This year the little miss asked for a nail polish party. There wasn't even a question about where she wanted the party - she wanted to go to our usual nail salon.
Polished Beauty Bar is our favorite nail salon in the city. Polished has a huge selection of Zoya nail polish colors (Zoya is
my favorite healthy nail polish - a five-free nail polish line, which basically means less harsh chemicals). We booked the salon for a 2 hour window and had the party on Friday after school. The salon is mostly a serene blue, which the little miss loves, but we wanted to amp up the girly theme with hot pink party decor. I found a cute
pink glitter "Happy Birthday" banner with pink fringe at Target, along with
hot pink balloons,
hot pink honeycombs, pink glitter paper plates, a coordinating
hot pink tablecloth and
napkins. I bought a glittery crown headband for the little miss (similar available at
Stoopher & Boots), and bought
mini silver tiara combs that I placed in the center of each of the pedicure chairs and manicure tables for the girls to wear during the party. For the party favors, I ordered
hot pink favor boxes online from Amazon (the packaging says Oriental Trading so assuming they are available directly from their site too), and printed hot pink polka dot labels for the party favors using Avery round labels (
High Visibility 2" Diameter White Labels). I also printed matching polka dot signs that said manicures, pedicures, nail coloring and jewelry making and put them up around the salon in the different activity areas. The little miss, who is so thoughtful, said that one of her friends did not like wearing nail polish so we needed to have some art projects set up. I printed free coloring pages with
hands that have nails to color and empty nail polish bottles and set them out with a giant box of crayons. The girls loved coloring the hands/nails while they waited for their turn to get their nails done. I also bought a bag of letter beads, 4 bags of different types of pink beads and elastic for making personalized name necklaces. I didn't want the girls to have to sift through the letter beads so I took 20 minutes and pulled out the letters for each girls' name and put them in little pink organza jewelry bags (very efficient use of pumping time if I may say so). I used file labels to print the name of each girl, added the same nail polish bottle clip art that I used for the favor labels and folded them around the string of each bag so everyone knew which bag had their name. For the food, I made a few large party platters for both the kids and grownups to snack on: a Mediterranean theme platter (veggies, hummus and olives) and a fruit platter. I also ordered pizza for the girls that I had the pizza place cut into 24 pieces (I always do that for kiddie parties - some kids only need a tiny piece and others want several pieces so smaller pieces is the way to go). For desert, I made cupcakes that I topped with edible nail polish bottles made out of marshmallows and tootsie rolls held together with toothpicks. I dipped each marshmallow in a small bowl of water, then rolled the marshmallow in edible sugar glitter to color the marshmallows. They were super cute and fun to make. The little miss helped me make the nail polish toppers the night before, and I assembled them the next day once they were dry. I added some Valentines sprinkles that I found in the dollar bin at Target since it was so close to V-day and the colors went well.
The mani pedi party turned out super cute, but the best part was that the little miss had a fabulous time with all her friends. Right after the party she told me that she wants a movie star theme party next year, but thankfully I have some time to plan that.
The nail salon was mostly blue so I amped up the girly factor with pink party supplies. A hot pink glitter fringe happy birthday banner was hung on the back wall and hot pink balloons were tied to the chairs.
Hot pink roses were fortuitously already at the salon (the owner got them as a gift that morning!). The nail polish cupcakes were on Mackenzie Childs Courtly Check enamel round trays (I used a cupcake carrier and baking sheet to transport the cupcakes to the salon; the cupcakes on the baking sheet I held on my lap during the drive fared better than the ones in the cupcake carrier in the backseat).
I made nail polish cupcake toppers using marshmallows that I stuck on a toothpick, dipped in water, rolled in edible glitter sugar and topped with a tootsie roll. I saw similar cupcake toppers on Pinterest where they used colored chocolate melts that they dipped the marshmallows in, which looked great but would be more time consuming. I made the cupcake toppers the night before the party in about 30 minutes (24 toppers) and set them flat on a plate to dry. I assembled the cupcakes right before the party, sticking the nail polish toppers into frosting just after I piped it on so the toppers would stick on top.
I made chocolate and vanilla cupcakes and used chocolate and vanilla frostings to offer a variety. I also added Valentine's day sprinkles that I found in the dollar bin at Target since it was a week before Valentine's day and the colors went with our theme.
Hot pink party favor boxes were ordered from Amazon and I made custom favor tags that I designed in Word and printed at home (I used a hot pink polka dot background that I found online, added a solid white circle in the middle, put mini nail polish bottle clip art at the top and added curved text to the top of the circle.
Favor boxes included triple free pink glitter nail polish, pink glitter nail files (from Duane Reade), pink bubble necklaces from Target and pink ice cream cone lip glosses also from Target (Spritz brand).
We had different stations set up around the salon and had 2 art projects for the girls while they were waiting to get their nails done and/or for anyone who didn't want their nails painted (PS everyone ended up getting at least a mani). Coloring nail printouts was an easy art project to put together.
I printed hands with nails for the girls to color and nail polish bottles that I found online. The nail coloring was a big hit with the girls.
I made signs that I posted around the salon with the different activities (jewelry making, nail coloring, manicures and pedicures). I made the signs in Word using a hot pink polka dot background that I found online, added a white rectangle and text box in the middle.
I put letter beads for each girl in pink organza jewelry bags (all purchased at a bead store in the Jewlery district - store in on 6th Ave. at 29th St., I think). I made labels so the girls knew which bag had their name using plain white file labels that I added the nail polish bottle clip art that i used for the party favor labels.
Name beads in pink organza jewelry bags.
I put 4 different types of pink beads in clear plastic bowls for the girls to use to make their necklaces and/or bracelets. Surprisingly none of the girls spilled the beads, but one of the nail technicians ended up knocking an entire bowl down on the floor towards the end of the party (she was making a necklace for the birthday girl when she finished doing nails - so sweet!). They were pretty easy to quickly sweep up.
I made a few party platters - a Mediterranean platter with hummus, veggies and olives and a fruit platter for the girls and grownups to snack on. I made the party platters on Mackenzie Childs enamel platters and wrapped them in plastic wrap to transport to the salon. I also set out a bowl of tortilla chips, and used hot pink glitter paper plates that I found at Target (Spritz brand). I bought the plates in two different sizes (dinner and desert plates) and coordinating hot pink luncheon napkins.
A bought a pretty little crown headband for the little miss so she could feel like a birthday princess for the party.
I put a mini tiara comb on each chair for the girls to wear during the party. (Please disregard the fact that I was in desperate need of a mani).
I put one of the platters of cupcakes in front of the birthday girl when it was time to sing happy birthday. I used long skinny multi-colored candles that I bought at Target and picked the pink and turquoise candles out of the package - luckily there were 6 (5 + 1 for good luck) in the package that were different shades of pink and blue.
I made nail polish cupcake toppers using marshmallows that I stuck on a toothpick, dipped in water, rolled in edible glitter sugar and topped with a tootsie roll. I saw similar cupcake toppers on Pinterest where they used colored chocolate melts that they dipped the marshmallows in, which looked great but would be more time consuming. I made the cupcake toppers the night before the party in about 30 minutes (24 toppers) and set them flat on a plate to dry. I assembled the cupcakes right before the party, sticking the nail polish toppers into frosting just after I piped it on so the toppers would stick on top.