A Brave Themed Birthday Party with a twist...

My middle daughter (above, sporting her Brave Halloween costume) wanted a Brave themed birthday party for her 6th birthday.

Mr. Darcy and I were married in Scotland  in 1999, so I was happy to oblige her with a Brave party that was less Pixar and more Scottish Highland Games...

Did I mention this particular daughter was also born on Mine and Mr. Darcy's wedding anniversary?

She sure was!

Yep, the chance to plan a Scottish themed party had me in party planning bliss.

Here's some pictures from her special day and maybe they will give you ideas for your own Brave or Scottish themed party.

Guests were greeted at the door with a Will o' the Wisp that I made...The little sign attached says "Follow Your Destiny"

A table in the front entrance way invited guests to "Choose their Clan" by taking a tartan of their choice. The tartans were long strips of different tartans purchased at the fabric store. I used a coupon to keep price low and no sewing was involved. We just cut them into strips wide enough for sashes and long enough for kids and adults. The kids were tied sash style around their bodies. Safety pins were used to pin them across for the adults if the fabric of their choice was not long enough. Having the adults where them also really added to the festivities.

The guests also chose their bow.

We ordered our bows from the Etsy shop Backwoods Toys.  The bows were awesome and the arrows were made of dowels; the point of the "arrow" being a pencil eraser!  They also doubled as the guests party favor with each guest getting to take home their own bow and two "arrows". I have strong opinions about good versus bad party favors you can read about  here. 

Those of you who have seen the movie will recognize this as the stone circle where several movie scenes took place. This was handcrafted by the amazing Nikki at Tikkido for a previous Cornish Fairy themed party she had for her own daughter. She graciously loaned it to us for our Brave themed party. It is made out of hand carved and painted Styrofoam. (Have you checked out the Tikkido blog yet? Good stuff) The girls loved it! 

Having all chosen their clan (sash) and their weapon, the archery competition of our version of the Highland games commenced. Twinkle lights in the trees set a mystical scene as it grew dark. One of my favorite parts of this party was seeing the Dad's give their daughters archery lessons...

My eldest daughter finds her target... (sorry the archery pics are dark)

The birthday girl gets an archery lesson from Dad (Mr. Darcy)

Our playhouse on the back porch, doubled as the "Witch's cottage"... (purchased at Costco last year and assembled by Mr. Darcy, if you're curious).

Personalized water bottle labels from the Etsy shop Woods Design Studios made an average cooler of water bottles look special. 

Bear Paw cookies added some yummy visual interest to the table...They are a chocolate cookie, and use almond slivers as the "claws".  I found the recipe on pinterest! The birthday girl helped me make them the day before the party. 

These little enchanted cakes are not homemade; but a store bought pastry that we added maraschino cherries to the top to look like the little cakes in the movie.

My boys also enjoyed the party. Of course, being twins, they picked out matching Tartans. Here is Sean showing off his...

Mr. Darcy (left) and a family friend. Doesn't he look handsome in his tartan? I love it that he participates in the kids parties, even dressing up when asked. 

I dressed up too. That's me (left) and a friend (right) who also dressed up and helped me hostess. I am rich in my friends! My outfit was a $5 clearance table find at Party City. How great is that?

Our living room became a dining hall...table cloths were purchased from our local  Party City. Goblets  were purchased online from Oriental Trading Company. (OTC often has online coupon codes that can be easily googled.)

The birthday girl blowing out her candles. Make a wish. Charlotte's outfit, the Merida outfit from the movie, was her Halloween costume this year. So she got to wear it again for the party. Although for the party, she chose to not wear her wig. 

I tend to follow  the same process with parties I plan for my kids. I strive for them to be fun, relatively inexpensive, and unique. Here's my tips...

1. Pick a theme 
The less commercialized the better--while "Brave" was our theme, we played on the Scottish Highland History of the story to create a unique party, and p.s.--simple themes can make great parties as easy as complicated ones.

2. Pick one-two high impact decorations or elements
For the Brave party, My high impact elements were visual: the sashes everyone wore and the goblets which I worked into the party budget. I was lucky to have been able to borrow the stone circle.

3. At least one activity that is FUN that goes with the theme
For the Brave party we had one activity, just one...the bows and arrows/archery. It was a HIT. And the bows and 2 arrows each doubled as the girls' party favors that they got to take home. Here is my take on party favors...

4. Good food/simple food
For the Brave party, the food was simple. BBQ pulled pork sandwiches (made in a crockpot with this recipe),  a veggie and cheese tray, bear paw cookies, the "triplets" cakes, and the birthday cake. I was amazed how many pulled pork sandwiches those little girls put away. Never underestimate how much kids will like real food and not just party food or hotdogs...

5. Small guest list.
We invited 8 girls and their parents. I am always amazed (and not really in a good way) when I attend a child's birthday party and there are 50 people there... This was the biggest party Charlotte, age 6, had ever had and there were 8 guests.

I hope you enjoyed getting a view of our Brave themed Birthday party! Here are a few other party posts  on parties we have thrown here at Brighton Park that you might enjoy:, including Charlotte's Hello Kitty themed party she had last year.

Little Seedling Birthday Party (a budget party done for under $30)
Hello Kitty Party (I hit a big faux pas in this party and I share my mistake with you in this post)
Garden Tea Party first birthday Party
Alice in Wonderland Ice Skating Party

I will be sharing my other daughters Chinese themed party next week on the blog. Sign up for email delivery so you don't miss it!
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