We had a HOOOT!

Just waiting for her guests to arrive

In addition to the door decor, Daddy wrapped our outdoor light pole in pink lights to welcome guests.

One of my favorite decorations was the mantle which took on you on a little walk down memory lane.  

This years cake

Meagan, who is Erin's big sister agreed to be my assistant.  Lily Grace adores her and having her here only made her party more special.  Thanks so much Meagan.  You were a trooper.

Good friend Erin was the first guest to arrive.

Bottle Cap necklaces in the making.

One silly girl having tons of fun

Signing pillowcases: This activity had Meagan and I looking at each other in disbelief.  You think telling 8 seven year olds to pass to the right and sign would be easy huh?  As soon as we said pass, all we saw were pillowcases flying and squeals followed. HA! HA!

Blowing out the candles and making it official

Opening her gifts and choosing a boxed owl

Finally unwrapping their owls: They were about to bust waiting for everyone to get a turn selecting a box and being told to open. 

Here they all are before they flew the nest

Here is Dress Up Owl made especially for the Birthday Girl

Adoption Cards: Susan at JPress did an amazing job on the invitations, adoption cards, water bottle labels, favor bag labels and character cards for the party.  Thank you so much Susan.  You always make everything so special and cute. 

The girls and their owls 

Dancing the night away!  However, with daylight savings time working against you, creating the dark takes a little imagination.  And trust me, they could have cared less. 

This year Lily Grace decided on a Night Owl theme for her 7th birthday party.  She was so excited about having friends over so late and partying until the wee hours of the night.  The party didn't end until 8:00 pm.  To my almost seven year old, that was LATE.  :-)
Lily Grace invited 8 girls over and everything we did revolved around owls.  
The party kicked off with everyone arriving in their PJ's and lugging a sleeping bag.  With owls so popular right now, Lily Grace and I happened upon some adorable owl fabric that we used to sew her pajama bottoms.  She looked so cute.
The girls quickly got busy making their own bottle cap necklaces, with an owl at the center of course. The girls also enjoyed signing their names to the back of owl pillowcases as a keepsake to remember the evening with friends.  And of course, pizza and cake were in abundance.  Lily Grace's favorite part of the party was the Owl Adoption.  I sewed owls for the girls.  Each owl was different.  Each came with a card telling what kind of owl it was.  We had owls like Wise, Dreamy, Crafty etc.  Knowing all the characters, Lily Grace had asked to be Dress Up Owl.  I agreed that she could choose hers, but that she couldn't see it before the party. She had to be surprised like all her friends.   Once I sewed all the owls, I wrapped each one in a box and included the character card.  As Lily Grace opened a gift from a friend, they got to choose a box.  Once Lily Grace had opened all her gifts and each girl had selected a box, they all opened their boxes to reveal their owl.  There were so excited!  Lily Grace was thrilled with Dress Up Owl.  The girls were then given Owl Adoption Cards where they named their owls.  The girls then got together for a picture with their owls. Matt printed the picture before the girls left and placed it in a frame that I had fabric wrapped for each girl.  
We ended the night with glow sticks and dancing in the dark.  Three hours later, 8 tired and still excited little girls called it a night.  (And two tired parents did too.)
According to Lily Grace, this was the best birthday ever.  Glad to hear that Gracie!  Daddy and I love sharing in these special and fun times with you.  We had a great time and look forward to celebrating her actual birthday in just two short weeks.  Until then, we are off to enjoy Spring Break!  (And I shall ponder what in the world I did before etsy and Pinterest. Ha!)
Thanks to everyone who came and helped Lily Grace celebrate.