Forgive me for my slowness on this one. Earlier in December we celebrated my two younger girls’ birthdays at a local gymnastics place. It was small, just a few close friends and their kiddos. I wouldn’t have planned a party for Kendall who turned three, but since the baby was turning one, I felt obligated to do something more than just a cake at home, like we did on her actual birthday.

I asked Kendall what she wanted her theme to be for her party. She didn’t quite understand me, but when looking at the Party City website, she picked Strawberry Shortcake, and that was that. I started my Strawberry Shortcake Pinterest board, because who can plan a party nowadays with out Pinterest? I found some cute ideas I liked, and finally choose to do a Strawberry Shortcake and friends theme, with this cute personalized digital set from Etsy.

What was nice about having it at the gymnastics center, was the kids could just roam and play. I didn’t have to plan any specific activities, but the lady there who was the teacher did do a few with the kiddos, like parachute. Remember those??

Here are the themed finger foods I made, to go with each character.

Strawberry Shortcake’s “Cupcakes”
Blueberry Muffin’s “Mini Blueberry Muffins”
Cherry Jam’s “Cherry Roll-up’s & PB&J Sandwiches”
Lemon Meringue’s “Lemon Meltaways”
Orange Blossom’s “Orange Slices”
Plum Pudding’s “Purple Jello Cups”
Raspberry Tart’s “Raspberry Salad”

I made the cupcakes for our guests and small cakes in mini Wilton cake pans for the girls. Strawberry cake mix and home made cream cheese frosting, my favorite. They were all simple with pink or green sprinkles and cupcake toppers.

Athena, didn’t know what to do with it, and after a few minutes was completely over cake and wanting to just go play.

Those cute shirts they are wearing are from Shirtango on Etsy. They are super inexpensive, but started peeling after one wash. Great for a one time birthday party use though!

Our party favors, you can kind of see in the pictures above (by the plates), were Strawberry Shortcake DVD’s I found on Amazon. Everyone got to take one home with them!

Overall the kids had a blast, and it turned out as perfect as could be.

As much fun as it was to plan and prepare for their party, it was also a lot of work, especially so close to the holidays. I think next year we’re going to skip parties, and just do a small dinner & cake with all of them.