonderful day- a modernized version of old-fashioned fun!