I used Winter Wonderland kit by Shabby Princess, the snow man and snow girl doodles are by Kate Hadfield @ The Lily Pad, and the font is sister-frisky.
We wanted to do a special fun activity that the girls would remember always with their Dads. So we thought a dinner, dance lesson, dessert, and small gift exchange between the girls and Dads would be a perfect memory to cherish forever. There were three other Primary leaders Sister Law, Sister Montoya, and Sister Sister Johansson who helped me that day. We did a silver, blue, and white winter ball theme with tons of snow flakes and white or blue Christmas lights. I made the silver glittered snow flake place cards as well as several paper snow flakes. A couple weeks ago for one of my activities, I had my 8-11 year old activity day girls help me cut out the snow flakes, write letters to their Dads, and glittered the snow flakes for the place cards. They were able to count that activity as a service project since they helped us with the decorations for the ball.
Here is what the table looked like with the place cards and centerpiece.
It was a fun fairy tale night! Everyone was dressed in their best dress. First the girls and Dads received their "king" crowns and "princess" tiaras from a basket then they got their pictures taken in the foyer. We made a backdrop out of a portable chalk board, white sheet, Christmas lights, and snowflakes. When I get the photo back from Sister Law, I will post it on here.
Next, they all gathered in the gym and looked for their place cards. They socialized for a few minutes until we had a blessing on the food. We had the food catered from BYU catering services. We ordered fettucini Alfredo, brownies, and bread sticks from BYU. We picked up some drinks, Ranch salad dressing, salad mixes, and ice from the store. Sister Montoya and I delivered the food right when the ball started. We had to hurry home and change into formal wear and get back to help serve the food,etc. During the lovely dinner, the girls and their Dads seemed to enjoy it very much. In fact, one of the Dads said, "Is this food from Olive Garden?" What a huge compliment for BYU catering. I even got to eat a plate of the food and I was very impressed with it too and thought it was delicious!
After eating dinner, Sister Law and Sister Johansson taught the Dads and girls a waltz. Annie Law is a talented dancer with a lot of dance experience. We played several fun Christmas songs that they all danced too. It was fun to watch the little girls smile and giggle while they danced with their Daddy!
My daughter is stepping on her daddy's toes while dancing, lol!
After dancing for about 30 minutes, we had dessert. While Sister Montoya read The Pearl Necklace poem, the Dads and girls ate their chocolate brownies.
The Pearl Necklace
The cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.
"Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please!"
Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face.
"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."
As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents.
On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.
Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere--Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.
Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"
"Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you."
"Then give me your pearls."
"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess--the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me. She's my favorite."
"That's okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.
About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"
"Daddy, you know I love you."
"Then give me your pearls."
"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my babydoll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."
"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you." And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.
A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.
"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"
Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver,she finally said, "Here, Daddy. It's for you."
With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's kind daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny.
He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her genuine treasure.
What are you hanging on to?
--- Author Unknown
On the round table, it included a blue snowflake take out box that contained the girls letter to their Dads, which they wrote a couple weeks ago and the girls received a cute pearl necklace and bracelet set. Overall, I think it was a huge success! All our hard work paid off because we had about 15 girls show up and they all appeared HAPPY having a GREAT time that evening!
Here is my "not so little princess" showing off her new pearl necklace and bracelet.
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