A Very Fairy Party

Fairies first visited our home just in time to help my daughter Anna celebrate her 6th birthday. But they moved in to stay when her younger sister, Kate, turned 4. Since that day six years ago, our house has accumulated several tiny tea sets, clouds of tulle, and, of course, a fine layer of what Kate calls fairy dust and we mortals know by its more common name: glitter.

It's not surprising, then, that both of my girls have held many fairy-themed birthday celebrations, and we've learned a few things along the way. Here are our pointers for conjuring up the perfect pixie-friendly party.

A Beautiful Bower

For our most recent party, we asked our guests to come dressed in fairy finery, and to make them feel instantly at home, we adorned our family room in appropriately frilly fashion. Around a small dining table, we created a bower by hanging silk scarves and several yards of inexpensive tulle from the ceiling with tacks and tape. We stapled artificial flowers here and there on the tulle. Fresh flowers on the table completed the look. For extra twinkle, you can string up some white holiday lights.

Hunt for Fairy Treasure

According to legend, sprites love searching for — and spiriting away — all things gold and glittery. So before our visiting imps arrived, we hid dozens of inexpensive jeweled buttons (the glitzier, the better!) all around the house.

During the party, we gave the girls small gauze drawstring bags (found in the wedding aisle at craft stores) and set them loose to track down the "fairy gold." After gathering the treasures, they strung them on pipe cleaners to make gorgeously gaudy bracelets.

Enchanted Garden

This tabletop fairy landscape turned out to be an ideal party activity and take-home favor, and it required only some nature finds from our backyard, plus a few craft-store supplies. Our guests' parents reported that these creations inspired imaginative play long after the festivities were over.

Before the party: We cut blocks of floral foam to fit shallow 9-inch plant saucers, securing them in place with craft glue. We covered the foam with floral moss, and, to pretty up the saucers, we glued lengths of grosgrain ribbon around them.

At the party: The girls gathered sticks, pebbles, and other materials from the yard, then selected tiny embellishments, including artificial flowers, plastic animals, and seashells that we'd picked out at the craft store. They arranged their finds atop the moss, poking the ends of twigs or stems into the floral foam (a toothpick helps with this), or gluing on bits and pieces as desired. The girls spent an entire magical hour finding, trading, arranging, and rearranging, and each went home with a creation that was entirely her own.

Pixie Stems

Everyone knows fairies love sweets and flowers. To appeal to both passions, we taped Pixy Stix candy to the stems of artificial flowers as a take-home treat. We hung the blossoms upside down from a low entry for the girls to pick as they headed out the door; you can also arrange them in a pretty vase and have guests pluck a blossom as they depart.

Personalized Party Plates

For a special birthday touch, put a photo of your child on fairy-themed paper plates. Plus get matching invitations and thank-you notes, all created by our partners at Hallmark.

To order FamilyFun's fairy-themed party plates, invitations, and thank-you notes, along with coordinating partyware, go to hallmark.com/familyfun. You can get 10 customized photo plates for $10, 10 invitations for $14.90, and 10 thank-you notes for $8.90. Through April 1, use the code FAMFUN30 to get 30 percent off your entire card and partyware order. See the website for more details.