When a young lady turns a year older, the occasion calls for a celebration that's nothing short of a personal fairy tale.

• Ask guests to wear their fanciest dresses, then provide a box filled with extra dress-up items and costume jewelry for everyone to accessorize with.
• For a magical touch, decorate with a string of white Christmas lights.
• Use pink ribbon and a soft pillow to transform a seat at the party table into a throne for the birthday girl.

Things to Make

Glittery Slipper
This sparkly ball shoe, with all the party info printed on the lacy slip-in sock, really fits the bill for announcing a royal birthday celebration. For a template, cut a cardboard high-heel shape (about 3 1/2 inches high and 6 inches long with a wide ankle opening).

For each invitation, fold a 7-inch square of white paper in half so that the crease is at the bottom. Set the template atop it so that the shoe bottom is lined up on the crease and trace around it. Cut out the tracing and use a glue stick to join all of the edges except for the ankle opening. Apply glue to the surface of each shoe and sprinkle on glitter.

With scrap paper, lightly blot the glitter to secure it. From pink card stock, cut out an L-shaped crew sock (about 4 1/2 inches wide by 5 inches tall) to fit inside the shoe. Trace around it to create a sock for each invitation.

For a finishing touch, glue lace to the top of each sock, and they're ready to deliver.

Terrific Tiaras
Little princesses will love decorating their own party crowns.

Games to Play

Sifting for Gems
This decadent party game harks back to one of the many balls hosted in the seaside mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, during the late 19th century. Each woman guest was invited to grasp a handful of sand and let it sift through her fingers to find a precious gem left in her palm that was hers to take home.

To set up a similar game for your child's royal guests, get a shoe box filled with clean sand or white cornmeal and a few plastic rhinestones (sold in most craft stores) to bury in it.

Have the princesses take turns until each one has 2 gems.

You can make pendants by hot-gluing a paper clip between each pair of gems (adults only) and stringing silvery elastic cord through one of the clip's looped ends.

Kiss the Frog
Since most preschoolers prefer frogs to princes anyway, we guarantee this amphibian will stay an amphibian no matter how many giggly princesses plant a kiss on him.

• Green poster board
• Red or pink poster board
• White paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Felt-tip pen

To set up the game, draw a big frog on green poster board. It's easier than you think: just make a big oval head with eyes at the top and an hourglass-shaped body with pointy webbed feet at the bottom.

Cut out the frog shape. Then cut out 2 large, white paper eyeballs and glue them in place. Draw on pupils, a mouth, and nostrils.

From red or pink poster board, cut out a pair of lips for each princess and apply a small ball of poster tack (sold at most office supply stores) to the back.

During the game, have each child shut her eyes tight, then point her in the right direction to try to pin her smooch on Mr. Frog. Continue taking turns until everyone succeeds.

Princess and the Pea
Start this game by telling the story "The Princess and the Pea." Then invite the girls to see how they'd fare in this princess-detecting test.

• Story of "The Princess and the Pea"
• Pillows
• A small ball

Everyone takes a turn sitting on four pillows arranged in a row on the floor and trying to guess which one the pea, a small ball, is under. (Move the ball after each turn while the current contestant is out of the room.)

If the girls are up for a greater challenge, try a second round using a marble instead of a ball.

Special Touches

A Royal Menu: Serve dainty cracker-and-cream-cheese sandwiches, pink lemonade poured into pretty punch glasses, and a Princess Castle Cake or the Ice Cream Castle Cake. If cupcakes are more your style, try baking these Queen Cupcake treats.

Fanciful Favors: Sparkly butterfly hair clips, candy rings, and pretty stickers are just the take-home tokens little princesses are sure to fancy.