Cootie catchers, Shirley Temples, pinwheels and polka dots are just the beginning of little Nikki’s homemade (and darling!) Old Fashioned Babydoll Party for her 4th birthday. With old-timey inspired printables by Wendy of Grean Beansie Ink, those milk cartons and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches got all sorts of fancy for this jolly ol’ birthday on the pier!

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• Adorable vintage style printable milk carton labels & sandwich labels
• Old fashioned paper-doll coloring & “Pin the Bow on the Birthday Girl” activities
• Super cute mason jars with vintage labels, fabric toppers, and polka dot straws!

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Wendy…

(Party details as told by Nikki’s mommy)

Nikki Primiani is an old-fashioned girl. She loves pick-up sticks, pin the tail on the donkey and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Shirley temples in old mason jars, marzipan and bloomers under her dresses. What better way to celebrate her 4th birthday than at the Santa Monica Pier Carousel?

First thing’s first: beautiful invitations! Nikki’s mommy turned to Wendy at Green Beansie Ink to custom make the perfect invitation and printable party decor package. We came up with an old fashioned girl that looked just like Nikki! Once that was completed, we turned to Kelli of Print and Cut Your Printables to complete all of the printing and cutting.

Next came the food.  Milk in old fashioned pint milk jars, Shirley Temples and pink lemon-aid in mason jars with polka dot paper straws graced the tables and were a big hit. They were topped with quilting fabric from the Nauvoo Quilt Company. In addition, wax paper bags made with multi-colored zigzag stitching were filled with sandwiches. Vintage and antique platters were filled with grapes carrots, homemade cupcakes, caravan sandwiches for the grownups, and the big hit of the party: custom silhouette cookies of the birthday girl from Plastics in Print! The table decorations included old-fashioned cutie catchers customized for the occasion from Darling Paper Girl. All of these fabulous things were accented by antique and vintage toys found on ebay and various antique stores in Los Angeles. And how could it be a birthday party without ice cream? Ice cream sundaes were hand made by Soda Jerks.

Next came the decorations. Fabric bunting graced the space along with paper chains made by the birthday girl, all tied up with special colored twine. In addition, a ‘Happy Birthday Nikki’ sign was made by The Banner Sisters. Vintage tablecloths were purchased on etsy and eBay. Then, my fabulous sister-in-law Barbara Primiani went to work!  She sewed ricrac on all of the tablecloths from Treasure Bay Fabrics  in all different colors to unify the look, as well as 100s of wax bags for the sandwiches. In addition, orange and white polka dot runners graced the tables for a festive look. Metal buckets filled with sand and hand made pinwheels from The Pickled Parlor served as the centerpieces, while vintage paper dolls were scattered throughout the party. Barbara also made the chalkboard roll favors out of old-fashioned paper doll fabric as a thank you gift for all of the guests.

Now, for the party itself:

Guests were greeted to either a big bows for the girls or bow ties for the boys… after all this is an old-fashioned dress up party! Besides riding the carousel, there  were many different things to do. One activity was a craft area complete with crayons, safety scissors and glue for coloring, cutting and playing with old-fashioned paper dolls!

If the children were not so into crafts, there were games, games,  and more games! There was a vintage pin-the-tail-on the-donkey and ring toss, as well as a photo booth complete with props and a vintage Polaroid camera! There was a silhouette artist to magically create vintage looking silhouettes: one for the guest and one for Nikki’s scrapbook. The highlight of the birthday party was the Pin-The-Bow-On-Nikki game, in which everyone participated. Of course, you couldn’t have games without prizes, which came from Oriental Trading Company.

The Pier carousel is over 100 years old and served as the most spectacular backdrop of this old-fashioned party. The music from the carousel was wonderful and really set the mood.  Children and parents alike had a fabulous time. We’ll have to do this again!