Princess Pool Party Birthday Bash

Once again, life got crazy and I realized a week before my daughter's birthday that I had 0 things planned... After asking her what she'd like to do for her 5th birthday, she enthusiastically said a Princess Pool Party! So, 3 days before the party day, I scoured the party totes in our storage and went a little crazy ordering on Amazon to make sure we had some decent options arrive in time! I started making food and decorating at 10PM the night before, and let's just say I was running on about 2 hours of sleep, so sentences may not have been coherent at the actual party. Pretty standard around here...

If you're new to this blog, Welcome! If you have a princess loving kiddo, you're in the right spot! This post is packed with lots of last minute ideas and details, so hang tight, and feel free to browse the sections you're interested in!

Since this was a princess party after all, I let the mamas know that princess attire was welcome but not required. Most of the kiddos came dressed to impress in their best princess dress. My girl switches princess preferences like they're going out of style, but the princess flavor of the week was Rapunzel so she went with one of her many Rapunzel Princess Dresses complete with accessories and faux braid because you only turn 5 once!

ACTIVITIES:

When the girls arrived, we let them dress up in my daughter's ridiculous collection of princess dresses and princess shoes. Many of these were gifts, but I've also had great luck shopping at church consignment sales and finding princess dresses for $2-$5.

Then the girls took turns at the Princess Station where they could each take a necklace, princess wand, Princess Snap Bracelets, etc. and make each other fancy with the Melissa & Doug Play Makeup Station and Disney Vanity Hair Styling Set (both were gifts and are still some of my daughter's favorite toys).

It was so cute to watch the girls help each other get all dolled up and then look at themselves in the mirror, so proud of themselves.

We also had plenty of Princess barbies nearby to play with as well.

We hired Belle and Rapunzel from Reserving Royalty to be the surprise guests for the party. The princesses came equipped with princess games, lessons on how to wave and curtsy like a princess, princess glitter tattoos, and autographs. Their entertainment ended with farewell glitter "Pixie Wishes" for the girls.

This took up more than a solid hour so I didn't need to plan much more. I always have a back up plan though, so we had a princess piñata in case we needed another activity. This Number 5 Piñata is a great option too if your girl is turning 5.

This was my piñata stick I made for my daughter's unicorn party last year. I ended up making the stick with hot glue and lots of ribbon I had laying around in a craft drawer that needed to be put to good use. It was a fun, short nap-time project. I see more piñata's in our future so I'll consider it well worth the time... My husband thinks otherwise... ;)

If you play games, don't forget the prizes! I will say for parties with 3-7 year olds, having a consolation prize for everyone seemed necessary and is definitely worth it. Everyone wins and everyone is happy! Dollar Tree and Target $1 bins are a great place for prizes or even just have candy in a fun bowl as that's always a sure win.

Each of the girls took a princess picture in front of this fun Princess Castle Photo Backdrop. If I would have had more time, I would have printed each picture and then had the princesses autograph them as a party favor.

ARTS & CRAFTS:

I didn't know how long the princess activities would take, so I found these adorable Make Your Own Princess Wands as a backup. You could spray paint them ahead of time or just let the girls use markers or paint to color them if you want to add another step. I also had beads ready to go for a bracelet making station, but with all the excitement from the princesses, we never got to either one!

If you do make bracelets, a tip is to precut the elastic strings, make the strings longer than needed, and attach a princess charm (found at Hobby Lobby) as a starter which helps to get things moving quicker. Make sure to tie a few knots at the bottom to avoid an unexpected bead explosion.

Since it was 90 degrees, we took advantage of the hot day and swam in the pool after all the princess activities came to an end.

FOOD:

One of my favorite aspects of party planning is coming up with party-themed food.

I love having fun party-themed cookies for the girls! My super talented friend Lauren made these princess cookies!

Since we didn't have a cake this year, we had Lowe's (our local grocery story) make these cupcakes with these adorable Princess Cupcake Toppers.

These magic fairy wands are one of my party go-to staples. They are fun and easy to make and bring in the colors of the party! My kiddos love helping with these too.

For super easy and last minute ideas, use clementines with a small slice of celery for the stem to make "Cinderella's Pumpkins", grab some honey wheat pretzel rods for "Rapunzel's Braids", and use Goldfish, Swedish Fish and Friends, or Trader Joe's Scandinavian Swimmer Gummies for "Ariel's Under the Sea Friends".

Another easy, Iast-minute idea was making these fruit Magic Wands! You can use grapes or any fruit! We found the magic wand skewers at Hobby Lobby.

To tie in Aurora and add a fun way to eat even more healthy food, we made "Aurora's Forest Berries". We added the crown princess toppers to add even more fun (found at Hobby Lobby)!

The "Princess Party Popcorn" was another party hit. This idea came from my friend Kendra who had this at her little girl's party.

Make popcorn (or use pre-made popcorn). Then spray it lightly with Pink Edible Food Spray. Make sure to do this outside as the color can and will get all over... ask me how I know... Then use purple and pink Candy Melts and drizzle the melted colored chocolate candy onto the popcorn. You can get the candy melts much cheaper at Hobby Lobby. I added some gold edible dust/glitter and some colored sprinkles to complete the look.

I added cute princess stickers to these little appetizer cups (both found at the Dollar Tree) to easily and cost-effectively tie in the princess theme!

TIP: Using a little coconut oil will help to make the candy melts thinner and drizzle easier. You can also use white almond bark and use the Gel Food Coloring to color the almond bark. After placing the popcorn in the container(s), drizzle a little at the end and top with fun sprinkles to see more of the fun colors!

One more way to make sure the kiddos eat some healthy options is to have "Cinderella's Garden Veggies".

Since ice cream goes well with a pool party, we also had an ice cream bar to finish off the party!

I discovered this ice cream hack and it was well worth the time to make the ice cream scoops the day before. Just scoop ice cream scoops into a muffin tin and freeze for a few hours. Then combine all the ice cream scoops into a pan and place in the freezer until party time! It makes scooping so much easier and faster. I also dipped some of the ice cream cone bowls into some of the leftover melting chocolate, followed by a dip in the sprinkles.

Of course we had to have some adult food and vino for the mama's to balance out all the sugar and craziness, so I made a little veggie tray and charcuterie board and my husband made margs for the guests too.

For beverages, we had Strawberry Princess Punch and fruit-infused water for the kiddos (though I forgot to add the fruit until the end) and vino and margs for the mamas that wanted a little something extra. My friend brought over her Pink and Gold Party Dinnerware Set for me to use, and I found the gold glitter plasticware at Hobby Lobby. I just taped up this Princess Cake Topper Decor to the drink station to add a little princess flair. I also found these Princess Plates for dessert/cupcakes and had these adorable Princess Party Plates as a backup but we didn't need them.

FAVORS:

I always have fun with favors! It's an easy way to teach my kids a way to give back to their friends too and a little "thank you for celebrating with us!"

Since I ordered things 3 days before the party on a holiday weekend, I wasn't sure which would show up on time. Everything ended up arriving the night before so I made 3 options to see what looked the best. Which is your favorite?

This was the first option. The purple bags were from the Dollar Store and then I added a princess sticker to them too. These iridescent Star Fairy Wands were a party hit as well.

This was my next option but the gold was a little too yellow for me. Still a cute option and my daughter actually preferred these the most since the Princess Crown Favor Bag doubled as a little princess purse too, but I switched at the last minute.

This is the option I ended up going with. I loved the little Gold Glitter Castle Favor Boxes and they only took a few seconds to put together.

Inside I added the following things: Princess Nail Polishes, Princess Lip Smackers, pink necklaces from Hobby Lobby, Princess Snap Bracelets, rings from Hobby Lobby, Princess Stickers, candy bracelets, Princess tattoos, and these beautiful Princess Crowns.

I also had these fun party sunglasses (from Party City) out for the pool time that could have doubled as party prizes as well.

DECOR:

For the kitchen table, I used this Iridescent Sequin Sparkling Tablecloth as it screamed very princess to me (and I already had it from the year before). The banners were from Party City. My mom gifted me a set of pink dishes that I never thought I'd use, but here I am using them...haha. If you want a super cost effective way to do add some fun color to the table, you can get plate chargers from the Dollar Tree and spray paint them and finish them with Gold Glitter Spray Paint. I used this Iridescent Fringe Backdrop that I already had from my daughter's Unicorn Party the year before for the backdrops and beverage table. I also repurposed the pink glitter mason jars I used from her unicorn party the previous year and grabbed some hydrangeas from our bushes out front.

To create levels, I used cake stands and these clear Acrylic Risers to add height and depth to the table. I found the princess and crown decor at Hobby Lobby and the white cake stands at HomeGoods.

I think the hit of the decor was actually these Door Foil Fringe Curtains. My kiddos loved running through these in the doorways, even a month after the party. We moved these to the unfinished basement then so the kiddos could ride their bikes through them.

I used these pink tablecloths from the Dollar Tree on the kids tables along with some Dollar Tree faux rose petals. Special thanks to my friend Bri who ran out last minute to grab these and more decor!

I found tons of princess party decor at Hobby Lobby and Party City but forgot to put most of it up since I was up until 5AM on party day getting other things ready... haha These rainbow poms are a fun way to add some color to chandeliers (another fun Dollar Tree find!)

That's a wrap! Special thanks to my hubs who puts up with my outlandish ideas (and ends up helping with the last minute things so the party could start on time! I couldn't do it without him!) This may seem crazy, but before I get started, I always say a prayer for ideas, to help me find fun things, decorate quickly, and pull the party off in a super short time frame, and with God's grace (and after the kids go to bed), I'm able to throw it all together in a day or two.

Thanks for checking out our "Princess Pool Party"! Hope to see you again soon! Happy party planning!!