Our youngest child had her First Holy Communion this past weekend, so we threw a small party with family and friends afterwards. I let our daughter choose the decorations, and Party City was the place to shop. They had all kinds of decorations in pinks, blues, and gender neutral colors. We got a package of 3 of these Chinese lanterns which we hung from chandeliers in the rooms downstairs and the hallway.
They sold various sizes of these plates and napkins, plus paper cups for the children.
Our daughter was especially keen on the hanging cardboard Communion cutouts with shiny pink metallic string which we hung from windows and door frames.
I saw some beautiful white cupcakes on Pinterest arranged in the shape of a cross. Party City had silver cross cupcake liners and pink cross cupcake toppers, along with the silver tray, pink candy sprinkles, and silver shimmering food color spray for the top of the icing. Ours weren't as pretty as the ones on Pinterest, but they did turn out better than they look in this picture, and they were all gone by the next morning.
My older daughter and I had saved a number of food pins to make for this party until I sat down and faced the reality that there was no way I was going to have time to make all that food. I was barely home last week to get laundry done and the dog fur swept up. So I resigned myself to the typical lunch time fare of deli meat/cheese sandwiches, fruit & veggie trays with dips, barbecue meatballs in the crockpot, chips and more dips, mixed nuts for those of us trying to stay away from carbs, and more deviled eggs (because our hens are still giving us a dozen eggs/day.)
But I did make this pink party punch that I saw on Pinterest that some cool mom made for her daughter's Shopkins party. I forgot to take any photos before the party and then I had my husband go around photographing when the more popular foods and drinks were nearly devoured. This is so simple.
Pink Party Punch
Mix 2 liters of Sprite, 2 quarts of pink raspberry lemonade, and 2 quarts of cactus twist sorbet. That's it!
Eleven children were at our house celebrating that afternoon, and they all looked so awesome.
But that only lasted for about five minutes because everyone eagerly changed into play clothes for some light saber/Nerf gun wars in the yard and pastures. You can't see him in this photo, but there was an escaped billy goat out there in the midst of these battles, just minding his own business and chowing down on dandelions.
We all had a great time, but the day was bittersweet for me as we watched our last child take her First Holy Communion with parents holding fidgety babies and toddlers all around us, and it hit me that this is the first time I was there with my arms empty. And this would be the final time we would be experiencing this special day with one of our children.
God Bless!
