One cold February evening, we loaded the kids up in the car and drove to a pizza place I heard had a magician on Sunday nights. They had never seen a magician perform before, and we were so excited to check it out. The magician walked from table to table, and my oldest watched him like a hawk, ooooing and ahhhhing at the tricks he performed.

That night, a new obsession began for all things magic. She began saving her tooth fairy money and spent it on magic tricks and learned how to make balloon animals. She practiced and practiced, and suddenly her dream of growing up to be a professional equestrian changed, and now she wants to be a magician.

So when it came time to start planning her 7th birthday, there was no question that she wanted to have a magic party.

She is a mini party planner at heart and was very specific about the colors and patterns she wanted. So with Reese’s help, I designed a magic collection for her and did my best to bring her vision to life.

The primary colors were pinks and purples with touches of black and gold. Graphics included a vintage magician, top hat and bunny accented by fun vintage-inspired fonts. To give the invitation envelopes some extra wow factor, I created wrap around mailing labels and ordered custom stamps from Zazzle.com with a magician on them.

Reese adores fondant, and one of her favorite parts of planning a party is contacting Brittany of Edible Details to see what we can dream up. Reese is always so specific about what she wants. On her pony party cake topper last year, she asked Brittany to make the horse’s hooves “shiny like she just took a bath” and Brittany delivered. This year, Brittany made an adorable magic bunny and top hat cake topper using Reese’s favorite colors and lots of glitter per the birthday girl’s request. I used it to top off an undecorated grocery store cake.

Brittany also made fondant bunny ears, feet and tails that I used to decorate little boxes of cheddar popcorn so it looked like the bunnies were diving into the yummy popcorn. I made little food flags that said “Now you see it, now you don’t!” and “Disappearing act!” that I clipped to the popcorn boxes with mini clothespins. This was by far the favorite treat of the kids!

My kids are crazy for cake pops, and my favorite cake pop gal is Audrey of Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats. She made shimmery purple cake pops. They were gorgeous! I used a star craft punch and glitter card stock and made shiny stars to attach to the top of the sticks to add some extra fun and mimic the stars in the printables. She also made gold glittered white chocolate star pops that were so pretty. Almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

Krista of Cookies With Character made adorable bunny, top hat, magic wand and star cookies. She is always a joy to work with and in every order there is always a special birthday cookie that the kids love. She even used some kind of treatment along the edges to give it a vintage look.

I decorated grocery store cupcakes with cupcake toppers from the collection. I used a 2.25″ square flourish punch and a 2″ circle punch to give the toppers dimension. I also added mini gold star sprinkles to the cupcakes to give them some extra pizzazz.

For fun, I designed a display of Cherry Sours that were set up to look like the popular magic trick called Cups and Balls. Only the magician and Reese understood what it was, but it was a fun touch that had some meaning for us. It was one of the first tricks we worked on together until we mastered it. Thank goodness for YouTube videos!

For beverages, our little guests drank homemade Shirley Temples and there was iced tea for the adults. The bottle labels were personalized with her name, and the straw flags had “Hocus Pocus”, “Abracadabra”, “Birthday Magic” and that bunny graphic (via The Graphics Fairy) on them. They were propped up on an old Coca-Cola crate that my grandfather used to store some of his woodworking supplies in. I always try to work that crate into my parties somehow so he can still be with us.

For decor, Bethany of Sweet Georgia Sweet crafted a beautiful wreath. She used fabric that perfectly matched the printables—same colors and patterns—and she also added a glittery “R” for the birthday girl. It was the perfect way to welcome guests! The good news is that Sweet Georgia Sweet carries this wreath in her shop, so you can get one for your little magician too!

I created signs which I framed in ornate frames from Hobby Lobby. Reese insisted that one of the signs say “Hocus Pocus Chicken Choke Us” and wanted a chicken on it, so voila. Chicken sign! I guess it is pretty funny in the first grade world. They kept cracking up. Another sign placed with the party favors instructed our little guests to grab a bunny favor with “Every Great Magician Needs a Trusty Rabbit. Please Take One”. I also framed vintage Kellar and Houdini billboard prints in 8×10″ frames and used them as serving dishes to hold the cupcakes and cookies.

I made marquee lights out of paper mache letters from the hobby store, globe string lights and loads of gold and gold glitter spray paint. They spelled out “MAGIC” and added that wow factor to the party and really helped compliment the vintage magic show vibe I was going for. I hung them using fishing line strung from the backdrop stand. Definitely a two person job (thanks, mom!). Tutorial coming soon.

I made several star garlands using my star-shaped punch, gold glitter scrap book paper and glitter twine. It added some extra fun to the birthday banner, tables and anywhere that needed a little extra glam.

The backdrop was made out of four inexpensive satin tablecloths from Amazon.com that were much cheaper than fabric. I used clamps from the hardware store to attach them to an old photography backdrop stand and draped them to resemble a stage curtain. Warning: a steamer will be your new best friend. Wrinkles. Oh, the wrinkles.

My mother made the birthday girl’s ruffled tuxedo shirt, which perfectly matched the custom magician’s cape made by KidKapers. Her outfit was made complete with a beaded necklace from The TomKat Studio, a black tulle skirt covered in stars I found at Target, a glittery top hat from US Toy (this was actually the first item Reese picked out and set the tone for this glittery magic bash), vintage gloves picked up at a flea market and, of course, a magic wand purchased from Amazon.

One of my favorite little DIY projects was decorating birch wood forks with glitter tape to add some sparkle. I placed small pieces of tape on the forks in random patterns and trimmed away the excess with my xacto knife. The glitter tape was purchased from CuteTape.com. The black and white party plates and napkins came from The TomKat Studio.

I am a flea market junkie and have been collecting old trunks and crates for years, and they come in handy at events like these. I stack them in various configurations and use them to hold party items and add some visual interest. I also used a couple of vintage magic tricks and props I picked up recently from the flea markets in the Crossroads District and mixed them in with Reese’s magic collection for decor. I tried to create the feeling that we were backstage at one of Kellar or Houdini’s magic shows looking through their magic props.

For party favors, our little guests took home adorable favor boxes from Piggy Bank Parties stuffed with a sweet treat. I bedazzled them with some of my beloved glitter tape as an extra sparkly touch.

Activities consisted of a private magic lesson for my daughter and her best friend before the show, smashing a custom piñata crafted by the Piñata Queen and stuffed with small magic tricks instead of candy (that was a big surprise for the kids) and an amazing magic show with the magician Magic Scott. He was so much fun, and the kids were constantly screaming and giggling. Every child was able to participate in the show, and the birthday girl was his assistant and even levitated. After the show, we had a photo booth set up in front of the backdrop with top hats and magic props. It was definitely a memorable party!

My party twinsie The Purple Pug had an amazing magic party on the same day for her son, The Great Gavini. Definitely worth checking out all of the glittery goodness!

VENDOR CREDITS

Printables, Party Styling and Photography | Three Little Monkeys Studio
Custom Wreath | Sweet Georgia Sweet
Fondant Magic Bunny Cake Topper, Bunny Ears, Bunny Feet and Bunny Tails | Edible Details
Cake pops and Chocolate Star Pops | Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats
Plates, Napkins, Twine, Drink Bottles and Bubblegum Necklace | The TomKat Studio
Wooden utensils | Pick Your Plum
Magic Bunny Piñata | The Piñata Queen
Custom Magic Cape | KidKapers
Magic Hat Favor Boxes | Piggy Bank Parties
Magician | Magic Scott
Picture frames, ribbon and gold glitter scrap book paper | Hobby Lobby
Magic wands and hats | US Toy
Satin tablecloths, magic tricks and candy | Amazon.com
Popcorn Boxes | Party Delights