Throw a Child's Springtime Birthday Party

This month we're partnering with Pizzazzerie, a wonderful entertaining website and blog focused on various party ideas, DIY holiday and party decor projects, recipes, and wedding advice. Head over to read more tips about children's parties and some amazing ideas for throwing your own soiree for your favorite little ones! Check out the article here.

My older daughter Alessandra’s birthday is in May, and my younger daughter, Francesca, has a birthday that falls right after Christmas. Because the holidays are such a hectic time, I always throw Francesca’s birthday party in March. Although it’s still officially winter, I try to put a spring twist to the theme to transform the environment into a fun, colorful, light celebration that contrasts with the lavish decorations and extravagant mood of the winter holidays.

A few years ago for Francesca’s twelfth birthday, I re-created a party from my own childhood. I chose color combinations that were popular in the 60’s, and we made posters and decorations reflective of the era. Vases of hot pink gerbera daisies filled the house, trays piled high with homemade cupcakes graced the table, and in the background played the music from Across the Universe. Her guests even played vintage Barbie, a board game from my childhood. I also invited the mothers of Francesca’s friends over for a pre-party glass of Champagne. I served homemade stove-top popcorn along with pizza and a variety of organic “junk food.” We watched Francesca and her friends on what was probably the last year of their official “girlhood” and sang Francesca “Happy Birthday.” Then the girls headed downstairs with sleeping bags in tow, ready to enjoy their first independent sleepover.

Rosanna’s Tips on Planning a Child’s Party

Over the past twenty years that I’ve thrown birthday parties for my daughters, I’ve learned some important lessons for how to make a birthday party successful.

1. Pick a theme. We chose the 1960’s because we love the colors and design elements of the era. It’s often easier to come up with fun foods, decorating ideas, and party activities when you have a framework in which to brainstorm.
2. Design a fun invitation on the computer or craft handmade invitations that define the party. Let people know that this is an event to look forward to!
3. Play a variety of age appropriate games; the most popular at my daughter’s twelfth birthday party was the vintage Barbie game, and we also rented movies like Big, Mamma Mia!, The Parent Trap, and Grease.
4. Provide food that’s easy to deal with and at least somewhat healthy. To accomplish these goals, I ordered pizza from a restaurant that uses fresh, local ingredients, and I made my own cupcakes from a good boxed mix that had no preservatives or additives. I made big bowls of homemade popcorn and served fun snacks like Smart Puffs and Hava Corn Chips form San Francisco (another throwback from the theme era), and for an indulgent treat, I set out bowls of colorful M&Ms.
5. Set up a space that takes into account the interests of your child and his or her friends. For the sleepover in our basement, I piled up lots of blankets and set out big puffy floor pillows and beanbag chairs for easy movie viewing and late-night chats.

Sleepover Chocolate Chip Pancakes

These pancakes are the perfect breakfast for a pre-teen sleepover party. They are homemade and deliciously decadent served with pure Vermont maple syrup. After a long night of chatting and girl talk, this breakfast is the perfect food to accompany the last bit of silliness and joking before everyone heads home. To offset the rich, high-carbohydrate breakfast, I serve tall glasses of ice-cold organic 2 percent milk (then leave the girls to enjoy the meal on their own). Use several skillets so guests are not left waiting for their breakfasts.

MAKES 8 (6-INCH) (15 CM) PANCAKES

1 cup (142 g) all-purpose flour

¼ cup (49 g) sugar

1 teaspoon (6 g) fine sea salt

1 teaspoon (6 g) baking powder

1 cup (250 ml) whole milk

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract

3 tablespoons (42 g) butter, melted

Canola oil

1 (10-ounce) (284 g) bag semisweet chocolate chips (you want to add about 7 or 8 chips per pancake)

Real Vermont maple syrup, for serving

Mix the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl and set aside. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, vanilla, and butter. Gently pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold to just combine.

Brush a large, heavy skillet (or several skillets) with oil, then place over medium-high heat. Using a ¼-cup (12 ml) measuring cup, scoop the batter into the skillet to form 6-inch (15 cm) pancakes. Cook until small bubbles appear on the top of the pancake, then sprinkle with chocolate chips. Flip the pancake to cook the other side until lightly browned or golden, about 4 minutes per side, or until the top is bubbling and the bottom has solidified. Serve hot, with syrup.

Have fun!

With love,

www.rosannainc.com

Birthday

About a week ago, I celebrated another birthday. I love birthdays because they offer the opportunity to do my favorite things--gather, connect and create joy together.
However, I've never liked birthday celebrations that are all about me. This year, I wanted all the good things that come along with a celebration--festivity, laughter and community, but I didn't want the focus on me. So, instead of having my friends or family throw a party in honor of me, I  threw a party in honor of something very important to me: women.
This birthday party in which I focused on celebrating a group of people I feel passionate about was a perfect solution--it allowed me to celebrate a community I love and myself, at the same time.
Here are some tips to plan your own birthday party premised on one of your passions:

• Think about the identities that define you the most. Are you a painter? A triathlete? A gardener? What communities do you belong to? Think about which activities make you feel most yourself when you're doing them. If you're drawing a blank, start out by making a list of your five primary identities and choose one to inspire your birthday theme.
• Decide on an activity. It may be related to the identity of pursuit you want to celebrate, like a day in the garden with your gardening friends. Or a studio night with your artist friends. Maybe, it's simply a shared meal together or a good old-fashioned party.
• Choose an aesthetic theme for your celebration. If you're a gardener, maybe the theme is green. If you're a writer, maybe you'll incorporate words. If you're a world traveler, you could start by replicating the aesthetic from one of your favorite countries. Because my theme was women, I decided to throw a dinner party where everyone would be free to chat and connect without distraction. I set a feminine table incorporating fresh cut roses, my finest linens, my most delicate china, beautiful crystal stemware and antique silverware. The guests oohed and ahhed, appreciating every element on the table. 

Other helpful questions I asked myself to round out my birthday theme included: 

1. What time of day should this party take place?
2. What kind of music fits this theme? Which kind of menu will enhance the party the most?
3. In lieu of gifts, is there a project or activity related to the theme that we can do together in honor of my birthday?

This years birthday celebration was a beautiful gathering. I felt both celebrated and fulfilled, having spent the evening in a community I love, honoring and sharing all the things we have in common. I can't think of a better way to commemorate the passage of another year, than that.


*Photo by John Granen courtesy of Coming Home: A Seasonal Guide to Creating Traditions. Published by Abrams: Stewart, Tabori & Chang

www.rosannainc.com

Francesca turns 13 with Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn, and Friends

Whew! What a party! We just finished celebrating Francesca's 13th birthday. The last girls walked out our front door at 11 am on Sunday after a nearly 24-hour long celebration. Seven girls slept over (though I doubt that anyone actually spent much time sleeping) and dined on chocolate chip birthday breakfast pancakes when they awoke.

Francesca’s guests arrived on Saturday afternoon to participate in 43rd Street Runway based on the hit TV show Project Runway. (We named the party “43rd Street Runway” after the street we live on.) Each girl brought three items of clothes from home to create a runway look.

My older daughter Alessandra was in charge of the judging. She recruited two friends to play Tim Gunn and a guest judge from London named Ling Ling. Alessandra played Heidi Klum. Once everyone had arrived, the judges presented the girls with a “challenge:” to create three distinct runway looks based on the film of their choice. The girls then drew numbers one by one choose 4 additional items from the abundantly stocked 43rd Street Runway Dressing Room. After they chose their new items, the girls split in to groups to create their looks, and walked the runway half an hour later.

The fashion show was hysterical. The girls were very creative and presented some great looks.

I was also very impressed with the judges’ ability to stay in character and channel the haute couture attitude of the fashion world. The girls and the judges alike really “made it work.”

No birthday party at our house would be complete with out a matching table design. I started with Rosanna Dauphine Candlesticks in black to create an edgy fashion look. I arranged the homemade red velvet cupcakes on our matching Rococo Noir Cake Pedestals, and made a surprisingly cool-looking tablecloth out of pages torn from Harper's Bazaar.

The day’s entertainment didn’t stop with the fashion show. Not many people know this, but Tim Gunn is also a magician (at least he was at this party) and wowed all of us by levitating a table and transforming a paper flower into a real one with a flash of fire.

After the cupcakes had been devoured and presents torn open, the girls retired to the basement to play-- what else?-- Band Hero Featuring Taylor Swift on the Wii. Various parents dropped by as the day wore on to watch the fashion show video footage. Heidi, Tim Gunn, and Ling Ling also stayed on for a pizza party. It was a great day and great fun.

I have to admit that putting 43rd Street Runway together was hard work. It required attending to many details and called for a few strategic planning session. But all of us, the 13 year-olds, 21 year-olds, and 50-some year-olds, had a wonderful time together. That fact alone made it all well worth the work.
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auf Wiedersehen,
















www.rosannainc.com

*the invitation for Cesca's party at the top of the post was created by Trista, one of our talented graphic designers