A while back I asked my youngest daughter what she wanted as her birthday party theme. Without hesitation she blurted out “UNICORN”. I was stunned. This child had never expressed interest in unicorns before but here she was wanting her whole 4th birthday party to be about them. Luckily, the unicorn frenzy was just starting to hit Europe so I went to work right away with planning out the most magical unicorn birthday party.
We moved to Europe when our youngest daughter was 11 months old. We spent her first birthday as just the four of us and her with a little homemade cake. The following birthdays were either spent driving to a base in Germany for their better Base Exchange or a small, not to standard, party. Meanwhile, our oldest had experienced these amazing parties. This was my chance to make it up to my youngest and I think I achieved that.
Invites and Party Favors
I purchased these amazing invites from Confetti Mama on Etsy. She was so sweet and her turn around time was outstanding. Also, shipping was very quick which is always a worry when living overseas.
I also provided party favors. I purchased some stuffed unicorns from Oriental Trading. I wasn’t sure how the kids would like them but they played with them during the whole party and took them home for some more fun.
You can’t have a party without party hats and of course the hats had to be unicorn horns instead. I was lucky to find these on sale through Zulily but would have gotten them from Amazon if needed. They were so cute in everyone’s hair and the kids were so excited to take them home for future use. Definitely worth the splurge.
Food
At most of our parties my husband ends up grilling burgers or chicken and hot dogs. He spends 98% of the time at the grill instead of hanging out with the guests and I knew I didn’t want that this time. So this party was all about the crockpots! I made salsa chicken for tacos, hot dogs in the crockpot and even an amazing cheese dip in a crockpot. Yep, you read that right. I had THREE crockpots going and I’m telling you that took a lot of stress away. The added bonus was my husband got to socialize the whole party.
We added in some macaroni and cheese for the kiddos, some olives with cheese, a fruit tray and of course a veggie tray. For the veggie dip I made this awesome recipe and it was the talk of the table. Apparently, the extra couple of minutes a took to color the dip was “way above and beyond” to some of the guests. I’ll take that as a WIN!
Unicorn Desserts
There are so many dessert options when throwing a unicorn themed party. I had a stack full of recipes but knew I could never make them all. Luckily, I have a pretty amazing friend that’s even more amazing with making cakes and cupcakes. She whipped up the most delicious and beautifully decorated chocolate cake and vanilla cupcakes. Huge shout out to my friend Kat because they were the star of the party. (Sorry folks, she only does cakes for her close friends otherwise I would totally refer you all.)
I did add in some extra goodies for the kids as well. I mean, what’s a party if I can’t hype all the kids up on sugar then send them home?! No worries, I’m not that mean. We had a bounce house and the kids used up all their sugar high jumping and playing. Anyway, the added deserts were Unicorn Fudge, Pink Twisty Lollipops, Cupcake Puppy Chow and Marshmallow Fluff Krispie Treats. The kids LOVED the lollipops and the adults dug into the Puppy Chow and Krispie Treats. Needless to say, the dessert table was a HIT.
Decorations
The decorations took much more time to put together and caused a bit more stress. I love to decorate but I am also a perfectionist so I worked my tail off to make sure I had exactly everything I needed. The day of the party I was up at 6 am setting it all up. In hind sight, I should have done a lot of it the night before but you live and learn. Regardless of the stress, I couldn’t be happier with the way the party decorations turned out! Since I used many different sources for the decorations, I will give you a picture of each table and then list the links to each item. If you are wondering about a particular decoration and it’s not listed then please feel free to comment or email me for more information.
Dessert Table Decorations
Backdrop, Table Skirt, Table Cloth, Glitter Banner, Glitter Stickers on Vases, Plates, Napkins, Cake Stand, Unicorns (similar)
Glitter Unicorn Head and the Mason Jar Vases we made by me. I used a projector to trace a unicorn head onto a big piece of foam board. I cut that out and then used glue and A LOT of glitter. My poor backyard is still sparkling from it LOL. The jars are actually old tomato sauce jars that I used then kept. I simply bought paint and put it inside of the jar, swirled it around then set it upside down for over 24 hours to dry.
Food Table Decorations
Backdrop, Table Skirt, Table Cloth, Unicorn Felt Banner, Plates, Cups, Unicorns (similar)
(Again, the vases and glitter unicorn head were DIY by none other than me. They are super easy and fun to make! Also, all I did to the decoupage unicorns was spray paint them gold.)
There are other decorations that I put up but aren’t pictured. These balloons were awesome as well as these.
As you can tell, I put a lot of heart and effort into my daughter’s party. It was a bit stressful and a bit over budget but she had the most amazing day and so did her friends. To me, that makes it all worth it! If you have any questions then please feel free to reach out to me.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are “affiliate links.” This means I may garner a small commission at no cost to you if you choose to make a purchase. I only link products I love and trust.
Absolutely beautiful! Thank you for so many awesome ideas!
I’m so glad you like it! It was a blast to put together. I would love to see pictures of yours! 🙂