Annie Opening Night PRE-PARTY!!!

GAH! I get chill bumps when I reminisce on this setup for Lilah.  The day had finally arrived.  It was OPENING NIGHT! And I HAD to do something special for all of my girl's hardwork. This opportunity was the FIRST time I was truly living vicariously through ANY of my children. The movie ANNIE is MY FAVORITE movie. As a child, I literally watched it over 1,000 times.  No lie. The movie was just so well portrayed that sometimes, as a kid, watching it... I felt like I was there, but invisibly there. I always wanted to be in an Annie play.  AND, there would truly be NOTHING better than MY DAUGHTER being in it instead. 

So, I wanted to created a little pre-party FUN to help show her how proud I was of her and to create as much enthusiasm in her as possible for opening night.  

My entire "party" was planned around this ANNIE image. I had to have it. I found it onETSY at a shop called "Sheer Bliss Designs".  It was the PERFECT starting/focal point for all of my other ideas.  I will say... if you choose to go with this idea, keep in mind that finding a company that will print this image for under $125.00 is next to impossible.  Sheer Bliss Designs advertises this purchase for a size 42x72.  That's HUGE.  So, I just settled for an 18x20 size.  I got it at Sams Club.  I think I paid $12.00.  

Our play had a song in it called, "NYC" aka New York City. I think that is wear Daddy Warbuck's also lived in the movie.  I found these beautiful letters at A.C. Moore.  

One of the scenes in both the play and the movie includes a movie scene and/or a song called, "Let's Go To The Movies". I knew I wanted to supply some food for Lilah (after all, this would be presented to her after school and before opening night).  So I created a fun, movie scene on one area of the table. Time was such a factor for me, so I did have to purchase and or "borrow" some things for different bloggers.  I truly made the overall look, of this party, my own though.  I didn't want to just COPY someone's party. I desired to be UNIQUE and DIFFERENT.  The movie sign came from the blogger, "House Of Hargrove".  I already had the popcorn bowls.  The movie theater popcorn came from Sam's Club.

This little cutie pie was BEYOND excited.  You'll be able to see her reaction down below. 

(Above): The Annie dress was actually Lilah's.  When she was 3, she was Annie for Halloween.  I pulled it out of her childhood storage bin and used it for a display. 

(Below): Along with the popcorn served, I thought it would so fun to offer the mini coke, glass bottles. It really was a great addition in the "attention to details" world.

Lilah was casted as "TESSIE" the orphan.  You know, the orphan that all too often says, "Oh My Goodness! Oh My Goodness!" I purchased these water bottle labels, from a company on ETSY called, Bushel And Peck Paper. The only dilemma with this company was that these water bottle labels were made for birthday parties.  So they said, "Happy Birthday".  I was down to the wire before Lilah was about to arrive home and had to QUICKLY work my own magic, using B&P's jpeg to create my own look.  I added Lilah's cast name. B&P was willing to change it, but she wanted another $5.00 and I was unwilling to pay $5.00 more for something that I new I could fix.

 I purchased this adorable, antique coffee cup for Lilah as a gift.  Instead of "gifting" it to her, I decided to use it as a decoration for her party table. I purchased chocolate coins from Big Lots and used some Melissa & Doug Play money to create a fun, rich, Daddy Warbuck's section on the table.  The mini sign also came from House Of Hargrove's Blog.   

When I spotted these red velvet, mini cupcakes at Sam's Club, I thought... why invent the wheel.  Why home make them? I got like 24 of these beauties for $4.96.

I brought in one of my favorite patterns, buffalo plaid, along with some red licorice.  Does anyone go to the movies and NOT eat licorice??  YUM!  And of course... it goes perfect with the color scheme.

Okay, enough with the junk... chocolate, cupcakes, licorice, and popcorn... I needed something healthy.  SO, I provided some fresh fruit: strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries (Lilah's favorite).  I was enamored with these ADORABLE, "Hard Knock Life", mini bucket and brooms. I purchased (10) because I wanted to be able to use them for both this party and possibly a "goodbye" gift for the other orphans. I got these from Festiva Party Design.  The etsy listing was for a set of 10, but I needed 12. The owner of Festiva Party Design was kind enough to throw in two more for FREE, in exchange for me advertising her Etsy Shop on both my Blog, Pinterest account, and Instagram account.  

The powdered sugar donuts were just a little extra.  I used some black and white paper straws and "strung" the powdered donuts onto them.  

I used as many quotes or tag lines from the play that related to the parts of the play that Lilah was in! One of the bigger scenes in the play was to the song, "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile." This was actually the part of the play that Lilah was granted a mini solo dance.

And now... her reaction.  She was so uber excited and I felt all warm and fuzzy inside for being able to make her feel extra special and ramped up for (9) amazing shows.