Oh, What a Night!

Last night we held Lyndsay's 15th birthday party. A much anticipated night! Lots of planning, brainstorming (thank you for your ideas!), and preparation, and it all paid off. Here's what I came up with for the invitations: (I'm not all that scrapbooky-crafty. . .sure would have been nice to have my sis-in-law Sarah live close to me so she could have made them cuter!)

It was a Pamper Party, but not in the traditional sense. Instead, we planned to have the girls make several of their very own pampering spa products. They made their own gift bags! It was so much fun, working with older, capable girls, and even though it was different than any party they had ever been to, they all had a fantastic time. Everyone really got into it. It was such a pleasure, and Lyndsay has terrific friends. I told them how grateful I was that they were smart, fun friends, instead of loud and dumb friends, which made them laugh. I also thanked them for loving my Lyns and being such good friends to her.

Here's the spread:

Spas are all about treating yourself, so that's what we did. We treated ourselves! I made little Lemon-Lime Babycakes with a Lemon-Lime drizzle, and Chocolate Ganache Babycakes. Millions of them. It took all day long on Friday, and my sanity was only saved when my friend brought me over another mini-cupcake pan so I could bake more than twelve at a time. The recipe said it made 24 mini cupcakes. It made 65, so somewhere there was a discrepancy. But good thing we had tons, because they were so, so good!

Like the river rocks? Late at night when I was going over the details, I pictured gray river rocks as part of the decor, kind of an earthy touch. I knew there was a house I pass on my walks with a yard full of them, so I sent Dylan out at 10:30 at night with a bag and a flashlight to "borrow" some rocks from their yard. They add a nice touch, don'tcha think? And don't worry, I'm putting them back! Washed and everything. (Does that count as stealing?)

Some very tasty sparkling juices.

When the girls arrived, we got to work. First, a quick Chemistry lesson, and then we dove into making Fizzy Bath Bombs. Way fun. We scented them Lavender Vanilla, and dyed them a light purple. I know my pictures aren't great, and for some reason when I transfer them to Blogger they always come out darker, but you get the general idea.

Each girl got to make two, and everyone took a turn mixing. I made them do all the work so they could really take pride in it.

In between mixing sessions, there was lots of giggling and fun girl talk. So cute!

Next on the agenda was soap making. We just made a simple glycerin soap. First the girls had to chop up the soap base. They took turns, while others finished up the last batch of bath bombs. (We did three batches, each batch made 8.)


They melted the base down and added coconut oil (for lather), purple coloring, and then lavender and vanilla essential oils. (Gotta have a fragrance theme, you know?)

Then, for some scrubby action, the girls wanted to add some oatmeal, so we blended it up and mixed it in. The soap was poured into molds, which say HANDMADE on them but it's hard to see in the picture, and the color isn't quite this intense in real life, but still, they came out great! We wrapped up each bar and the girls added them to their gift bags.

Then we started on the lip balms. We made Vanilla Lime lip balms. They were made from Mango, Avocado, and Aloe Butters, and Beeswax. We added Vanilla and Lime essential oils and vanilla flavoring too. After the butters and wax was melted and the oils added, the girls used pipettes to fill their lip balm tubes.

Aren't the finished tubes so cute? And the lip balms are awesome! They feel so great! The girls made me some too.

The last craft was to make lavender scented flaxseed eye pillows. I bought some cute girly satin at 50% off and cut out and sewed all the pillows, leaving the tops open beforehand. The girls measured the flax, filled their eye masks, and added the drops of oil.

Then they brought them to me to sew closed. Each one has about 3/4 pound of flax seed, so they have a nice weight, and the satin is soft and soothing on the face. You can put them in the freezer or the microwave and then just relax with them on your eyes!

All of that took just under three hours, and then it was time for cake and presents! Instead of a big elaborate cake this year, we continued with the cupcake theme and had one of Lyns' favorites, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. We set fifteen of them on a platter and lit them up. Fifteen. My girl is 15!

Of course, opening presents was fun, and she got many cute things, but I think she loved most having so many of her friends around her, especially after such an intense school year. There were many reasons to celebrate and pamper!

Here are all the girls before leaving, each with her own gift bag, filled with all her goodies. I also tucked candles in each bag, to help with the spa mood.

So that's it! We pulled it off! It was a success and so much fun! And now we have pounds and pounds of butters and oils and waxes and fragrances. . .and know-how! Lyns and I may have to go into business! Look out come Christmas!