St. Charles Avenue June 2005

A party by a pool for young girls kicks off summer vacation by BEV CHURCH Summer is here and children are out of school, so it’s the perfect time for an end-of-the-school-year pool party. Your little girl can help you plan the whole party from the invitation to the food and music. The colorful flower invitation is one you can both make and hand deliver. The swimming pool “wacky noodle” part of the invitation is the “ticket” to the party. Everyone needs to bring a towel (but have extra ones on hand, anyway) and come dressed in bathing suits and shorts. When the girls come to the door, they will be greeted by a pathway of flowers. (I found the flowers in the photo at Big Lots for $3.99 each.) Guests get to take one home after the party as a gift. Music is playing when everyone comes in and activities abound. Swimming comes first, and the big surprise is the floating Luis Colemenares sculpture (which I bought) that he created for Bank One Zoo-To-Do. Flowers and dragonflies also float in the pool with the children. After playing in the water, there are relay races and prizes for everyone. Then there are stations where the girls can paint picture frames, decorate cookies and paint each other’s faces with body paint. Lunch is served outside: pizza, sandwiches, fruit and a giant tropical pizza with pineapple, mango, strawberries, mandarin oranges and cherries. Everyone dances out of the party laden with goodies. • The tropical fruit pizza—topped with strawberries, mangos, pineapple, mandarin oranges and cherries—is a decorative and delicious adornment for the table. A pineapple palm tree covered with grapes and strawberries is perfect as a healthy snack for the girls. Ideas for garnishing came from a book I found called Garnishing Made Easy. Covered with flowers and dragonflies, a handpainted umbrella creates some much needed shade. A walkway of whimsical flowers leads to the front door. The “Wacky Noodle” invitation with a tissue-paper flower and card attached. To make the flower, take a standard package of brightly colored tissue paper and accordion fold five or six sheets until you end up with a piece that is 2-inches-by-20-inches. Fold it in half lengthwise and put a large bobby pin in the center. Pull opposite sides toward the center to create the flower.