Everything from the napkin rings to the sweets to the darling birthday girl was adorned in jewels and sparkly metallics for this fabulous Arabian Nights / Princess Jasmine birthday party!

Angela of Oh, Sugar! Events and Ryam of The Inspired Mama did such a great job playing creative “genies” and bringing this festive Aladdin-inspired theme to life for Ryam’s daughter. Each of the “royal birthday treats” was not only beautiful to look at (check out those amazing 3″ tall royal icing henna toppers!) – but they were also all given clever names like “Make a Wish Macarons”, “Royal Jewel Brownie Bites”, and “Ali A-Backlava”.  There are tons of magical details to share in this one, so I’m going to let the pictures do the talking first… followed by Angela, who describes all the thought that went into this celebration beautifully below. So hold onto those magic carpets… and here we go!

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Angela…

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Theme

We wanted a sumptuous Arabian Nights inspired birthday party for Ryam’s 5 year old daughter Samirah. Samirah, however, wanted a Princess Jasmine party. Her mother and I were not too keen on having licensed characters splashed across every napkin, plate and banner, so we did a small homage to the Disney princess in the form of a sugar cookie and let the rich jewel tones and metallic accents set the scene for our exotic birthday bash!

Colors

Our color palette was deep amethyst, bright teal and a shot of magenta, all set off with glittering gold accents.

Decorations

We made the dessert table the centerpiece of our party and set up a teal fabric backdrop (constructed of pvc pipes and joints and yardage of fabric) and draped sparkly tinsel on either side of our gold “5” frame for some unexpected glamor. We used the ubiquitous Ikea frame spray painted metallic gold to highlight a bejeweled glittery crown and the number five. The table was draped in deep purple satin with labels and ribbon accents done in electric magenta. We also used pretty peacock feathers in miniature arrangements throughout the party. Our table really concentrated on a wide array of sweets, so instead of 3 dozen of 5 varieties, we did a dozen of this, and eight of that. Having fewer of each item almost elevated them and made each sweet seem that much more precious.

Some highlights from our dessert table (all made by Oh, Sugar! Events) our jewel-encrusted magenta birthday cake with beautiful sugar cookie crown encircling the top layer, 4 teal mini chocolate baby cakes on individual golden cake stands, custom sugar cookies of Jasmine and Aladdin’s genie lamp, and double dark chocolate cupcakes with jeweled cupcake liners and 3 inch high royal icing henna toppers (you can find our tutorial here). The 5 birthday cakes were topped in a grand finale with dramatic sparkling candles.

The birthday girl requested tons of balloons so we had dozens of them blown up in our jewel palette with long strands of gold ribbon hanging from them and released them to the ceiling all around the room. We used purple satin table cloths and colorful Moroccan lanterns to dress the adult tables with large bunches of balloons and fun bits of maroon trim and golden sparkling tinsel hanging from each arrangement. The kids’ table was banquet style using low Ikea bistro tables covered in the same purple cloth with teal and gold tulle runners and glass vases trimmed in gold ribbon and filled with pink jewels. Their table was set with gold plates and cutlery with coordinating napkins wrapped in teal paper napkin rings that we dressed up with gold sparkling gems. Juice boxes at the table were wrapped in alternating teal and purple paper tied off with a gold ribbon and topped with a jewel. Ryam also hand made enough golden floor pillows for each child to have a comfy place to sit around our table on the floor.

Food & Drinks

For food we set up “The Pita Pit” and served up some favorite Arabian delights: stuff your own pitas with chicken, hummus and cucumber yogurt salad. Individual salads in a jar – just add dressing and shake, both pita and salt and pepper chips, veggies tray with a new twist served in clear square vases with dip. The kids table had two gold trays of crown shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and juice boxes wrapped in teal and purple paper with gold ribbon a and jewel accent. We had a drink station (“The Oasis”) with three large glass jars and ladels; one filled with Magical Mint Lemonade, one with blue Genie Juice, and the third with raspberry flavored Jasmine’s Tea. We set up clear cups with striped paper straws in blue and purple.

Favors

• For the boys: A snake charmers kit using wriggling, jointed plastic snakes and coordinating plastic flutes.
• For the girls: jewels and gems from the Cave of Wonders in gorgeous teal sachets.

Activities

Decorate your own crown station using colorful foam crowns, glitter glue and gems. We also had Jasmine’s Princess Primping station where the girls got to choose their nail polish color, get a manicure and have silly colorful hair clips and glitter put in their ‘dos. We also had a custom made pinata for the kiddos to take a swing at.

DIY Projects

I feel like everything about this party was DIY. :)

Golden individual baby cake stands made from candle stick and pillar candle holders from the Dollar Tree. Epoxied together and spraypainted gold. Then used self adhesive gems to dress them up and coordinate with our theme.

Gold floor pillows for the kids table. Easy no sew: yardage from Down town LA’s fabric district cut to size. Steam-a-Seam 3 sides, fill pillows with batting, iron fourth side closed.