Fancy Nancy Party Part 4 - Details and the Party Itself!

Aria's 4th Birthday party with a Fancy Nancy theme was divine (that's a fancy word for great).  We invited seven little girls to come over on Saturday from 1-3:30 (right during Roscoe's nap time, so I wouldn't have to worry about him, and could just focus on the girls).  All the girls came wearing fancy dresses and accessories.  They were SO well behaved and quiet, and really into all the different activities that we had planned.  My husband and I had decorated the basement playroom with strings of white lights, and flowers we had drawn and cut out, and balloons.  I drew a big welcome sign for the front door to set the mood.  It is now on Aria's bedroom door!

First off, we made a construction paper fan.  The girls used the same jewels that we had used for the invitations to decorate their fans.  I also had some princess stickers on hand and markers.  I let them decorate the paper first, and then folded them up and stapled the end.

Then the girls spent time playing with the toys, and dressed up with some old costume jewelery that I had from when I was younger.  When they started to dress up, Aria and I handed out feather boas to each of the girls that we had found at the dollar store!  They were a big hit!

And since we were all dressed so fancy, we sat down to read a couple Fancy Nancy books!  The girls chose "Fancy Nancy" and also, "Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy".  Some of the girls hadn't read the books before, and they were a huge hit!

After that we played Stick the Jewel on the Tiara aka pin the tail on the donkey.  And then it was snack time, present opening, cake and then time to go home!  Aria had such a good time, the girls got along fabulously, and I had fun too!  I was wiped by the end.  It was great having Jeremy and his parents there to help and take pictures.  But even though we were so tired we went to bed around 10pm that night, the smile on this little girls face made it all worthwhile.  I can't believe my baby's four!  Happy Birthday Aria!

Fancy Nancy Party Part 3 - Cake

So, we got a bit of a hot spell here on Friday... and thus, my fondant didn't perform as I intended it to.  I also couldn't find a butterfly cookie cutter, so I improvised with a heart shaped one that I used to create both wings.  The butterflies ended up larger than I intended, but no biggie.  Fondant and heat are not friends, so I didn't even attempt to do the butterflies on sticks, and instead used some ones that I found at the dollar store.  I think they look pretty neat.  Here's the sketch of my plan...

 And how it turned out in the end!

Fancy Nancy Party Part 2 - Invitations

Aria loves to do anything crafty, so this year it was really fun to get her to make the invitations.  We went to the dollar store and bought doilies and jewels with stickers on the back (way easier than trying to glue them all individually!), and Aria decorated all the butterflies by herself.   We borrowed the idea from Fancy Nancy herself, from the book "Bonjour Butterfly".

Lately she's been drawing pictures for everyone she knows on post-it notes.  Its really neat to see how she is gaining more control over how she can colour and draw.  She tries REALLY hard to stay in the lines when she is colouring, and when she draws, she tries to draw things (like a smiley face or a pig) instead of just scribbling.  My baby's growing up!  Its crazy to think that in a year and a half she'll be starting kindergarten!  Where has the time gone?

Fancy Nancy Party Part 1 - Marshmallow fondant

So, the countdown is on.. Aria's fourth birthday will be upon us in a matter of only 4 sleeps!  And the big party in only 3 sleeps!  Foolish me, I took both kids shopping with me today to pick up some groceries and some last minute items for the party.  I came home with a splitting headache that only went away after I got the kids in bed this evening.  But, I did accomplish my goal for the evening: to make up a batch of marshmallow fondant to decorate the cake.  I used this recipe last year on a Dora cake, and everyone loved the fondant-look, but enjoyed the taste of it so much more than a conventional fondant.  I must admit, I am inspired by such shows as "Ace of Cakes" and "Cake Boss".  So we're doing a much more grown-up looking cake this year, but one that will be exquisite (that's an even fancier word than beautiful) and posh (that's a fancy word for fancy)!  Oo la la!

(Aria's 3rd Birthday Cake... my first fondant attempt)

Marshmallow Fondant
1 package (400 g) of mini marshmallows
4 Tbsp water
1 tsp flavor - I used imitation coconut because I couldn't find a clear version of vanilla, and I like to use just white fondant and I thought that dark vanilla would make it kind of beige.
1 bag (1kg) of icing sugar
1/4 c crisco (works much better than butter for this)
1. Place crisco in a bowl to the side for easy access
2. Place marshmallows in a bowl and microwave on high for one minute to start melting.
3. Add water and flavor to hot marshmallows and stir.  Slowly beat in icing sugar, one cup at a time.  Keep one cup of sugar for kneading.  ***This is VERY sticky***
4. Rub hands and work surface liberally with crisco.  Knead "dough" until smooth and slightly less sticky, using reserved one cup of sugar to dust work surface and "dough".  ***I snickered at these directions I found, because as if marshmallows and icing sugar aren't ever going to be sticky!***
5. I added the color at this point, because I wanted to have several different colors.  I divided the dough into portions relative to the amount per color I thought I would need, and then mixed in the color.
6. Spread some crisco on a piece of plastic wrap.  Wrap plastic around the fondant, and then cut another piece of plastic, and double wrap the fondant.  This ensures that the fondant won't dry out.  Then, stick it in the fridge.  I've read that you can store the fondant this way up to two weeks.  That's planning REALLY far ahead in my mind, or maybe its a way to save leftovers for use on something else later.

When you go to use the fondant, grease up the work surface and your hands and rolling pin first.  Then use CORN STARCH to dust the surface.  It makes the whole rolling it out step WAY less frustrating.  I had a friend suggest rolling the fondant onto wax paper, so that you can just flip the rolled out fondant onto the cake and peel away the paper rather than carrying the fondant, and hoping it doesn't tear.  Use a little bit of water if your fondant does tear on the cake, for minor repairs.

I'll post pics of the cake later, after the party's done!  Enjoy!