Even before her 7th birthday party began, Hanna declared it to be her best birthday party ever. And I do believe she was right! She looked darling in a "Laura" dress, pinafore, and bonnet. We borrowed the dress from a friend who sewed it for her girls.
Invitations were made using foam log cabins I found in a package on clearance at Michael's. At the time, I wasn't sure how I would use them, but knew they were too appropriate to pass up. You'll see that they (or their outline) were used in many ways for the party.
The inside of the invitation said:
"...to Hanna's 7th Birthday Party.
It will be held at the
Little House on the Prairie
(our address).
Get your barn chores done early
and hitch up your team of horses
so you can arrive by 2 o'clock
on the afternoon of 19 September
If you wish, wear your
Sunday-best bonnet and pinafore.
Please reply with you
accept or regret to Ma
(our contact info.)
When the guests arrived, we began by reading two of the Little House picture books-- Little House Birthday and Little House on the Prairie--on a picnic cloth on the floor by the light of an oil lamp. (These books are a good introduction to the characters, time period, and way of life for guests who do not know much about this series of books, and the illustrations are beautiful.) While I read the books, the guests took turns helping to make butter. After, we served the fresh butter on biscuits. The kids, and parents, loved these!
Making butter is very easy to do: Pour some heavy cream into a glass jar with a secure lid. Shake very vigorously. After about 20 minutes of shaking, the butter will separate from the buttermilk. Pour the milk into a separate jar; it can be drank as it is not at all like soured buttermilk. Put the butter into a bowl and rinse with cold water until it rinses clear. Use a spatula to push out the remaining water.
Next, the guests designed their own placemat. In advance, I cut 12"x12" pieces of brown paper (from grocery bags and kraft roll) and traced the outline of a log cabin in the middle. With colored pencils and crayons, they added details to the cabin and created a scene. They relied on information they had learned while listening to the books. The kids put their placemats under one of the place settings at the table in anticipation of snacks and cake.
Our next move--I explained to the kids that the Ingalls moved often, so our party took place in all parts of our home and yard--was to the basement. There we had set up a log cabin and many activities that the Ingalls children would have played. The cabin came from our church's VBS. It was made our of painted carpet rolls (think big Lincoln Logs), and PVC pipe to form the roof. It was covered in red corrugated bulletin board paper. The activities included stringing buttons inside of the cabin (where an electric candle was "burning", clothespin drop, a wooden tic-toe game, and building with Lincoln Logs. While the kids circulated to different centers, I took each of their pictures in front of the log cabin. I plan to include those on the front of the thank yo u notes. (Since I did not seek permission to publish their pictures, I am not including pics of our guests. But three girls did dress appropriate to the time period.)
Moving on to the outside, we made clothespin dolls at the table on our deck. In order to make this craft easier to manage, I prepared some of the materials ahead of time. The guests chose which dress (or pants and shirt for our boy guests) to clothe their doll, belted it with yarn, added a face to the head of the pin, and glued the yarn hair on top. We allowed these to dry and put them into the goody bags before the end of the party.
The last activity planned was conestoga wagon rides around our cul-de-sac. Guy transformed our red metal wagon into a conestoga by making a frame that attached to the wooden wagon sides and wrapping it with a white fitted sheet. Only two kids could fit into the wagon at a time so I had planned to play hot potato with a quilted ball to entertain the others. (Guy had developed a playlist of prairie songs to be played during hot potato, such as "O, Susanna", "Old Dan Tucker", and "Pop Goes the Weasel".) But on a beautiful almost-fall day, they were more content to walk behind the wagon, roll down the hill in our front yard, or jump rope in the driveway.
Finally, it was time for snacks and cake! I tried to make the menu similar to that of the Ingalls: fresh-squeezed lemonade, apple cider, popcorn, Pennystick pretzels, apple slices, and cheese chunks. They were served in wooden bowls and crocks. All of the snacks went over well and had to be replenished. And because I didn't think that the kids would like johnnycakes, we had cupcakes. The centerpiece for the cupcakes was Hanna's "Laura" doll which came from one of the Ingalls' historic homesteads.
The table was set with a Mason jar of black-eyed susans and the place settings were enamelware plates, jelly jars, and brown cloth napkins. And, of course, the brown paper placemats that the kids created.
During the party, we did not use any lights; instead, we lit candles, an oil lamp, and battery operated tea lights. When the kids needed to use the restroom, I directed them toward the "outhouse."
As the guests left, we gave them each a goody bag. The bags were simply brown paper lunch bags on which I had traced an outline of the log cabin and wrote their name. Inside was an Altoid tin filled with candy: Mary Jane, caramel cream, and peppermints. I covered the tin lid with brown paper that had this printed on it:
Oleson's Mercantile
Walnut Grove, Minnesota
Est'd 1876
We also included a mini notebook and pencil.
(I apologize for the length of this post. I went into great detail for those who expressed interested in hosting a similar party in the future.)
