A Childhood Dream: The Princess Party Idea that Sparked It All
When I was turning nine years old back in 2000, I was obsessed with the Alyssa, Princess of Arcadia book series. I had the doll, numerous outfits for her, and read the books endlessly. It made it an obvious choice at the time that I would want a DIY Princess Party for my birthday.
The Highlights
The Secret Basement Surprise
Keeping the DIY Princess Party Away from My Curious Eyes
My mom spent weeks denying me access into our home’s basement. What was going on down there? I’d wonder endlessly. My curiosity was peaked and it took every bit of my nine year old willpower (which wasn’t much!) to not open that basement door.
Honestly, I don’t know how I managed to never sneak a peek. I was not a patient kid. I was the type to sneak into my parent’s closet and find my holiday presents hidden away. If they were wrapped, that still wouldn’t stop me. I’d hold them up to the light and press down on the wrapping paper, desperately trying to read the label.
Of course, while spoiling secrets for myself as a child seemed fun and exciting at the time, I eventually grew up into an adult who longs for surprises. When someone has something up their sleeve, I don’t even want a hint. Since I’m a planner by nature, my detective skills are far too reliable and – I don’t want to brag – but I am 100% guaranteed to figure it out.
My son is a mini version of me. As I plan his parties, he desperately asks to see. He pushes the boundaries and tries to open the door to rooms I’ve closed off. It might not be today, or anytime soon but I know one day he’ll appreciate the element of surprise.
Just as my mom did, I let my son help or see certain aspects of the party decorations. After all, it’s nearly impossible to keep curious eyes away at all times.
The Case of the Missing Princess
My Very First DIY Party Idea
For my 9th birthday party, my mom and sister painted a sarcophagus out of a cardboard box. I know. That’s sounds creepy and weird, right? What could that possibly be doing at a princess party, let alone a party for a nine year old? But trust me, it was brilliant.
I still remember them painting the sarcophagus out on the lawn in our Colorado backyard. I begged to help. “I want to paint! Can I help make it?” I pleaded.
“Nope,” my mom would say. After all, it was for my party and she didn’t want me to do my own work for it. I say the same thing to my son now, although just like my mom let me help with my sister’s parties, I let my kids help with each other’s as well.
Even though I couldn’t help create the decorations for the DIY princess party, I still found a way to involve myself and come up with the general plot. And this is where the sarcophagus comes in.
As a nine year old who not only loved princesses but also Nancy Drew mysteries, I came up with the most obvious theme (I kid, I doubt any other parent has ever agreed to this for a child’s party).
My friends would have to find and rescue me, the missing princess.
The Scavenger Hunt Adventure
Disappearing from My Own Party (and Oh, how fun it was!)
Of course, during the first part of the party, I hadn’t gone missing yet. My friends arrived and we all headed around the house on a Scavenger Hunt, searching for clues as my parents said “Oh! You’re getting hot! Oh no. Now you’re getting cold — wait, you’re getting hot again,” as my friends or I neared an object with the hidden clue.
Part way through the Scavenger Hunt, I excused myself and told my friends I needed to use the bathroom.
I mysteriously wandered off, as they were none the wiser. As they continued their search, I headed down into the basement.
My mom had covered the walls to look like a castle. Silver plastic table covers were cut up and taped to the wall, with windows glued throughout. At the bottom of the stairs stood the cardboard box sarcophagus. On the front was an attempted painting of me. Was it a masterpiece? Absolutely not. But that didn’t matter. Not in the least bit.
Behind the box was another table cover, draped across the ceiling with a story written along it. Behind that, sat my sister Raishel, and her best friend Caitlin. They held flashlights in their hands and waited patiently to perform their roles.
As my friends continued the search for the missing clues, I stepped inside the box and closed it. Don’t worry, there was a hole somewhere and I could breathe just fine. I stood in there giggling away as I chatted excitedly with Raishel and Caitlin. I waited anxiously for my friends to arrive, holding my breath every time I thought I heard them coming.
A few clues more along the search, one of my friends asked where I had gone. My best friend Rachel shrugged it off. “I think she’s in the bathroom,” she said as they headed to the kitchen with all of the clues collected.
If there is one thing you can guarantee about nine year olds, is that when they’re intrigued and engrossed, they’re not thinking about anything or anyone else. They just want to solve the mystery. Thanks to this complete lack of awareness, none of my friends paused to wait for me to put the clues together.
I should probably feel a little insulted about this but if they had waited patiently for me, I would’ve been stuck in a box for hours! So thank goodness nine year olds don’t have that level of self control, right?!
They stood around in the kitchen, spreading the clues out on the counter. Suddenly, one of my friends realized: it was a puzzle. They quickly scrambled to put all of the pieces together.
Once taped together, they read the note aloud. It was a “newspaper story” about the missing Arcadian Princess. Princess Justine had been kidnapped by two dastardly villains, played by Raishel and Caitlin. Their mission was to find me and rescue me.
The Royal Rescue
The Big DIY Princess Party Moment I’ll Never Forget
As my mom led them towards the basement door, my best friend stopped dead in her tracks.
“I don’t want to go down there,” she said nervously. She was terrified of our basement.
I can’t blame her either. It was unfinished in the backroom and extremely creepy with the lights out. I still have memories of spider traps across the floor, with dead spiders inside. Honestly, the amount of times I ran from the basement when I was alone — there aren’t enough fingers for me to count. It was a true testament to my mom’s decorating abilities to make the creepy basement into a magical castle for my party.
As my other friends prepared to head down the stairs, my parents managed to convinced Rachel to head into the basement. To this day though, I still have to tease her that she was so scared of my basement, she wasn’t even willing to save me. Your true friends are really revealed when you least expect it, aren’t they? I’m totally kidding, of course.
When they arrived downstairs, they shined their flashlights on the draped table cover. As they read the riddle, they discovered the Arcadian Princess was inside the sarcophagus. Slowly, it opened and I stepped out. My eyes slowly blinking, as if I was waking up from a long sleep. The “villains” started chatting behind the curtain. They couldn’t hold character and started giggling as they came bursting out.
The Royal Banquet at My DIY Princess Party
…and me, the power hungry 9 year old!
Now that the mission was complete, it was time for the royal banquet. As revenge for them holding me hostage, they became the princess’s loyal servants.
I’m not kidding. My dad had these old cow bells and my friends and I rung those endlessly that night to call Raishel and Caitlin to the table to help us with our every need. It was a fantastic power trip for nine year old me. To have that level of control over my older sister: what better present could a little sister possibly ask for?
My friends and I giddily sat around the table eating dinner. We chatted about serious topics like who was the oldest. Of course, none of this was based on our actual birthdays. It all came down to who was wearing makeup or had their hair curled for the evening. That’s a yes to both of those for me, by the way.
My mom spent about three hours before the party curling my hair. Honestly, it’s a good thing she decorated the basement days in advance! If she hadn’t, there’s no way she would’ve had time to do both.
Jokes on her though. As an adult, I have naturally curly hair now. Go figure.
The Final Party Moments
Who needs cake when you’ve got Arcadian muffins?
Instead of cake that night, we had Arcadian muffins for dessert.
I’m sure you’re asking yourself right now, what are Arcadian muffins? Don’t worry. You’ve never heard of them for a reason.
Named after the fictional country of Arcadia, these muffins were fruit muffins my mom and I had baked together. And by fruit muffins, I mean, plain muffins with one berry placed on top before it was baked.
Honestly, these muffins were not all that tasty but they were my creation and I was proud to share them with my friends for my party. My mom could’ve opted to provide some other desserts or tried to talk me out of it, but I love that she didn’t. I love that it wasn’t perfect.
It was mine. It was special. That’s what mattered.
After blowing out the candle on the muffin, I opened presents before gathering my princess doll, and her new wardrobe in my arms, and heading up the stairs.
With my friends following behind, we made our way up to the living room where we watched my favorite movie at the time, “Blast from the Past”. Honestly, I would judge this choice for a bunch of 9 year olds but my other favorite movie at the time was “Double Jeopardy” so I think this was the safer choice, by far.
Afterwards, we all went to sleep in our sleeping bags, giggling with happiness over the events of the party.
That DIY princess party wasn’t just magical. It was inspiring and it’s the reason I became so passionate about party planning.
There are a million moments in a kids life that can lead them to their one passion. That party was my moment.
For more of my personal stories, visit my blog at Life in Stepping Stones. Or, stick around right here for more party stories and tips!