An unforgettable childhood memory blooming with colorful crafts, sugary treats and just a little bit of magic can be created on a simple backyard patio. When our own production director at the WACOAN, Brittany Ross, set out to plan daughter Addie’s sixth birthday party, the main vision she had for what became the flower-filled, fairy-themed festivity was a “whimsical” party that her daughter would love.
Once the fairy garden theme was decided, it made the most sense to set up the party in their own backyard. A little less than a year ago, Ross and her husband had extended their porch and added a pergola to provide a breezy, shaded outdoor area.
“It was kind of the perfect place to accommodate a lot of kids,” Ross said. “[Addie’s] a yes girl. She wants to invite everyone, which is great, so we ended up with 30 kids at our house.”
Under the shade of the pergola, with the breeze blowing through their backyard, Ross set up tables with a palette of bubblegum pink, light teal and peachy orange. Each setting had a plate, flower crown and flowerpot for all of Addie’s friends to gather around and participate in fun garden-themed arts and crafts activities.
In each flowerpot, Ross put a little potting soil and supplied the kids with lots of flowers to choose from to plant their own fairy garden. She set out little accessories, such as mushroom, butterfly and bumblebee decorations, along with tiny wooden doors the kids could color with acrylic paint pens to customize a fairy door.
“Addie’s very ‘arts and crafts,’ so this was right up her alley,” Ross said. “Luckily, the flower garden actually took a good bit of time. The kids were at a good age where they were content doing something that didn’t take them just two seconds. I felt like this was a fun twist on an art party.”
Addie inherited her love of creative arts and crafts from her mom, whose own artistic abilities can be seen in the floor-to-ceiling flower wall, bursting with butterflies and vibrant, pastel flowers that tie everything together. Ross originally built the photo backdrop for her sister’s “Love in Bloom” themed wedding shower, but with the shower and the birthday party taking place only two weeks apart, Ross saw a way to get more use out of it at Addie’s party.
“That’s when I came up with the fairy garden,”
Ross said. “The flower wall is pegboard that I got from Home Depot, and I would get bunches of fake flowers and cut them off of the stems and hot glue them each in.”
In addition to decorating and setting up craft and food tables on the porch, Ross made party favors of butterfly and flower toys, glittery Play-Doh and stencils with cards that read “Thank you fairy much for coming to my party!”
While Ross was paying special attention to all the extra fun details of Addie’s party, including bouncy houses and snacks, she also was juggling the busyness of the month of May both at home and at work.
“Between hosting showers and Addie’s party and also doing Best of Waco at work, I was kind of swamped,” Ross said. “It’s also my husband’s birthday in May, my sister-in-law’s birthday, Addie’s birthday, Mother’s Day and my birthday, so it’s almost my whole family.”
Luckily, Ross had a lot of help from her sister-in-law and her mom, who owns a cookie business, The Cookie Cutter, Etc. Her mom made the custom flower- and butterfly-shaped sugar cookies, which over the years have become a staple at all of her grandchildren’s birthday parties. Ross’ mom, after all, is the reason Ross herself chooses to put so much effort into making her kid’s birthday parties extra special.
“I remember growing up, my mom would do parties like this for us,” Ross said. “My sister was very into Batman, and I remember [at] one of her parties my mom converting part of our house into Gotham City. It makes really fun memories, especially when you get to have them at your house.”
According to Ross, throwing creative birthday parties for her children, Addie and son Hudson, is one of her favorite things to do. Most of all, she says the most rewarding part of celebrating this birthday was her daughter’s reaction.
“She’s just so sweet and she’s always like, ‘Mommy that was just the best birthday party I’ve ever had,’” Ross said. “I think that hearing that, it just makes it worth it.”
