Millie Taylor is one confident and stylish 4-year-old. Which is why when her mom, Joslyn Taylor, asked what theme she wanted for her birthday party, she boldly replied, “rainbow/unicorn/princess party!” The party was inspired partly by Millie’s enthusiastic request and partly to represent this precious princess’ colorful personality.
The centerpiece of the party was the main table, which was an explosion of color, complete with streamers, confetti and sweet treats. Rainbow colored poms hung from the chandelier over glass jars filled with vibrant gumballs, brightly colored cupcakes, vintage candies and one magnificent homemade rainbow cake with decadent vanilla frosting. “The cake was a pretty crazy undertaking,” says Taylor. “I’d been wanting to make a rainbow cake for a while and looked up a couple of tutorials online. It was surprisingly easy, but a bit time consuming. In the end, I had six full layers and it ended up about 12-inches tall. Everyone gasped when we cut it open and they saw it was rainbow inside, so that was highly gratifying!”
Millie even dressed the part, adding a sparkling tiara to her adorably-bobbed hairstyle, a dress from crewcuts and feathered angel wings to tie the look together. Her 15 guests donned princess crowns and magic wands as they sampled the sugar station goodies and played games like a clothespin drop, musical chairs and pin the horn on the unicorn. While the kids were bustling around with their sugar buzz, Joslyn, and husband Bryan served up champagne for the adults in attendance.
The best part of the party according to Millie? The piñata! “What is it about watching a bunch of four-year-olds trying to bust open a piñata that’s so funny?” laughs Joslyn. “It’s possible (but I’m not saying for sure) that the piñata may have died at my completely overzealous hand.” Watching the little royals laughing and enjoying the simple games was one of Joslyn's favorite memories. “It was a good reminder of how the simplest things really tend to make kids the happiest.”
At the end of the day, guests scooped up bags filled with the “décor”: candies, glittery rings and wands, providing them with great goodie bags and giving Joslyn one less thing to clean up from her homemade birthday party. “I am just a huge, huge fan of the at-home birthday party,” she adds. “My girls and I have so much fun coming up with themes and planning the parties. I hope my girls remember them forever.”
Updated 7/27/12
