Two of my favorite little princesses just turned three years old.  My niece, Ruby Jane and my youngest daughter, Mia Kate, were born just 17 hours apart and have grown to be best buds.  Well, usually.  They get along when sharing isn’t involved.  But that’s just a phase, right?

When my sister and I asked the girls what kind of party they wanted, they barely skipped a beat before they decided it should be a princess party.  And who are we to argue?  This meant lots of pink, sprinkles, tulle and fun decorations.

The dessert table was full of pink and green.  Oreo cupcakes, funfetti cupcakes, dipped ice cream cones, pink cinnamon popcorn and a four layer princess cloud cake were among the dessert menu items.  The princess pictures of the girls made a fun and really cute backdrop.

It’s actually pretty challenging to find pink and green in late May, because stores are gearing up for Memorial Day and summertime, so everything seems to be red, white and blue.  We worked around the problem by crafting a lot of our own decorations.  For instance, these treat boxes were perfect for a serving of cinnamon popcorn.

My girls love dipped ice cream cones, so we dipped them in white chocolate and added chocolate shavings and pink and green sprinkles.  I saw some people (Dad) eating them plain, with no ice cream!  Our homemade ice cream flavors included funfetti-vanilla and Rolo-caramel-swirl.  (Recipes coming soon!)

In keeping with the funfetti and sprinkle theme, I made some strawberries and cream cake balls, using strawberry cake and cream cheese for binding instead of canned frosting.  These were also dipped in white chocolate and topped with sprinkles.  Also pictured below is funfetti cake batter no-bake fudge.  Very rich, but a hit with the kids!

An old favorite of mine made an appearance – Oreo cupcakes!  These were special, though – they were made with Birthday cake Oreos – filled with, what else? Funfetti cream!

And, my favorite dessert of the day?  A four layer, chocolate and vanilla cloud cake!   Alternating layers of chocolate fudge cake and vanilla bean white cake are filled with vanilla-almond buttercream and frosted with one of my new favorite methods.  Topped with a strawberry Whopper, this cute cake completed the dessert table.  Love.

Dinner was lasagna, salad, bread and a pasta bar.  We made two different kinds of pasta – piccolini (mini penne) and linguine fini, and offered tons of topping options.  Our sauces included both marinara and Alfredo, and the toppings included:  Italian sausage, meatballs, grilled chicken, mini pepperoni, cannelini beans, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, green olives, kalamata olives, freshly grated Parmesan, mozzarella pearls and fresh basil.

Speaking of photo-op, we always try to get all of the nieces and nephews together for a picture when we’re all together.  They all had crowns and tieras for the party.  This was the closest I could get to a good picture.  They did NOT want to sit still.  They had a pinata waiting for them, for Pete’s sake!

But seriously, how cute is my niece, Reese?  She’s adorable, and has a birthday coming up in a couple of months!

It was beautiful outside, so we took the princess pinata to the front porch and let the girls whack at it for quite a while.  Unfortunately they weren’t quite strong enough to break it open, so we had to help out, but they sure loved beating on that thing!

The rest of the party was spent opening gifts and relaxing, just enjoying the day.   Here’s my Dad hanging out on the front porch with the remnants of the princess pinata.

The boys played some football for a bit in the front yard.

The girls both got motorized cars.  I have a feeling this picture is a good indication of what we’ll be dealing with in about 13 years.  Geez, can you imagine?  I’m kind of scared.

Here’s my oldest playing with her sister’s John Deere.  I think it’s cute that Mia wanted a tractor for her birthday.  We’re definitely raising a country girl!

We finally got the girls inside for cake and ice cream, which was no small task thanks to their new toys.  Just two candles this year, one for each of them.

My oldest absolutely hates it when people sing Happy Birthday to her.  My youngest?  Loves it.  In fact, we had to blow out the candles three times.

All in all, it was a great party.  I think the girls felt special and got plenty of princess attention, which is really what it’s all about.  My sweet little Mia really is a bright spot in every one of my days, so anything I can do to make her feel special is worth every bit of effort.  How could you not love this little face?

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.  Recipes from the party are coming soon.  Don’t forget, I love to read comments from you all, so be sure to leave some of your thoughts behind.  And while you’re at it, look me up on Facebook or Twitter to follow along with everything Lemon Sugar!

A big shout-out to my sister and her friend Sammie for helping out with the paper decorations.  They made the banner, crowns for the kids, cupcake picks and princess wands.  So creative, and I love them! And of course, I couldn’t plan the party without my sister – any party, actually.  She’s always helping me out, whether I’m just bouncing ideas off of her or if she’s involved in the heavy lifting.   So, thanks girls!

Happy Princess Party Day!