Pink Zebra Birthday Bash

This weekend our thirteen year old daughter and six of her friends (plus her little sister) celebrated her birthday with a pink/zebra print themed pool and slumber party.  We used Memory Mixer scrapbooking software to make the party invitations.  Surprisingly, I lucked out and actually found the tablecloths, centerpieces, plates, and cups at the local Dollar General store, which had an amazing selection of zebra print and pink items.  Our daughter wanted typical teen foods that I normally would not purchase, such as pink sodas, fudge striped cookies, and chips, which I did indulge in.  There were also strawberries and cherries with fudge dip, freeze pops for around the pool, and pizza.

The walls and doorways of our farmhouse kitchen were decorated with pink zebra print birthday banners and black streamers, which were also found at Dollar General.

I stood on our kitchen table on my tiptoes and prayed it would not break while hanging pink stars and more black streamers from the ceiling around our black chandelier.

We have an old fashioned (and not so attractive) coal stove in our kitchen.  I tried to give it a makeover by covering it with zebra print wrapping paper.  In the center, we filled a basket with individual bags of popcorn and an assortment of zebra print, pink, and black socks for the girls to wear that night while watching movies and eating their popcorn.  This is also where we put the gifts.  The gift wrap and socks were found at Dollar General.

I discovered a recipe for a Nutella Crunch Ice Cream Cake on Pinterest that my daughter wanted me to make.  Because I do not have a springform pan, I had to leave it in a regular cake pan, which is not nearly as attractive.  I was attempting to make zigzag patterns with the extra Nutella crispy pieces, but it did not look quite the way I had hoped.  I tried to jazz it up with zebra print cardboard cupcake toppers (from Dollar General) and black and white candles (purchased from Giant.)  No one was disappointed in the taste, however.  This ice cream cake is simple to make and delicious.  The recipe can be found at afamilyfeast.com.

By 9 PM, my husband and the boys were settled in at our cabin, and I took our six year old daughter upstairs for the night.  I left the teen girls downstairs with their new socks and popcorn, old movies, and nail polish for a night of slumbering.  Not including the food, the entire party cost less than $50, which I thought was quite a bargain for seven teenage girls.  It was also fairly simple, low-stress, and fun to prepare.  Dollar General is not usually my store of choice, but in this case, it had everything I was looking for---and more--- at low prices.