A Raggedy Ann Birthday Party

Ever since I was young, Raggedy Ann and Andy have always had a special place in my heart. My mom made my very first Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls (seen on the party table below) for my first Christmas.   As kids, we loved her to read us the Adventures of Raggedy Ann.  She even made my brother and I Raggedy Ann and Andy halloween costumes, complete with yarn hair, red and white striped stockings and white apron.  We won first place at a local costume contest and the prize was a Lite Brite for each of us!   I so wish they hadn't  stopped making that original Lite Brite.  We spent countless rainy and snowy afternoons creating masterpieces in lights.  I can still remember the smell of that black paper as it got warm.

My brother and I, Halloween 1977 

Although Raggedy Ann and Andy have long lost their popularity I still wanted my daughter to know who they were.  I wanted her to know the sweet and innocent adventures of Marcella and her beloved rag doll.  So I bought her a copy of the book and her very own Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls for her second Christmas.  When it came time to think about her 2nd birthday party  it seemed to be a perfect match.  As soon as the theme was set, I got right to work shopping for all the things I would need.   I built the entire party around one of my favorite stories, How Raggedy Ann Got Her Candy Heart by Johnny Gruelle.  Being an ex school teacher I always love it when I can incorporate a book into a party.  I clearly remember loving that particular story as a child; Raggedy Ann hanging on the clothes line, birds borrowing some of her yarn hair and stuffing and eventually getting a new candy heart that said I Love You.    I wanted to "re create" that story for our party guests with hearts that said I Love You, yarn hair, stuffing and candy hearts!

The Decorations

As guests entered the party they were greeted with all things Raggedy Ann!   To help further set the scene, soon after everyone arrived, I had the kids gather around on the floor and we read How Raggedy Ann Got Her Candy Heart .   

I used a simple white table cloth and covered it with a red and white gingham table cloth my mom had made many years ago.  Don't forget that you can fold a table cloth that is too long or short and use it as a runner.  You can even pull them as far forward as you can to make a "one-sided" table; a table that guest only approach from one side.  I like to "shop" my own house first to see what I can  "tweak" before purchasing anything new.  You would be surprised what you can "rig", find or borrow.  

I borrowed this little red wagon from my mom to display that very first  Raggedy Ann and Andy of mine as well as my childhood copies of Adventures of Raggedy Ann by Johnny Gruelle.

I placed other Raggedy Ann and Andy books around the table and used blocks to spell out our daughter's name.

I ordered this personalized Raggedy Ann birthday print from Etsy, put it in a frame we already had and threw it in our antique wash tub.  The red, white and blue pendants are made out of a few yards of fabric but could easily be made out of scrapbook paper.

I pulled this turquoise table from another room in the house and made it into the washing and stuffing station (more in Activities below)

I made a quick centerpiece for the kids' table with another borrowed wagon, Raggedy Ann and Andy,  some paper doilie hearts and tissue paper.  Check out the vintage fabric my mom found in her linen closet!  Avocado green!! We just folded it up in a narrow strip and used it as a table runner.

Paper doilie hearts attached to skewers made for a quick and cheap centerpiece.

Red and white paper doilie hearts and lace attached to jute  made a simple table swag.

These dainty paper napkins were one of the most time consuming crafts I made for the party but I sure do love how sweet they turned out!  I used a paper punch to create the lace scalloped edge.  

The Cake

I frosted the cake with a vanilla buttercream.  The eyes, nose and mouth are made of fondant.

I tied scraps left over from the pendants to my cake stand to add to the rag-doll theme

Oops!  I made a mistake on the front of the cake so I just stuck the 2 candle over it!

The Menu

Blueberry Scones with Clotted Cream and Jam
Strawberries and Blueberries with Cream
Heart Shaped Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches
Raggedy Ann and Andy Sugar Cookies
Strawberry Lemonade
Fruit Water 

I'm always trying to find ways to make things ahead of time and found out that you can bake, decorate and freeze sugar cookies with royal icing.  I did this a few weeks before the party and then individually froze these cute Raggedy Ann and Andy cookies.

Aren't these Pb & J sandwiches darling wrapped in red and white paper doilies?

We found these cute little red gummy hearts after Valentine's Day (our party was in May).  One of the perks of deciding on your party theme early, is that you can shop holiday and seasonal specials.  Just be sure to check your expiration dates and don't open the bags so that your treats will stay fresh for the party!

I love having some sort of fresh fruit at a party. I couldn't pass up a fresh and yummy opportunity to add some more blue and red to the table!

My absolute favorite thing to eat with a cup of coffee is a warm, crumbly scone!  My husband swears  he will gladly sacrifice himself and be my guinea pig when it comes to testing new recipes, but man, I sure made him eat a lot of scones!  Finally, we found the perfect recipe!  These scones are the best!  These yummy morsels of deliciousness are appropriately named World's Best Scones from Scotland to the Savoy to the U.S  .  Give them a try.  You won't regret it, I promise!!!

And if you want to put the world's best scone over the top and make it the universe's best scone, then add a big dollop of clotted cream and jam to it!  Oh my!  I wish I had one right now!! For those of you who have never heard of or tried clotted cream, the  best way to describe it is as a cross between cream cheese, unsweetened whipped cream and butter.  I found a cute little jar of it (product of England) at Uptown Grocery for about $8.  You might also try Whole Foods or other specialty grocery stores.  Some stores don't carry it on a regular basis but will order it for you if you give them some advance notice. Trust me, it is worth the hunt.

Now if you are really ambitious, you can even make clotted cream yourself.  And yes, I tried to make it. Of course I did!  I'm just crazy that way!! Don't judge please.  I know I'm a wacko:-) Anyway, it turned out great.  There's only one ingredient- heavy cream.  But the only problem was that here in the United States, or at least in my part of the country, it is impossible to find  unpasteurized or pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized) cream.   Apparently, you need it to make a really good clotted cream.  Don't be tempted to make the recipes that claim to be "easy" clotted cream.  You will know them because they will call for confectioner's sugar.  Don't get me wrong, these "dips" taste great!  They are wonderful for dipping fruit in and topping pound cake, etc, but they are not a substitute for the real deal.  Can you tell I'm obsessed with clotted cream!  Don't even get me started on the debate of what comes first, the cream or the jam?  Supposedly, in England there is a big debate amongst the scone fans of Cornwall and the scone fans of Devon on the correct way to "construct" ones scone Cornwall says the jam is first, then the cream and Devon says the cream is first and then the jam.  Either way, I say!  They are both delicious!!

To drink we had strawberry lemonade and fruit water.  The fruit water is just fresh pineapple and strawberry slices and water.  It is so refreshing you really won't miss the sugar.  Be sure to make it ahead of time (I like to put it in the refrigerator the night before) so that it has plenty of time to get fruity.

Of course, I had to use my milk bottles for the second birthday party!  See my post on The Very Hungry Caterpillar party for tips on how to get these bottles cheap.  They looked so cute with white paper heart doilies (so much easier to find right after Valentine's day), red and white paper straws, red and white twine and some pre-made I Love You tags purchased at Michael's.

Games/Activities

Some of my favorite and most cherished memories of my childhood birthdays are of the fun games and activities that my mom would come up with.  Our friends always loved coming to our parties because of them!  So, I wanted to come up with some fun activities that would go along with our Raggedy Ann theme and the story of how she got her candy heart.  I made a washing and stuffing "station".  We had Raggedy Ann candy hearts (valentine hearts), Raggedy Ann hair (red shoe string licorice ), and Raggedy Ann stuffing (cotton candy).  Guests were encouraged to take a big scoop of each and fill clear party bags.

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Of course we had to play Pin the Heart on Raggedy Ann!  I found a giant picture of a clown at Dollar Tree that looked eerily like Raggedy Ann.  I simply traced it and added Raggedly Ann features to it.

Wash tub and clothes used for the clothes line game.

We also played the clothes line game.  There were two separate laundry baskets filled with items.  I called out an item and one person from each team searched for the item and then hung it on the line.

I can't believe how little my little birthday girl looks in these pictures!!

My sweet little raggedy!

The birthday girl is wearing an outfit that is reminiscent of Raggedy Ann, red and white striped ruffle pants and a chambray dress we found at Old Navy.  The apron was mine when I was a little girl!

To continue the theme of laundry we played a clothes pin drop game.  The birthday girl thought it was fun to fill the entire milk jug!

Party Favors 

Each guest received one of these cute brown party favor bags as they left.  The fronts are embellished with a sing red paper heart doily and an assortment of red, white, and blue ribbons and buttons.  

Each guest received a wrapped sugar cookie in their party favor bag 

and a cone of red heart gum drop candy. 

This is one of my very favorite pictures of my little doll!  

If you liked this party, check out our Very Hungry Caterpillar Party!

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We would love to hear about some of your favorite party tidbits in the comments below.