The Tutu Project

I've blogged more than a few times about the great features at Ballet News, and when I saw one of their recent headlines about The National Ballet of Canada and their Tutu Project I have to admit I got more than a bit excited.

Here's the scoop: to commemorate the National Ballet of Canada's upcoming 60th anniversary, 60 tutus were created by school children, Canadian fashion designers and artists; the collection will be on display in Toronto July-September of this year along with other archival tutus from the company's past performances.

These tutus were made by participants at a Family Day Fest in Downsview Park and Canada Day in Ottowa.
Photo by Setareh Sarmadi.

Click here for a link to the Ballet News article.  This is such a neat project, and I love the interactive aspect of the project. Who knows, maybe a Ballerina Birthday tutu will be on display for the ballet's 70th anniversary!  Happy Anniversary to the National Ballet of Canada!

Tutu cute of a table

I've blogged recently about Ballet News, a great site featuring all things ballet, and awhile back I saw this fun table setting on their site... Tutu much of a table?

Fun right?  A little frilly and frou frou for sure, but hey, we like those things at the Ballerina Birthday!  I'm also a huge fan of table settings and decor, and Life's Little Celebrations has a great blog post with some super cute ideas.  I love these tulle pom poms, they would be great hanging over a festive birthday table, and this bunting just oozes 'party!' (along with spring-y, girly and pretty)!  All these fun things are getting my creative juices flowing to come up with some fun table setting ideas for myself.  Hmmm... stay tuned, I'll be sure to share!

The Ballerina Birthday on Eighty MPH Mom!

Blogs are awesome things, and I try to explore them and their creators' ideas and inspirations often; it's always interesting and inspiring to see what other peoples passions and creations are.  Awhile back I found Eighty MPH Mom, a fantastic site created by blogger Jennifer, with lots of great resources for busy on the go moms.  Eighty MPH Mom has many contributors to the site, and Jessie was kind enough to review The Ballerina Birthday (click here for the review).  Jessie has three little cuties of her own (one of which is pictured here in a Ballerina Birthday tutu and headpiece).  Jessie also has her own blog, The Lucas Zoo, which chronicles the busy life of her lovely family.  

Thanks to both these ladies for the shout out, and cheers to all us hard working, busy and enterprising women.. let's keep these blogs rolling!

Creative Crafts

Happy April!  Despite the persistent rain of late, I've had some fun spring crafts in the works and wanted to share!  I had a Ballerina Birthday this past weekend with a gaggle of boys in attendance and wanted to make sure they had something fun to dance and play around in, and I thought capes would be a perfect prop for would be knights errant, pirates and princes.  I'm planning to spruce them up a bit with maybe some fur trim or a lightening bolt applique, but these were super quick and easy to make, and fun for playtime.  I also found these paper masks at JoAnn's and decorated them up with some glitter paint, markers, and some stones, another quick and fun craft for your super heros or masked ball debutantes.  

A few weeks ago I was inspired by a Fancy Nancy craft I found at Michael's for a butterfly bracelet.  Here's my version, done with a child's hair tie, ribbon, and a paper butterfly.  This could also double as a ponytail holder, but also looks pretty cute as an accessory I think!

My good friend Janice is off to a new home and adventure in Seattle and while she was cleaning she came across these cute pink lanterns she used to throw me a birthday party a few years back.  She passed them on to me, and I paired them with a wonderful strand of paper roses I found at Baksheesh in Sonoma (a favorite store of mine in the downtown area).  So pretty!

Ballet News: Cupcakes & Conversation

I came upon Ballet News via Facebook and fellow dancer friends; I'm so glad I did, because in the past few months I've found some of the most interesting videos, interviews, beautiful photography and artwork, and just general fantastic ballet news! One of my favorite features of the Ballet News website is their 'Cupcakes & Conversation'.  Umm cupcake...?  You've got me. Pair it with interviews from dancers with companies around the globe (corps de ballet to principal... another feature I love), and you've got the perfect mix of goodies!  Take a look at these beauties below!  I'm sure I'll be blogging about Ballet News much more in the near future and I encourage you to check out the link here.  Enjoy!

Primrose Bakery - photo from Ballet News

International Princess Project: Pajamas for a Cause

A few weeks ago I blogged about the game Pretty Pretty Princess, and I often do blog about how my students love to be princesses and the Ballerina Birthdays I do can be centered around much loved fairy-tale princesses that little ones can't get enough of; princesses have universal appeal.  (I mean, who doesn't love Kate Middleton)?  Not long after my Pretty Pretty Princess post I came across he International Princess Project on Hello Giggles.  Hello Giggles is a favorite site of mine (I've garnered a few DIY crafty projects from them in the past, click here to check it out), it's witty, girly and full of beautiful things, like The Princess Project.

International Princess Project is a non-profit that works to encourage empowerment of women formerly enslaved as prostitutes.  The women who are able to escape this horrible life have a hard time finding work or family members and the route to reinstating themselves into society can be a rough one.  International Princess Project helps these women to become self-reliant, teaching them marketable skills and giving them tools to support themselves.

That's where the pajama part comes in: Punjammies provide savings accounts, fair-trade wages, and recovery care for the exceptional women who made them.  I thought this was such a wonderful project I wanted to share it with you.  I feel so lucky to be able to teach little girls how to be and feel graceful, special and powerful - all the qualities we think a 'princess' would have.  

For those other little girls and women whose reality is something quite bleak in comparison to what most of us know, and who don't have those people, such as teachers, or an outlet or culture in their life that supports and cultivates those 'princess' qualities, this is a wonderful way to give some hope to the women who are striving to find those qualities in themselves and in their lives again.  Please visit the Hello Giggles site here, and the page of the International Princess Project here.

Tiara Flower Crowns

In anticipation of an upcoming Ballerina Birthday party next month, I'm practicing making and experimenting with crowns - the craft requested by the ballerina birthday girl.  These are delicate and girly versions, they remind me of the first buds of the spring season.  I also love the ribbons streaming down the back, something so ethereal and fairy-like about these flower crowns.  I remember my mom making me some of these from real flowers, now that takes delicate handiwork!  I don't think the real thing will survive for a Ballerina Birthday, amongst the excitement of little fingers, but I'll continue to experiment and share ideas and inspirations and would love to hear your comments and feedback!