“He didn’t mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic had made him Real, and when you are Real, shabbiness doesn’t matter.”  ~The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams

My youngest daughter and I both share the same favourite storybook. The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams. I’ve loved it since I was a wee girl, and Coco feels the same. In fact, she cries every time it’s read to her. Seriously. Every time. When she asked me if she could have a Velveteen Rabbit party for her 7th birthday, I was over the moon! Oh, the possibilities!

Where do I even start? How about with the invitations?

I put together little white boxes purchased for a dollar at the local dollar store, found an image of the book cover online and used it as the name tag on the box. What was inside the box, you ask?

A little felted carrot with a note attached with ribbon. It was nestled in green shredded paper. The note contained all the party details.

And then the party prep started in earnest…

With the table ready and a willing teenager to help photograph, we were all set to go!

The girls arrived and the party started!

Oh, the pretty tea party foods!

These little rolls are absolutely delicious, and very simple to make. Click here on this link, or on the photo below to head over to the Budget Gourmet Mom’s blog for a tutorial.

I used little wooden garden row stakes to label our snacks…

The bunny tails are coconut covered marshmallows, but you could use ordinary marshmallows!

The bunny tail popcorn balls…

For the juice bottles, I googled a Velveteen Rabbit image and ported it into Pages on my Mac. Then I added text, printed them, cut them, aged them with brown ink, and “glue-sticked” them to the bottles…

The girls were able to pour their own tea and put in their cream and sugar. A lot of sugar, I might add!

They thought they were soooo grown-up using a REAL tea-set.

I didn’t want to clutter the table with place cards, so I hung them with ribbon on the backs of their chairs. The party favours were part of the birthday activities. They got to make their own little rabbits. I had prepped the little t-shirt bunnies beforehand, so all the girls needed to do was stuff the bodies and I could sew up the bottoms.

After we read the story book together ( because, if you can believe it, some of the girls had never heard the story before), the girls stuffed their rabbits…

Click here on the link, or on the image to head over to Creative With Kids for the tutorial!

And then the cake…which all the girls had a little giggle over. What’s not funny about a little bunny bottom?

You can find the tutorial for this adorable bunny cake right here… at Betty Crocker.

I think we covered it all! And the girls had so much fun. Coco keeps her little stuffed rabbit she made on her bed now, and her name card hanging on her coat hook in the closet. She had a most glorious birthday party, and I was happy to have helped. I love being a mum…especially at birthday time!

I have gathered up a few links for you, of fellow bloggers and the birthday parties they’ve created around a story book. Take a look when you have a minute!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Arlee, Small Potatoes

Click on the photos to go to the wonderful party posts!

SCRIBNERS SCRIBBLERS: A darling garden fairy party fashioned after Alice The Fairy, by David Shannon…

NURTURE STORE’S Mad Hatters Tea Party…

Oh, and these cake pops by HERE COME THE GIRLS would be fabulous for a Rainbow Fish party…

A nursery rhyme themed party by CRAFTY MOMS SHARE…

And 2 beautiful and clever posts by WORDPLAYHOUSE…