I've Got A Golden Ticket

Sometime last year, Netflix put the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie on instant Netflix. Remembering how much I used to love that movie, I decided to let my then three year old daughter watch it. Not only did she love it, she became obsessed with it. We watched it at least once a day sometimes twice. Eventually Netflix took it off of their instant viewing options and she was no longer able to watch it. She was devastated! I looked in stores and couldn't find a copy. A couple of places sold copies online but I never got around to ordering her one. She would randomly ask me to search Netflix and see if they had put it back on. They hadn't.

When trying to decide on a theme for her fourth birthday party, I thought about how much she loved Willy Wonka. It was a perfect theme for her. Now, you must know that I begin thinking about her next birthday party usually before the current one is over. I began searching the Internet for ideas. As of right now, there aren't any prepackaged Willy Wonka party supplies. I did find a few things on Etsy but basically this party was pure imagination (pun intended)! I had grand ideas of a candy bar (not the kind you buy in stores but a table set up like a candy shop), an Oompa Loompa cut out for kids to put their faces in and have their picture taken, golden egg races, a chocolate fountain, etc. But after attending a birthday party at the local skating rink my daughter decided that she wanted to have her party there as well. How was I going to tie the Willy Wonka theme into a party at the skating rink. And then I remembered a quote from the movie...

"If the good Lord had intended us to walk, He wouldn't have invented roller skates." -Willy Wonka

It was perfect. So, I contacted my friend who had designed the invitations to see if she could fit the quote on the invite. After that, there wasn't a whole lot to do because the owners of the roller skating rink would only allow for you to bring in a cake and a few table decorations. Since there are normally several birthday parties going on at once you only get one long table for everyone so we didn't really have a lot of room for decorations other than a purple tablecloth. We also weren't allowed to bring in goody bags so of course we just handed those out outside after the party was over.

Abigail and her friends had a great time at her party. The goody bags were a hit. The cake was amazing and tasted as good as it looked. I'm pretty sure the kids all loved their custom "Abigail Bar" invitations. Below are a few pics from her Willy Wonka day!

My friend Mindy who has a shop on Etsy called Southern Baby designed Abigail's custom invitations and her outfit for the day. I must also add that she designed several other things for me for the party that I wasn't able to use since we changed the location of the party. Check her out for your party needs!

Don't you just LOVE the top hat hair clip?!

My friend Amanda made Abigail's cake after showing her a picture of what I wanted. She did an AMAZING job! If you live in the Slidell area and are looking for someone to make a custom cake for a birthday party or some other event then please consider ordering from her. Leave me a comment and I can get you in touch with her! Without further ado...THE CAKE...

And lastly, just a few pics of the actual party...

Oops! I almost forgot pictures of the goody bags. We stuffed them with tons of Willy Wonka candy and a tooth brush! I didn't want all those parent's blaming me for bad teeth after all that candy! :)

Oh and she finally got her own copy of the movie from her GG for her birthday. We've watched about six times in a little over a week! :)

"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men!" -Willy Wonka