Happy 6th Birthday, Christa!

The big 6 year old on her actual birthday!!

 I made an effort to simplify Christa's birthday celebrations this year, since we were on the Disney Cruise during the days leading up to her birthday.  I started the simplification process by sending all invitations out via text.  I continued, by not really planning anything until a few days before we left for our vacation :)  Between the cruise and 4th of July celebrations, I didn't feel the need to stress out about big parties.  It went really well, and I think I'm going to do last minute get-togethers via text message for everyone from now on!

 Christa really wanted makeup for her birthday.  She saw some "real" makeup, as in, not sparkly-pink-clearly-kid makeup for grown ups in several store windows leading up to her birthday and went crazy over it.  She begged and begged for some Disney makeup on the cruise ship, again, made and marketed for adults.  I found my sister's old Caboodle box at my parents' house the night we returned home from the cruise (and the night before her birthday).  I also found some soft pink makeup in the line she wanted, and wrapped it all up for her.  She was thrilled!

 Christa always has the expectation and desire to make birthday cakes for everyone in the family.  That means, no easy, store-bought cakes!  It's a fun tradition that we have, and even though they don't look like professional bakery cakes, I always enjoy decorating them creatively with her, and I love the personal ideas we come up with together.  She wanted an art party, so we came up with this painter's palate for our decoration.  She added the sprinkles for an extra touch.

 Our first celebration was a family cookout.  I decided to do a family gathering and then a very small painting party with her close friends on two different evenings.  This worked out very well, and kept things more manageable.

 Happy birthday, sweet girl!

 I wasn't up for making 2 different cakes, however!  And Christa is like her mom - a lover of chocolate and not a huge fan of white icing.  So I ordered her a cookie cake with only chocolate frosting.  It was a hit, and there was not a bite left over!

 The painting gallery that introduced Christa to painting "real" art closed just as I was trying to make plans for her party.  Luckily, I found an artist who was willing to come to my house and help 6 sweet little girls paint a cute picture.  They had a blast!

The finished masterpieces!