A Somewhere Over the Rainbow Celebration

Around Thanksgiving, my daughter watched Wizard of Oz for the first time. Not long after this first viewing, Mo was smitten! Her imaginary play often included herself as Dorothy, Grammy as the Wicked Witch, I got to be Glinda, while her poor little sister, Maeve was stuck as a flying monkey. My mom found a Dorothy dress at a local consignment store and from that Wizard of Oz became a natural choice for her third birthday celebration.

With the help of a few eager preschool hands and my dad, our yellow brick road was the most logical starting point.



From there, we had our cast of characters.

Dorothy, the cowardly Lion, Toto, The Good Witch of the Shore, a munchkin from the lullaby league, the wicked Witch, and Glinda, the good witch

Gathering inspiration from the movie, decorations took on a rainbow color scheme. Using quotations from the movie, I created
DIY streamers,signs, and banners which I hung throughout the house.





Our party guests enjoyed lunch and then it was time for a story. On a recent trip to the Christmas Tree Shop, I found a copy of The Wizard of Oz and since I knew not all of the party goers had seen the movie, reading the book was a great introduction.
The children were all under five years old, so I planned activites accordingly.
Using their brains like the scarecrow, they created rainbow fruit loop necklaces.
Pin the heart on the tin man, took a lot of heart.
Finally, it took courage, like the lion, to hit the pinata. (Even if it was a cupcake instead of the rainbow I wanted!)

Finally, it was time to celebrate our birthday girl. What could be better then rainbow cupcakes, witches hat cookies, and lollipop cookies on a stick?



I like to think it was all the little details that took the party over the rainbow.

Slippers under the house


Flying Monkeys in training


Red Converse Sneakers in place of Ruby slippers, much better for running


For all the brave kids, courage badges


Goodie baskets complete with Glinda's magic bubbles, Red Slipper cookies, an apple, lollipop bouquets, and happy little bluebird peeps

We had a magical day celebrating my little one's third birthday!

Photos courtesy of Ashley Pierce Photography