This was it. This was the year for a character party.
I had put it off for as long as I could, but when my daughter said she wanted an Elsa party, I knew it was time to "Let it go." When she also began to show a love for going to the nail salon with me, the wheels in my head began to turn and a mash-up party theme began to form. I started to think about what a nail salon in a {pastel} Frozen setting would be like, and before I knew it... Arendelle Nails was open for business!
One of the goals for this party (and really every party) was to not only celebrate our birthday girl, but to also make our guests feel special and honored. It was so fun to treat and pamper our friends!
After about the 15th time watching Frozen, I really began to notice and appreciate the gorgeous Scandinavian designs in the castle. I knew this would be a fun way to incorporate these designs into a pattern for the invites. I also knew I would need help! So I asked Caroline from Sweet Caroline Designs to help me with invitation, thank you tags, and logo for Arendelle Nails. She "nailed" it and truly set the tone for the party!
This nail salon party was one of the most challenging ones I've done- both logistically and stylistically. I knew that we would need to move 12 girls through a manicure station and "relaxing foot soak" station. I could not have done this party without our precious neighbor Olivia and her friend Lizzie, who helped us with all of the girls' manicures and pedicures.
Most of the spa supplies (such as the cucumber eye pads, bath fizzies, pedicure bowls, trays, nail supplies, etc.) were from Dollar Tree. I bought hand towels from At Home and my mom monogrammed each girl's name on them. For favors, we put Dollar Tree nail polish in these sweet scalloped boxes.
As girls arrived, we rotated them through the manicure station, foot soak chairs, and a table to "Practice Your Polish."
For the "Practice Your Polish" station, I wanted pretty pastel shades of polish, but also knew that we needed to keep everything washable. So I ordered these polish bottles from Amazon and mixed my own shades of washable paints ;) I also used stick-on jewels from the Dollar Tree and Hobby Lobby for the girls to decorate their manicures. This activity bought us some time while the other girls were at their stations.
While the girls were relaxing at the foot soak station, we served them their choice of smoothie (Naked brand smoothies).
After the girls were finished with their beauty treatments, we made our way to the Cafe at Arendelle Nails.
I set the table with a tablecloth from Pottery Barn, silver trays from Dollar Tree, and plastic plates and forks from Tuesday Morning. The little stools are from Five Below.
I thought it would be fun to incorporate some snow cones to play off of the "Frozen" theme, so I put Hostess Sno Balls in little cones that I made on my Cricut machine. I searched my town for white Sno Balls and they were nowhere to be found. So I ordered white ones on Amazon... and they still arrived blue! These were not tasty at all and the girls did not eat them... but they sure were cute!
Cookies from the incredible SugarKrewe. I always hide a few of these to save for myself after the party.
We had face masks (guacamole and cucumbers), lotion and exfoliator (yogurt and granola), nail polish (strawberries and cheese sticks), and nail files (sugar wafers).
After we finished eating, we left Arendelle Nails and headed out for an adventure to find the North Mountain. We stopped at Wondering Oaken's Trading post and spotted some trolls along the way, and finally arrived at our destination and took turns sliding down the North Mountain.
Joy has requested that we do this theme again, and that would be fine by me. But next time, I'm suggesting that the mamas have a turn at the spa too ;)
Thank you for following along!
Invitations and favor tags: Sweet Caroline Designs
Elsa: Charlotte Norris from Enchanted Princesses Cookies: SugarKrewe
Cake: Magic Muffin