A Blooming Garden Party

My daughter turned eleven this summer and we decided to turn our backyard into a charming garden party. We had recently had a swing arbor built (we like to put canvas swings on it in the summer), and I was eager to utilize it as our backdrop. First step in all my party planning is to typically gain some inspiration from Pinterest. I found an inspo picture and some fun ideas for activities. The best part was that my daughter was very eager to help with all the planning. I have added below the details of the party and included Amazon links if you would like to recreate this theme for a spring or summer party of your own!

Decorations:

We bought small vases and fake flowers from the Dollar Tree. We added some river rock in the bottom of each vase so they wouldn't blow away. Some ribbon was the final touch. These served as decoration for the pallet table and also as a favor for the girls to take home.

The most challenging part of the decorating was decorating the swing arbor. I utilized a lot of fishing line! I bought two pool noodles at the Dollar Tree. I strung them with fishing line. I then poked the Wisteria Hanging Flowers through the pool noodle. It took a lot of string, some tape and a little wishful thinking, but it held for the evening! I also hung some paper lanterns. I had some already that were battery-powered, but you could look for some like these.

For the table portion, I was able to get four used pallets. I placed them on a beach blanket (like this one) so the girls had somewhere comfortable to sit. I bought a tablecloth to cover the pallets. (I put a disposable tablecloth under the fabric tablecloth to protect it from the pallet wood. I tucked the tablecloths around the pallets so there would be no chance of splinters. I had plenty of pillows around the house, but wanted fun, pastel colors. We ordered these pillow covers and they worked out great. I look forward to using them again for parties or sleepovers in the future. I had some sheers from a previous party that we used to decorate the sides. I was so pleased with the final product!

We dressed the table with our flower vases and added pastel paper products from the Dollar Tree. The table was set!

Food:

The food was super simple. We served deli sandwiches, veggies, fruit and chips. The number trays were inexpensive and came from Hobby Lobby. Cupcakes (decorated with flowers) were the dessert. A sparkling lemonade drink bar finished off the theme.

Craft:

I am never sure what craft is going to be enjoyed by tweens, but this one was a hit. I bought a set of jars and faux candles. The girls were each given a paper plate, a plastic tweezer (this was so important and I was so glad that I bought these.) I then laid out the dried flowers. (I bought two sets of these.) The girls were then allowed to choose flowers to put around their jar. I gave everyone small cups full of Modge Podge and a paintbrush. The girls really spent some time on this and seemed to sincerely enjoy it. As the evening got darker, it was so fun to see their flower lanterns glow. I did make sure that we did the craft early on during the party because it required time to dry.

This party was so much fun to plan! The girls seemed to enjoy the evening. My daughter enjoyed the party and we all hold fun memories of when our backyard turned a little whimsical for an evening.

You can find everything that I used for the party by shopping at my Amazon link.

Reach out if you have any questions! Happy party planning!