Today I'm Posting about a Vintage Storybook Birthday Party....

Ash turned 3 in November.  I am waaaaaaaaaaaaay overdue in posting about her big birthday party.  Sheesh.  I'm already planning her fourth.  Anyways, I went with a vintage storybook theme because she loves books.  Brace yourselves.  I'm putting up a ton of pics!

(the birthday girl)

(decor)

(this is the bunting/banner i made out of vintage storybooks.  i glued the paper to ric-rac and adore how it turned out!)

(my sister and i taped these little butterflies all over.  again, they were cut from vintage storybooks.)

(i also placed books all over the room to serve as decorations.)

(how the hall/entry was decorated.  these are the favors.  more on that later.)

(and of course a sign and balloons so no one took the birthday girl's seat of honor.)

(the guests mostly arrived at the same time.  tony's family took a ferry to get there.  the four adorable girls in the forefront of this picture are some of my sisters.)

(i wish i'd gotten some better pictures of britt so we could see the adorable dress she had on.  totally looked circa 1933.  she was sportin' a super short skirt and awesome pudgy legs!)

(i had soooooooooooo much fun planning the menu.  it was all story related.  here we have hack and jill's pails full of water bottles.)

(my hubby made super cute labels for everything too!)

(captain hook's booty.  heheh.  it's like healthy cheetos.  sorta.)

(cinderella's pumpkin cookies. i'll include the awesome recipe at the end of this post.)

(the giving tree's hot apple cider.)

(green eggs and ham quiche.)

(three little pigs in a blanket.)

(the very hungry caterpillar's fruit.)

(goldilox tea sandwiches. yum!)

(sal's blueberry muffins. from costco.)

(curious george's bananas.)

(peter rabbit's veggie tray.)

(the evil queen's poison potion.  if i remember correctly, this was made with a carton of limeade, a quart of lime sherbet, and a 2 liter container of sparkling water.)

(the little red hen's bread.  my sister, molly, made this.  she's a very talented baker.)

(winnie the pooh bear's honey butter.  of course!)

(some of the lay out.  it was a help yourself type of thing.)

(bakerella's sprite cake, homemade strawberry frosting which involved pureed strawberries and cool-whip and i wish i'd kept the recipe, and vintage book butterflies again.)

(blowing out the candles.  love how beethoven is right next to her, sharing in the excitement.)

(sweet, little side profile.  and another little candle-blowing coach.  heehee!)

(tony's lovely grandma helping ash open a present.)

(admiring her new hungry caterpillar game.)

(now beethoven is helping.  **laugh**)

(the favors!)

(i set up a bunch of vintage books and reprints of vintage books and put a box covered in vintage storybook paper in the middle.  the box held retro candy wrapped in...yep! vintage book pages!  everyone took home a package of retro candy and a vintage book.)

(see?)

(and see?  i love how they were decorations and favors.)

(one of my brothers with his retro licorice mustache candy.  all sorts of awesomeness!)

(color shot of the birthday girl.  she's so pretty!)

(love her gorgeous, soft eyes.)

Cinderella's Pumpkin Choco Chip Cookies

2 cups shortening (or 1 c. shortening and 1 c. butter)
2 cups sugar
1 15-oz can pumpkin
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 stp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips (or one bag)

Cream shortening and sugar.  Add pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla; beat well.  Stir together flour and dry ingredients.  Add to batter; mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop rounded spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Yum, yum!