A Fancy Nancy Birthday Party – Planning Ideas On A Budget

When Caroline turned six, she had her first “real” birthday party. We’ve always celebrated her birthday each year with grandparents and other relatives, but she’s never had an invite little girls over with decorations and party favors type party before. She wanted a Fancy Nancy Birthday Party and we decided a Fancy Nancy theme would work for a few reasons.

Fancy Nancy Birthday Party

One, Fancy Nancy was all the rage in our home. Caroline absolutely loves all of the Fancy Nancy books and now incorporates many of the common phrases into her everyday conversation. Yes, we hear “Ooh la la!” quite often around here! Caroline is also all about pink and purple so Nancy is a true kindred spirit! 🙂

Two, I thought Fancy Nancy was a theme that lent itself well to easily decorating and planning. I’m not incredibly gifted when it comes to this type of thing, but when I started finding ideas online, I knew this was something I could pull off.

And, third, after looking around online I thought this was a theme that could be done with a reasonable budget. There are so many amazing Fancy Nancy parties online that it can almost become overwhelming. I can’t even imagine how much some of the moms spent for their parties! But I looked on each website for an idea I could adapt to our needs and budget.

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Having a graphic designer for a husband was a major plus in this case. Caroline and I brainstormed how the invitations should look and went shopping at the mega scrapbooking store for paper/cardstock. I gave David the directions for the written part of the invitations and he created them for me. We embellished them with jewels and ribbon and mounted them on a sparkly paper. They turned out beautifully. (Click on any picture.)

David also designed all the name cards, tags for the goody bags, and other materials which we printed ourselves. We mounted the place cards on sparkly purple cardstock.

When the girls arrived, they had the opportunity to deck themselves out in fancy items such as rings, tiaras, sunglasses, feather boas, and necklaces.

For treats we had an ice cream parfait station.

Decorate your own cupcake (because it is fun and much cheaper than a fancy cake).

Other assorted treats

We read the story aloud, played a couple of simple games, did a pinata outside, and opened gifts. The girls also had time to play outside which I think they enjoyed. Caroline asked for some play time rather than having every minute scheduled and a few of the moms told me it was nice to have that instead of feeling like you are trying to rush the children through everything planned. I made these bags for them to put their pinata candy in. 🙂

When the girls left, they received a pink polka dot goody bag (similar here) to fill with many fancy items such as nail polish, lip balm, erasers that looked like desserts, bubbles, bracelets, etc.

I was really blessed to find so many things on clearance at Target and in the party supplies section of Hobby Lobby, Meijer and Dollar Tree. I hit Target at just the right time as they were clearancing a bunch of purple and pink party decor items that I got very inexpensively. The same thing with the polka dot bags! I did order a few things from Amazon (where they have a lot of Fancy Nancy Party Ideas), but it was easy to find lots of fancy things here and there around town.

All in all it was a lovely day. Caroline had a wonderful time and we made a beautiful memory for her. It was a lot of work in terms of all the little details, but the thank yous I got over and over again made it all worth it. 🙂

Fancy Nancy Party Ideas

Here are some of my favorite Fancy Nancy party ideas and favors! Don’t forget the fancy dress up rings, too!

Marabou Pens (1dz)Fancy Nancy: Tea for TwoColorful Princess Party Tiaras – 12 per unit, Assorted Colors by SmallToysRhode Island Novelty Tiaras with Heart Stones (12-Pack)