My Seven Year Old: American Girl Craft Party

Disclaimer:  I am way way behind on posting!  This was two weeks ago.  Barring technical difficulties or travel, I don't think this has ever happened before.  Hopefully, now I will get back into the swing of things again.

Genevieve had a craft party at Michael's just like Hannah had for her seventh birthday.  It is traditionally (in our house at least) an American Girl themed party with no boys allowed.

I found this idea for an American Girl doll box cake here with a face and here without a face.  I changed it by making the face hole a Saran wrap covered catalog cut out of Genna's favorite doll, Caroline.  I also did the "American Girl" label using the cut out and Saran wrap too since I am just bad at writing on cakes.  This was a small cake since we didn't have families and siblings like we usually do to account for.  I used one 10 x 10" square cake pan and cut it in half to stack it and make it a rectangle.  I thought this would be a snap, but since I cheated and got the can icing for the pink stars it was harder than I thought.  I had to come up with a plan B since the icing in those cans is just too thin to actually stay where you put it to begin with.  I don't know how many times I have to make this mistake until it finally gets through my thick skull.  Note to self:  Don't cheat!  Make the silly batches of colored buttercream icing OR get some guts and use fondant.  I made the icing for the white parts and the crumb layer, but cheated with the cans for the two colors.  Halfway through the party, one side of the icing pealed right off the cake.  Beautiful!  :)  This is what happens when I am pregnant because I try to save time and take short cuts.  Oh, and I am half brain dead.  :)

Bad picture quality, I know!

The spread

I made mini turkey/cheese and ham/cheese sandwiches, brought cheese balls, a veggie tray, and made a fruit "cake." 

This was a giant hit and went almost as fast as the cheese balls did.  I plan to do this for Hannah's First Communion also.  It's almost like an Edible Arrangement, and I love those.  I got the idea here.

At Michael's, they have a party leader who runs the craft for you which is my second favorite thing about this kind of party.  My first favorite thing is that it is so cheap compared to most places that do parties.  I just bring the food and the craft.  Two nights before the party, I go to pack up my box of stuff to take to Michael's and realize that somehow I didn't order and receive the main craft from Amazon after all.  I am not sure how this happened.  I was "Super Plan Ahead Mom" and ordered all the favors, plates, cups, etc a month or more ahead.  When I got the box, I guess I didn't check it carefully enough or I thought another box was coming or something because I had it mentally checked off in my head, but it just wasn't there.  I tried to find a store within reasonable driving distance that had the craft that I wanted originally, but no one did.  Then I went to a couple craft stores looking for something else Genna was interested in, was appropriate for a group craft, and wasn't too complicated as to lose the attention of the rest of the girls there.  I found a bottle cap necklace kit and bought two for the party.  Disaster averted.

Here are the girls crafting away with bottle caps, beads, and string to make necklaces and bracelets.

They made little purses for themselves and their dolls to take home as well.

The girls ate the sandwiches and snacks in between the two crafts.  Then we had cale!

She made a really long wish!

Hannah made Genna this place mat   She came to me with this desire to make a place mat for her sister.  I gave her a rectangle of white fabric and some fabric markers.  When she finished decorating it, I added some fun fabric to the back and sewed it very quickly.  

Aaah!  A sister moment!

In our house we try to have special privileges for each birthday.  The seven year old (girl) privilege is getting an American Girl doll.  I'll have to think of something else for the boys.  

She was thrilled to pieces to get her American doll, Caroline Abbot.  She chose her because they were born near the same place in upstate New York.  

All the girls and their dolls!

We had about 5 or 10 minutes to kill at the end so we took pictures of the girls and their dolls in pairs.

The girls seemed to have a great time, and Genna was on cloud nine.  Success!  I love my seven year old daughter!