Ice Cream Shoppe 7th Birthday

Well, my girl has gone and turned SEVEN already! I can hardly believe it. Once again, she decided on a theme months ago and stuck with it! I really followed my "party rules" to the letter this time - even finding leftover poster board in the basement! One party goer said "Wow! I didn't know Miss M had her own ice cream shop!"

As is our tradition, a silly pose is always required! Some of us have had more practice at this than others!

This doesn't show off the spoons very well, but they were so cute! The handles are each shaped like an ice cream treat: a fudge bar, banana split, milk shake, and ice cream cone. I watched and waited at my grocery store for SIX weeks until I knew the store would mark them down. They finally did and I scored them for 50 cents each down from an original price of $1/spoon. Dollar Store clear plastic jar were filled with sprinkles and bear a label reading "It was so sweet of you to come to my party!" We also found lip gloss in ice cream cartons at the $ Tree! So perfect!!! Miss M also added a cupcake eraser from Aunt J.

Another Miss M, Poppa, and Miss M. Trying to scoop "ice cream" into a dish....a lot hard than it looks! The girls had lots of fun watching one another on this game. These are also the ice cream dishes we used at the party. I bought 12 at Deals a few months back....$1 each of course!

Miss M and I made the awnings, with help from our bloggy friend Nikki. She has the lowdown on how to make the freezer paper awning and some other great ice cream party ideas. We also made the crepe paper ice cream cone. Cupcake Nana painted two "shoppe" signs. The one on the front door also says "OPEN". The effect was not lost on Miss M or me!

Mr C was so serious about helping churn the vanilla ice cream. Everyone took a turn, but Daddy finished the job!

A party goer giving her sundae order to Cupcake Nana. Bananas, strawberries, sprinkles, chocolate syrup, M&M's, chocolate chips, gummy bears, marshmallows, cherries, and of course whipped cream were the offerings.
Miss M's new favorite color is turquoise. (Notice the cupcakes and signs/awnings - even her nails!) She was so pleased to find Kool-Aide that "matched"! The girls and Mr C decorated soda jerk hats while taking turns churning the ice cream.
I received an ice cream cone cupcake pan for Christmas from my SIL last year and it was just the ticket for this year's party. (Cupcake Nana scored the cake stand decorated with ice cream treats!! for $2.50 at Goodwill.) Mr C spied the ice cream shirt a few weeks before the party and that was his gift to Sissy. Unlike her Christmas gift, he didn't tell her what it was this time!
After the party, Miss M said "THIS was the best party yet! I love homemade things...especially things you and Nana make for me." She is a girl after my own heart.