Sunday, June 21, 2009

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!

21 comments:

Lyns said...

I loved the party mom! Thank you so much! It's the most fun I've had all year. It was so nice to be able to hang out with all of my "bestest" friends in a relaxing environment. The food was delicious and the decorations were so cute. Thank you for all the time you put into it. You always throw a beautiful party with every detail perfected. I love you!!!!

Abby said...

That just looks like so much fun! I'm so glad you used a bunch of my ideas..glad I could help in some sort of way! :)

Now, I'm hoping you guys actually do this for Christmas..I'm serious! I'm all jealous like..I want homemade lipgloss and oatmeal scrubby soaps and bath bombs! Too fun!

Give Lynds a huge hug from me..love you guys!

Luisa Perkins said...

You are the best mother EVER! How fun; I wish I could have crashed the party!

Josi said...

wow, I'm exhausted just reading about all this--what a cool mom you are. I'm hoping you hire yourself out for other kid's parties :-) I don't think I have all this in me.

Mindy said...

That sounds like the most awesome party ever! It also makes me wish I had a girl-child so that I could plan one of these!

I'm glad she had a great time, and I'm so glad that it was a success!

Annette Lyon said...

Yay! You found the perfect craft! And the displays and everything look beautiful! You obviously put a ton of work into the party. Wowzers.

Turleygirl said...

What a fun party that must have been! Good job Mom!

YogaNana said...

Wow, what a great party!

And what a confirmation of my Christmas-gift-making plans! :o)

Hannah said...

Jenna! That looked like so much fun!! I want some for Christmas too!!!

Sarah said...

Sounds like it was great fun! And your invite was beautiful! You didn't need my help for that, although I would have loved to be a part of it. Awesome job! Maybe in 5 years when Rylie turns 15 (ACK! ONLY 5 years?!?!?) I can borrow this idea for a birthday party!

family said...

Yeah!!! I'd love to think I helped you with that idea - so glad you did the soap and homemade spa stuff! BUT - you need to post the links where your ideas came from OR the directions for the best stuff! One day I will have a 15 year old ya know!

isshou ni said...

Hopefully the idea will spread and more kids will have great parties like these! You are so awesome to do all that and I know that it paid off!

Stephanie Humphreys said...

Sounds like a great party and great memories for the girls. I may have to do this for my daughter's next birthdays. Where did you get the recipes?

amber Watt said...

Love it! How nice to be able to do this for such a deserving daughter. You are officially the coolest mom ever.

loves

Julie Wright said...

Holy wow! You are one awesome mom! That looks like a blast.

* said...

What a fun party! I'm taking notes for when my girls are older!!

Emily said...

That was sooo much fun Jenna! I have meen using the eye patch one alot and a can smell lavender all night long. I luv it! You and Lyndsay did a amazing job!

Emily

Angela said...

That looks so FUN! You are so darn creative! You are an amazing mom! Lyndsay looks so happy!

C. Michelle Jefferies said...

What a fun idea! I love it and am thinking that I should "borrow" your ideas for a party for my almost 16 yo. Looked like alot of fun.

Priscilla said...

Thank you for everything that night Mrs. Consolo! It was so much fun! I showed my Mom all of our sweet goodies, and she got so jelous. Now I have to hide everything in my drawers, especially the chapstick (: Haha Thank you again! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYNS<3

Anonymous said...

That looks like a total blast! The home spa scene is awesome. We had a emergency preparedness party at my place in January where we did the pamper thing, too -- it was a big hit :) http://tinyurl.com/cq4oum