You are cordially invited to participate in an Anne of Green Gables party with fellow kindred spirits. Games, crafts, and snacks will be provided.
A little over three year’s ago, we celebrated Twinkle Toes’ 11th birthday with an Anne of Green Gables themed party! It’s taken me a little longer than I had hoped (ha!) to share the pictures with you all (that’s what happens when I take way too many) but as Anne says,
“…looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them.”
.: Party Favors :.
Anne of Green Gables Party Favors
(You can find the free printables in the archives.)
(You can find the free printables in the archives.)
.: Anne of Green Gables Inspired Birthday Banner :.
Anne of Green Gables Birthday Banner
(You are welcome to download my banner here.)
.: Decorated Hats and Puffed Sleeves Cookies :.
“Her hat was a little, flat, glossy, new sailor, the extreme plainness of which had likewise much disappointed Anne, who had permitted herself secret visions of ribbon and flowers. The latter, however, were supplied before Anne reached the main road, for being confronted halfway down the lane with a golden frenzy of wind-stirred buttercups and a glory of wild roses, Anne promptly and liberally garlanded her hat with a heavy wreath of them. Whatever other people might have thought of the result it satisfied Anne, and she tripped gaily down the road, holding her ruddy head with its decoration of pink and yellow very proudly.”
– Anne of Green Gables
– Anne of Green Gables
“Oh, I AM grateful,” protested Anne. “But I’d be ever so much gratefuller if–if you’d made just one of them with puffed sleeves. Puffed sleeves are so fashionable now. It would give me such a thrill, Marilla, just to wear a dress with puffed sleeves.”
– Anne of Green Gables
– Anne of Green Gables
(I’m pretty sure my husband was the one who decorated his dress with “NHL Princess”…)
Cookie Baking and Decorating Supplies:
- Sugar Cookie Dough
- Rolling Pin, Pastry Mat, and Measuring Dough Strips (optional)
- Dress Cookie Cutter
- Circle Cookie Cutters (attach small cookie to bigger cookie with frosting to create hat)
- Frosting
- Lots of Sprinkles
.: Birthday Cake and Party Food :.
“I’m going to have the daintiest things possible. . . things that will match the spring, you understand. . . little jelly tarts and lady fingers, and drop cookies frosted with pink and yellow icing, and buttercup cake…
… And we must have sandwiches too, though they’re not very poetical.” — Anne of Avonlea
I had grand plans of creating a 3-D Green Gables with this chocolate mold…
…however, between a broken microwave for melting the candy and the 90 degree temps, it ended up being a flat design… I still want to attempt it again someday! We did make homemade raspberry cordial though!
“I love bright red drinks, don’t you? They taste twice as good as any other color.”― Anne of Green Gables
“Diana poured herself out a tumblerful, looked at its bright-red hue admiringly, and then sipped it daintily.”
.: Bird Bingo :.
Playing Bird Bingo
The little birds sang as if it were
The one day of summer in all the year
And the Friday afternoons they don’t have recitations Miss Stacey takes all to the woods for a ‘field’ day and they study ferns and the flowers and birds.
.: More Party Games :.
Inspired by the movie scene when Anne and her best friend Diana Barry win the three-legged race the picnic, we had a whole bunch of Old Fashioned Party Games including Three-Legged Race, Sack Race, and Egg Relay Race, Ring Toss and Fabric Wrapped Hula Hoops!
Three-Legged Race Supplies:
- Scarves or fabric strips long enough for tying legs together (one for each pair of children – we used Play Silks)
- Rope, Streamer, or something to mark the finish line
Three-Legged Race Directions:
- Divide into pairs.
- Have each player stand next to her partner and put her arm around her partner’s waist. The partners’ inside legs (the right leg of the partner on the left and the left leg of the partner on the right) should be touching. Tie the partners’ inside legs together so each pair has three legs rather than four.
- Use two ropes to mark a starting line and a finish line. Have the players line up at the starting line. At your signal, have players walk or run as fast as they can to the finish line.
- The winners are the pair of children who cross the finish line first.
Sack Race Supplies:
- One pillowcase or burlap sack per participant.
Sack Race Directions:
- Use two ropes to mark a starting line and a finish line.
- Have participants line up at the starting line and climb into their pillowcases or burlap sacks.
- At your signal, have players jump as quickly as they can to the finish line.
- Whoever crosses the finish line first is the winner!
Egg Race Supplies:
- One hard-boiled egg for each team – we used wooden eggs
- Spoons – We used a pack of White Spoons from the Dollar Store
I posted our Ring Toss & Fabric Hula Hoops here. They didn’t even wait for me to set them up before trying to play.
We had candy prizes for the games. I planned to attach various quotes to them all but ran out of time.
“What’s a falsehood? Do you mean a whopper?”
“Then, just as she thought she really could not endure the ache in her arms and wrists another moment, Gilbert Blythe came rowing under the bridge in Harmon Andrews’s dory!”
“I don’t want starsunbursts or marble halls, I just want you.”
… or something along those lines!
Once, when nobody was looking, Gilbert took from his desk a little pink candy heart with a gold motto on it, “You are sweet,” and slipped it under the curve of Anne’s arm. Whereupon Anne arose, took the pink heart gingerly between the tips of her fingers, dropped it on the floor, ground it to powder beneath her heel, and resumed her position without deigning to bestow a glance on Gilbert.
– Anne of Green Gables Chapter XV
.: “Get…That Cow” Piñata :.
I must. . .get. . .that cow. . .out. . .before. . .Mr. Harrison. . .sees her,” gasped Anne. “I don’t. . .care. . .if I’m. . .drowned . . .if we. . .can. . .only. . .do that. But the Jersey cow appeared to see no good reason for being hustled out of her luscious browsing ground. No sooner had the two breathless girls got near her than she turned and bolted squarely for the opposite corner of the field. “Head her off,” screamed Anne. “Run, Diana, run.” – Anne of Avonlea
Cow Piñata with Rope
We filled the piñata with candy, including “Smarties” 😉
I’m pretty sure my brothers enjoyed the piñata more than their nieces and nephews! 😉
.: Birthday Gifts :.
Along with the pretty new “old-fashioned” dress and pantaloons, she received all sorts of fun gifts.
We already had the DVDs and this wonderful Audio Book version, but the birthday girl did receive the second season of Road to Avonlea and a bunch of new (and new to her) Anne of Green Gable Books that I was able to round up:
- Anne of Green Gables Birthday Book
- The Anne of Green Gables Pop-up Storybook
- The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook
- Anne of Green Gables (Illustrated Junior Library Book)
- The Anne of Green Gables Treasury
- 8 Book Boxed Set – her own set so I could have my childhood set back 😉
Ooh, ooh, ooh! Look! The Ann of Green Gables Cookbook has just been republished! We might need to add this to our collection.
If your looking for Anne themed gift ideas, this coloring book has been a hit here too. Our other daughter has and loves the Puffin in Bloom edition.
She also received some clothes and accessories for one of her dolls: Caroline’s Nightgown with matching Doll Nightgown, Caroline’s Work Dress and Caroline’s Calf Garnet…
…and a beautiful Paint-by-Number from Grandpa & Grandma.
It didn’t take her long to start reading her new books!
.: Birthday Candles on the Carrot Cake :.
… Served with Ice Cream, of course!
“They’re going to have boats on the Lake of Shining Waters–and ice cream, as I told you. I have never tasted ice cream. Diana tried to explain what it was like, but I guess ice cream is one of those things that are beyond imagination.” – Anne of Green Gables
Happy (belated) 11th Birthday Twinkle Toes!
“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day
with no mistakes in it yet?”
― Anne of Green Gables
with no mistakes in it yet?”
― Anne of Green Gables
How beautiful that birthday party was. I'm so glad it turned out so splendidly. I can wait for my carrot top girl to get old enough for just such a party. Thank you for sharing!!
2017-11-16 01:30:11
Jessica has it really been three years! I have been so looking forward to this post. All of your sweet children have grown so. This post was just Delightful!!! I enjoyed each and every photo and quote from the books. The lush green country side in the photos could easily be Prince Edward Island. I love Twinkle Toes darling dress, pantaloons, parasol and her beautiful braids along with her happy smile. The hat and dress cookies are adorable and such tedious work went into decorating each of them so uniquely. Such clever party favors, scrumptious menu, wonderful old fashioned games that looked like so much fun to play and her birthday presents were just perfect. So many wonderful Anne story books for her to journey through. The cow pinata was perfect…that is one of the funniest scenes in the Anne of Green Gables movie…the mischief Anne and Diana could innocently get into. This is a wonderful Birthday Celebration and Theme for your sweet girl. It was truly worth waiting for. And may I add the Avonlea series was one of our twin daughters most favorite shows to watch on the Disney channel in the 1990's. Our whole family watched each episode on Sunday evenings. The characters were so realistic and the stories so heartwarming. I loved the period dress costumes and wouldn't it be lovely to live in Rose Cottage…I adored each room in that elegant home and also Janet's warm farm kitchen on King Farm. A delightful series for all children to watch. It is wonderful that this Sullivan series is on CD's for future generations to enjoy. Thank you so much for taking the time to share this post with another Mom whose daughters grew up with Anne (with an "e") and all of her friends in Avonlea…
2017-11-16 02:59:20
Such a beautiful party! I've never read the books myself, but I hear they are so lovely. I should look for them for my oldest who's 8.
2017-11-16 03:43:39
I second EVERYTHING you just wrote! lol! What a thoroughly delightful and beautiful family and party!
2017-11-16 04:25:04
Oh I'm so happy to finally see these pictures! Looks like the party was lots of fun! I also had a carrot cake and vanilla ice cream for my Anne birthday part! :O <3 You had so many clever nods to scenes in the book and movie. I love it! Maybe someday I'll get around to posting some pictures of my Anne party as well. 🙂 God bless!
2017-11-17 01:16:47
Y'all are just amazing in what y'all do for your children. I remember when PBS aired the Anne of Green Gables show completely over the entire day. I stayed in front of the TV watching it. (before dvr's). I loved that show. God bless y'all and continue please sharing all of the wonderful events you all do together.
2017-11-17 15:38:07
You always have something beautiful to ponder. Lovely party for a lovely girl.
2017-11-17 16:50:19
I love this post. Even though I always had my nose in a book as soon as I could read the Anne Of Green Gables series were unknown to me. Maybe because there were no libraries in my neighborhood. Anne became a dear friend as an adult. Today I enjoy the books,tv series and movies. Joan
2017-11-17 19:43:25
What a lovely birthday celebration. The "Anne of Green Gables" theme is just right for a young lady. Do you know that Part 2 of a new version of "Anne Of green Gables' is on PBS next week? Part 1 is also repeated. You can look up he dates on your PBS station. "Twinkle Toes" is a lovely young lady. Marilyn
2017-11-18 01:08:25
Thank You for sharing . Anne Of Green Gables is a lovely and enjoyable series. This series led me to many more books by Lucy Maud Montgomery including the Emily and the Pat series.The Pat series are my favorite. Maybe because Patricia is my Confirmation name. Have you ever seen the "Emily" TV series? Marion
2017-11-18 01:13:28
How wonderful that you incorporated so many lovely scenes from the books and film into this delightful party! I must try the cordial!
2017-11-19 13:30:01
I've been waiting for this one a long time! So glad you found the time to post the pictures. I've loved the Anne series for over 20 years!
2017-11-21 05:43:12
Where did you get the parasol? My daughter would love one. You all looked like you had so much fun at the party.
2017-11-22 23:27:02
I was so hoping that the 'Anne' party would be shared on the blog! I've been looking forward to this post for a long time and what a beautiful party it was! Thank you so much for sharing . . . I'm so amazed with all of your ideas and nods to the book. Such a delightful blog post! And how your children have grown in 3 years! Blessings to you and your family!
2017-11-23 05:58:10
How Wonderful Jessica!
2021-01-16 23:37:39