For girls who dream of white unicorns and majestic castles, a fantasyland is only a heartbeat away. Gather playmates for a girls’ sleepover with simple crafts and effortless games to keep them smiling.
The Invitation
Use craftpaper to make invitations in the shape of stars, moons or flowers. Decorate them with stick-on gems, glitter or puff paint. Find all the craft supplies you need at the art stores opposite the National Art Museum of China in Wangfujing. Sprinkle some glitter inside the invitation to add some extra "magic."
The Decorations
Unify your theme with decorations in pastel pink, blue and purple. Transform your living room into a fairy fantasyland by hanging lengths of organza from the ceiling. For added wow-factor, affix some flowers and string mini lights around the room. Scatter a few colored balloons on the floor and you have a party fit for a princess.
The Eats
Fill bowls with fluffy marshmallows, gold chocolate coins, and strawberries. Add a touch of country charm with a pretty tea set – this can act as decoration or, with parental supervision, be used to serve fairy tea (read: hot chocolate). Make magical star-shaped sandwiches using a cookie cutter and fill them with cream cheese and cucumber, or peanut butter and jam. Fairy bread is also a hit at parties. Simply spread margarine on an open sandwich and scatter with sprinkles.
The Crafts
No-Sew Fairy Skirt: Prepare strips of tulle (at least 20 per girl) and a long satin ribbon (8cm longer than each girl’s waist). Let the girls tie strips of tulle to their long piece of ribbon. When they’re done knotting the dangling strips, tie the long ribbon in a bow around their waist for a no-fuss fairy costume.
Fairy Wand: With just a wooden chopstick, craft glue and colored ribbon, you can make a wand. Glue a wide ribbon to the base of the chopstick. Wrap it around the chopstick, moving progressively to the top. Once the chopstick is wrapped in one piece of ribbon, cut the end and secure it with a dot of glue. Repeat the same steps with the thinner ribbon. Finally, glue lengths of left-over ribbon to the thin end of the chopstick. Voila, a fairy wand!
The Games
Pixie Pranks: Simply follow the rules of "Telephone." Assemble the girls in a circle on the floor. The first girl whispers a complicated phrase into the second girl’s ear. This whisper gets passed around the circle until the last girl announces the funny sentence. For a hilarious answer, start with a tongue twister, such as "Black bug bit a big black bear."
Secret Animal: Using index cards, write down the names of animals. With the cards face down, each girl chooses one and without reading it, tapes it to her forehead. Each girl sets out to discover what animal is taped to her forehead by walking around the room asking yes and no questions. Each encounter is limited to one question. The game finishes when all the animals are guessed correctly.
The Favors
The girls can take home their fairy skirts and wands, but you can add a touch of magic by handing each guest a party bag filled with glitter pens, fake flowers and stick-on gems. Put a little fairy dust (confetti) into the bottom of each bag and tell the girls that if they sprinkle some under a tree, their wish will come true.
Fairy Dust Cupcakes (serves 12)
115g butter (at room temperature)
115g sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten (at room temperature)115g self-rising flour
1 tbsp milk
1-2 tbsp sprinkles
Preheat the oven to 180̊C and place 12 paper liners into a muffin tin. Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in the eggs. Once the eggs are combined, sift in flour, alternating with the milk, and ending with flour. Once the mixture is combined, fold in the sprinkles. Spoon the batter into the paper liners and bake at 180̊C for 15-20minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
Buttercream Frosting
175g unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
230g confectioner’s sugar
Sprinkles
Put the butter and vanilla extract in a bowl and beat until the butter is pale and very soft. Gradually sift in the confectioner’s sugar.
Spoon the frosting into a large piping bag fitted with a medium star-shaped nozzle and pipe large swirls of frosting on each cupcake.
Recipe supplied by CC Sweets