Chasing Cheerios

Sunday, July 15, 2012

A "Little House on the Prairie" Party AND a Giveaw ay!!! (details of Giveaway at the end)

O(5) told me that she wanted to have a "Little House on the Prairie" party for her 6th birthday shortly after Elliott's brain tumor diagnosis, and I was so thankful to her for giving me something fun to think about!  We've been talking and planning ever since!   Her party was this morning, and it was great!

We hung dress-up clothes from our clothes lines for the children to dress up in as they arrived at the party.  My niece was proud to stay by the clothes to help the children choose their clothing and get changed.




Our first activity was embroidery.  I read the children the book, Summer in the Big Woods, before introducing the activity.  We gave each child a small embroidery hoop with a piece of embroidery floss knotted onto a needle.  We drew heart patterns, and they embroidered using a straight stitch.







The children then moved to the next quilt to make scented satchets.  Each child chose a piece of cloth which they filled with their choice of dried lemon and orange peels, dried rosemary, dried chocolate mint, and dried lemon balm.  Once they filled their squares of cloth, they tied them together with yarn.





We then moved to the clothes washing area.  The children LOVED this activity.  They took turns washing clothes using a washboard and then hanging them on the line.  After the party activities were over and the cake was eaten, they all gravitated back to this area to wash more clothes!
















They had fun hammering nails into this piece of wood.







The children loved walking on these logs that we arranged in the shape of a 6!  My dad cut these logs for O to use as seats at her party, but since they were wet from rain, we decided to set them up as an "old time" playground!  My mom thought of the idea to set them up in the shape of a 6, and O was very excited about this!






The next activity was making butter!  We gave each child a small jar that was filled about 1/3 of the way with heavy cream and a marble.  The children shook the jars until they had butter.  One child's marble broke through the glass and cut her finger, so be careful if you do this activity.  Luckily, we had a grandaddy with a first aid kit nearby!

We put an old butter churn next to the butter making station to add to the authenticity.  After the butter was made, we spread it on biscuits for the children to enjoy.  My mom also made fig preserves (with figs from our fig tree) to spread on the biscuits.  This was a huge hit!




After they finished their biscuits, the children shopped at the mercantile.  We gave each child a tin bucket (from Target) filled with 20 pennies.  Everything at the mercantile cost 1 penny each, so they were able to buy lots of goodies!  O and E were the proud shopkeepers at the mercantile (O said this was her favorite part of the party!).

We've been making goodies to sell at the mercantile for the past few weeks (the girls love to play "Laura and Mary" while they craft).  We had a tray of lace, button lamps, and corn husk dolls on this table.




On this table, we had small balls of yarn, large pickles, cookies (molasses cookies and tea cakes made by O's grandmother), and candy!






We had apples and biscuits on the next table.





We made homemade lemonade (using the lemon squeezer in the picture) to serve in mason jars at the party. The children loved the lemonade!


The idea to set up a mercantile came from this blog via Pinterest.



After the children finished shopping at the mercantile, we had cake and ice-cream.  O has been planning her cake decorations since February, and she was very pleased with how it turned out!  She originally wanted white icing so she could pretend it was snow, but I suggested tinting it green to look like grass since it is summer.  She thought that was a good idea.  I laminated Laura, Mary, and Jack paper dolls to put on the cake, and O drew a log cabin which I also laminated.  She drew lines with a butter knife and said it was the garden, and she asked me to put the candles in the garden.



The children played with the hoop and stick and dropped clothes pins in old glass milk jugs as the last activity.

Four of the children at the party (one of them was O) were wearing dresses made by Cheri at Ashleys Attic.  She is offering a 10% discount to readers of Chasing Cheerios.  When you check out, put chasingcheerios in as a coupon code to get 10% off your order through August 15th!

In honor of O's birthday, Cheri has offered to do a GIVEAWAY of an apron and bonnet set!!!  To enter the  giveaway, go to her Etsy store, Ashley's Attic, and browse around for a while.  Come back here and leave a comment telling me which item you like best in her store.  A random number will be drawn to choose the winner 1 week from today (July 22, 2012).

Our girls received these pioneer nightgowns for Christmas, and they love them!  O's pioneer dress is similar to this one, and it is perfect for our little "Laura."


Btw, I've had this blog closed to comments, but it's (obviously) temporarily open for comments again in order to host this giveaway :)



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40 comments:

  1. You've outdone yourself with this party!! One day the girls will know how incredibly lucky they are to have you for their Mom :) My daughter and I have read 2 of the Little House books and she would LOVE a dress & bonnet. I think the classic would work well for her: Laura Ingalls Dress, Little House on the Prairie/pioneer costume, Bonnet , Pinafore & Purse.

    Thank you for organizing the giveaway!

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  2. This looks like a great party. I bet your daughter will never forget it. We love Little House on the Prairie in our house, too. We really enjoy reading all types of historical fiction. My five year old daughter is beginning to like the American Girls Historical Fiction characters. She really liked the American Girl Felicity outfit that she saw Ashley's Attic's Etsy website. Thanks for a great post. :)

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  3. My daughter would love the Civil War Walking Dress! What a beautiful shop that is!

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  4. I love all the pioneer bonnets. My daughters are looking over my shoulder and exclaiming over the Wendy Darling costume.

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  5. Thank you for sharing the party with us! All the dresses are beautiful but I have a special fondness for the American Girl Kirsten Birthday Dress.
    Kims2312@verizon.net

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  6. My daughter would love the American Girl Kirsten Birthday Pioneer dress /Costume for Girls, Pinafore and Bonnet. What an amazing party and shop!

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  7. WOW!! What a wonderful party!! So many great activities!!

    I LOVE the Victorian Nightgown! So lovely!!

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  8. My daughter really likes Girls Pioneer Dress..Little House Prairie costume ...Matching Bonnet ..Pinafore in lilac.
    Thank you for the giveaway.

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  9. I'm loving the Wendy Darling dress. So cute!

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  10. I have loved everything "Little House on the Prairie" since I was very young. I love the Laura Ingalls' dresses. I also love the prairie bonnets because my mom made me one when I was little, and I wore it everywhere!

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  11. Such a great party! My daughter and I love the purple floral dress and bonnet listed as:

    Girls Pioneer Dress..Little House Prairie costume ...Matching Bonnet ..Pinafore

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  12. What an awesome party! My daughter loved the Colonial Dress at Ashley's Attic. Actually she loved everything but that is the one that stuck out!

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  13. I think the civil war dress is beautiful. I wish I could sew! Thanks for offering the giveaway and great party ideas!

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  14. My daughter's birthday is July 22nd and we love Little House! :D I love these party ideas and that Etsy shop has adorable clothes! We like the pioneer bonnet & pinafore set and the apron with the mob cap, her stuff is so creative. I think my favorite of your party ideas were making butter and the cake. :) You did a great job, thanks for the giveaway!

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  15. My daughter's birthday is July 22nd and we love Little House! :D I love these party ideas and that Etsy shop has adorable clothes! We like the pioneer bonnet & pinafore set and the apron with the mob cap, her stuff is so creative. I think my favorite of your party ideas were making butter and the cake. :) You did a great job, thanks for the giveaway!

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  16. I love the prairie/coloniel bloomers for their functionality, especially with my dress loving daughter! I also like the blue dot pioneer dress because it is very similar to Kirsten's (our current AG we are reading since I am 3rd generation swedish-american).

    Dawn nystrom.dawn@hotmail.com

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  17. I've been a fan of your blog for a while now. Thanks for all the great ideas and inspiration.
    I looked around at Ashley's Attic--I really liked the Girls Colonial dress in Jewel Tones, I'm a sucker for teal.

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  18. Beautiful! I like the Anne of Green Gables dress at Ashley's Attic.

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  19. You thought of everything for this darling party, didn't you? I love all the activities for the girls, along with shopping at the mercantile!

    My sweet niece is 11 and is very much into this period...she goes to a week long camp at The Wade House in WI. They dip candles, make a simple stitched doll, learn to make an s hook at the blacksmith, etc. She would LOVE a dress from Ashley's Attic. Sorry, I don't know which one but if I win, I'll let her pick!

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  20. Your part is awesome, how creative. I really like the Blue Colonial dress.

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  21. Gosh, what a wonderful giveaway! Um.. I don't think I can pick a favorite. I love the nightgowns, the pioneer and colonial dresses and I love that there is matching dolls clothing as well. Such cute things. Added her shop to my favs on Etsy.

    And the party turned out so cute!!

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  22. The dress that stood out the most to me was the Girls Victorian Nightgown / Made to order Premium Cotton sizes 4 to 14

    It reminded me of when I was young and would get ready for bed, favoring nightgowns with character. I would spend the rest of the night running around pretending I was from another time and fall asleep doing the same.

    I hope my daughter can have the same experience!

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  23. My Granddaughter, Emily would really love a birhtday party like this. She is so into the Civil War re-inactment era.

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  24. I don't know if it's the dress I like the best but it's the one that triggered and instant memory. The American Girl Samantha dress. I didn't think of American Girl though but Anne of Green Gables when all she wanted was "puffed sleeves" and Mathew went and got her the dress to go to the ball in Carmedy. It's one of my favorite books and movies of all times.

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  25. I swear my beautiful cousin was born in the wrong time era. I have never seen a little girl who would rather make candles out of bee's wax instead of going to the mall! I may be biased, but I think she would look adorable in an apron and bonnet from Ashley's Attic :)

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  26. Way to go on a great party!

    My daughter would love anything from the store! Especially the american girl doll size things!!

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  27. My daughter would love anything from this store! She was meant to be a prairie girl!

    Love your daughter's party....amazing!!

    -M. Green
    mnallen79@hotmail.com

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  28. What a fabulous party! My girls would love the pioneer costumes in purple and pink.

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  29. The party looks fantastic! O must have had so much fun.
    I love all the dresses at Ashley's Attic but - inspired by this party - am most drawn to the Pioneer Dress / Little House Costume. :) Thanks for the chance to win.

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  30. We are just getting into the LHOP books! :>) I love the sunbonnets (pioneer bonnets) - thanks for the chance!

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  31. What a lot of thought and preparation went into the party! As a child I loved the Little House books, and read them to my six children. Now I am about to introduce my 6-year old granddaughter to the Little House books! Thanks for introducing me to Ashley's Attic - I especially like the girl's pioneer dress/prairie costume.

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  32. I love the Laura Ingalls LHOtP gingham dress.

    Looks like you had a lot of fun. I'm planning on introducing my 5 year old to the Little House books as soon as we get through all the Magic Treehouse books she got for her birthday.

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  33. Happy Birthday to sweet O! ...and such a fun and delightful Prairie Party. As a mom of 5 girls, this post was so fun to read and full of inspiration to throw a similar party.

    Thank you for sharing Ashley's Attic, too! I just love the Colonial Dress/Ball Gowns, but I'd have to say my all time favorite is the Anne of Green Gables station dress. It's my favorite book, too :)

    ~Continuing to pray for your husband, too!

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  34. What a fun fun party! I love all the details you put into the activities. We've read some of the new picture books from the Little House series, but I think we'll start reading the originals now... I loved the Wending Darling dress at Ashley's Attic Etsy store (but I do love little girls in bonnets-time for big girl bonnets since the baby bonnets have been out-grown!)

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  35. What a wonderful party!!!! Both my girlie and I "oooed" and "aaahhed" at the pictures of everything and thought that it looked like great fun! My girlie said "Can we go there?" What love went into every detail and what precious memories for you and your sweet girls!! I have always been a fan of Laura Ingalls and the whole "Little House on the Prairie" set since I was little and my momma read them to me. I couldn't wait to share them with my girlie! I was so delighted to find these picture books that were adapted from the original stories so we could immerse ourselves in Laura's world even sooner! They are perfect for my girlie as she is only 4 (although since reading them she now also loves to listen to me read a little bit from the original chapter books) What fun!!! We also had fun going to Ashley's Attic Etsy store. Everything was beautiful. After much (and I do mean much) looking and thinking my girlie chose the "Girls Civil War Walking Dress, Bonnet with Pantalets...." as her ultimate favorite.

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  36. Thak you! Thank you! For all the wonderful ideas on this site. My girls can't wait to do a party like this. they ran in the other room to start planning. I love the mathching girl and doll dresses colonial bonnets and nightgowns. Also, Cheri is so helpful in helping with sizing and is very knowledgable about historical clothing. You are both a blessing to my Montessori homeschool. Also, please enter me into the contest! Thank you, janelle_pul@sbcglobal.net

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  37. What a super fun party! And thanks so much for linking my Little House party--it's one of my fave parties we've done.

    My favorite part of yours is the "playground"--how adorable!

    :)

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  38. This has to be the best party ever! What great ideas - I especially love shopping at the 'mercantile' what a unique idea for party favors!

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  39. Thanks for good ideas! I used your mercantile store and the stumps for our Little House party. You can see my twist on the store at http://www.thissimplehome.com/2012/10/an-old-fashioned-penny-store-little.html

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  40. Incredible! We homeschool too and also just finished all 9 seasons of Little House and we adore it! My daughter is ready for a Little House Bday party and you gave me some wonderful inspiration! Thank you!

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