A Pony Party

After much deliberating between an Under the Sea birthday, a Fairy Princess birthday, and a Pony birthday, Ali finally chose to have a pony birthday.  I took a pic of her with her two favorite pony toys and made photo invites when Money Saving Mom posted a 20 free photo cards for $1.50 shipping deal.  Ali invited 17 little girls from church because she didn't want anyone to feel left out. 

Ali loved helping me assemble the party favors.  I was trying to steer away from too much sugar or the junky little plastic toys that break.  So, I bought about 7 packages of hair ties from Family Dollar and divided them up so each girl got a nice mix of pony tail holders.  I got Pony fruitsnacks on a super deal with a coupon for 50 cents a box.  My mom found these little Valentine cups at the Dollar store.  We put each cup in a clear plastic party bag and tied it with yarn.  So it only cost me about $12 total for 14 cute and practical favors!

I didn't do a lot of "pony decor" but Ali did want some pink streamers.  She colored a pony picture for the door, on which I wrote, "Welcome to Ponyland."  I bought a bouquet of beautiful flowers since they were very cheap on post-V-Day sale and they really brightened up the room.

I tried to draw a giant horse for Pin the Tail on the Pony but alas, my drawing skills are deteriorating every year.  I couldn't get it to look like a real pony so I just used a page from Ali's coloring book and made tiny tails for the girls.

Ali enjoyed the Jessie and Bullseye cake topper I purchased online last year and wanted a pony one this year.  I gladly agreed since they are sooo easy and much cheaper than purchasing a fancy storebought cake.  I could have tried to make a pony-shaped cake, but I just wasn't that ambitious this year!  The sugar-paper cake topper was $11 with shipping.

We played "Pass the Pony" which is like Hot Potato only we used one of the girls' stuffed ponies.

All of the girls were instructed to bring their favorite pony to the party to play with.  We also had a "Pony Race" with all of the girls and their ponies. 

The girls colored pony pictures and drew their own designs on the horses and named them.

They took a lot of time and care with their coloring.  I can't believe how much quieter 11 little girls are compared to my 2 wild boys!

I pulled out lots of the craft stuff from my Aunt and we made pony bead bracelets for another activity!  They did a great job!

My mom bought Ali a Color-Me-Playhouse which was a HUGE hit with all the little girls.  They happily colored on for over an hour while Ali gave orders on which colors she wanted and what she wanted different girls to do.  Grammy thought it would keep our girl busy for a long time, but the entire house was colored in just 48 hours!  Katri even grabbed a marker and was trying to color on it to copy the girls!

Grammy brought this funny Valentine thing to the party just for fun so I took each girl's pic in it.

Because some of the girls' moms like to avoid sugar, I made a punch with all fruit juice and club soda and ice and lemon slices.  However, the girls didn't like it as much as I did!  I did a simple fruit tray with bananas and apples and strawberry yogurt fruit dip, and we had pretzels as well as cake and ice-cream.  I considered a pinata because there were some cute My Little Pony pinatas online, but I felt we had enough activities and didn't want to bring more sugar into the party.

A side note:  Aren't the new My Little Ponies extremely creepy with their enormous, weird-looking eyes?  I loved My Little Ponies as a girl and had lots of them and am thrilled that my daughters can enjoy the same toys I loved, but I hate the new style!  I try to buy vintage on ebay if I can or avoid the name-brand ponies and go with a generic brand that look more like the old ponies.  The new kind just freak me out and look soooo strange!  I was glad the ponies in the cake topper look like the old kind and not the new kind!

Ali was very happy with her party and it didn't break the bank!

Invites:  $1.50 (hand-delivered)

Food/Cups/Plates:  $25

Favors:  $12

Decorations:  $6

Craft Supplies:  $0

(thanks to my Aunt giving me her craft stash)

Total cost of the Pony Party:

$44.50