The Headlines:

My daughter turned 9.

Instead of a "Shabby" Chic Party...

We gave her a "Savvy" Chic Party!

I get it. Birthday parties are a lot of work. Many parents pay a place outside of the home to do the job and be done with it. There's definitely something to be said for that... but I just can't. I will, someday. But I haven't yet. I enjoy doing the work. Because it's part of being a parent. And the hope is, your child will remember it for a lifetime.

That's what I hoped when I planned this party.

See, my daughter's name is Savannah, we call her "Savy" for short and she actually came up with the idea! I liked it because it opened a whole realm of possibilities. We could do whatever we wanted! Which is exactly what we did.

As always, you start with the invite. I usually make mine. Remember, it sets the tone.

Ours said "Hello Friends, take a peek, welcome to our Savy-Chic" (***spelled wrong intentionally because that's her nick-name)... then when you opened it up it said "wear your fanciest dress and prepare to be (sparkling) wined and dined!"

Now, decor. I wanted it to look really pretty and "shabby chic-ish" so I cut this big "S" out of a big piece of cardboard I got for FREE at Home Depot (it was just an old box they didn't need).

We first spayed it white and then sprayed with a sparkly pink color. We hung it on the wall along with some other paper flowers and balls (bought from Michaels) added to the chandelier. It looked awesome!

Setting the table was easy. Obviously, the designated color was pink. Also, the table decor was actually part of their crafting too. More on that later.

Here's the party play by play: when each girl arrived they got to shoot some pictures with the birthday girl at the "photo wall"

These frames came from Michael's and were spray painted with the same glitter paint I used on the above "S" but without the white paint behind it so it took on a little different look.

It was at this time they also guessed how many candies were piled up in this glass jar, the closest one, won a prize later.

**For the record, this is a game I do at almost every party for 3 reasons: 1, the candy always adds to the decor, 2 it's an easy game, 3 the candies double as a take away when kids leave! BAM!

Once all the girls arrived and everyone settled in we started on the crafts.

We purchased chalk pens and stick on jewels so they could decorate chalk tags (to be used for ornaments come Christmas time), mugs and they could add anything to their name tags that had been placed at their seats.

They loved it and this took at least 30-40 minutes.

During this time they also ate. The food was super easy because I treated it like a tea party but with sparkling cider to up the cosmo factor a bit! After the cider was served we had finger sandwiches, veggies dipped in ranch but placed in a martini glass - of course - and cookies/candies!

All courses were served to them as they sat around the table and did the crafts.

Then it was time for the memory game. Each girl got 20 seconds to look at this tray of girly, "Savy Chic" items. Then, once it was taken away, they wrote down as many of them as they could remember. The winner got a prize! They loved it.

Finally one more game before we got up from the table. This was awesome! I made about 12 different pictures (with the simple graphics I use for this blog). Then, I showed to the girls one at a time

(see 4 pictures below). They then had to decide which one was more "Savy-Chic" - in other words - which one did my daughter liked more!? The birthday girl (my daughter) looooooved this game because it really helped maintain the focus on her (what every birthday girl wants)!

The girl who got the most right - won a prize!

Finally, it was time to get up! They were ready at this point. They'd been sitting, eating and creating for over an hour. We split the party into 2 teams (there were 12 girls total) each team had to dress up 1 designated girl with a bunch of fancy clothes. The team who did it the fastest, won! I was surprised how much they liked that game too. Sidenote, we've done different versions of this game at class parties (winter wear for Winter party or toilet paper for a Fall party) it always seems to turn out really great!

The party was at the end of Summer so all the girls then changed into their swimsuits and swam to get some extra energy out. After a while, it was time for cake! This was one of my favorite parts. Not only was it gorgeous. Yes, those are real flowers (not edible but so pretty)! But it was heavenly tasting! Why? Because...

there are donut holes inside! Yep. You just stick those suckers inside your batter and bake away! It makes the inside polka dotted when you cut into it. STUNNING! I did 3 layers of cake and just cut each size a little smaller so it would rise gradually like above. Hard to do? Naahhhhhh.... but make your own whipped frosting to up the ante a bit. Pin this baby now!

Whipped Cream Frosting.

Here's what you need:

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tspn. vanilla extract

Here's what you do:

Mix with hand mixer... until stiff peaks form. Stop and frost! I put on almost all my cakes because it's so light and refreshing. Major yum!

That's it... party over. Their take aways were everything they made, plus these cute little cartons filled with some nail polish, real chalk and that pink candy we talked about earlier. And a little dab of "fairy dust" on their way out the door. It's all about the DETAILS people!

The final little touch - the thank you notes. We used the pictures that were taken with the girls when they first arrived. Each card had one picture of the the birthday girl and the friend the card was for stuck to the front and another picture tucked inside. It was really cute.

In the end, worth every second. Make that every hour. A lot went into it. Because after it was all over I asked my little lady if she had a good time and she simply and definitively replied, "Mom it was the best party of my life..."

That, my friends, was all I needed to hear.

Now, do I have to top it next year?

To read more posts like this visit Nicole's blog at ONEPICKYCHICK.COM