Early Plans

Birthday party plans, that is.  Like, really early.  Like Princess' birthday isn't even until the very, very end of May, but I'm already starting to obsess about what the theme should be this year. 

Last year was the most fun to plan, the most fun to put together, and the most visually beautiful 'do we've had in Sammi's 5 years of parties.  The theme was Olivia, and you may remember these two posts:
Chasing the Crafty DIY Birthday Party and Sammi's Olivia Party Picture Overload. 

Samantha doesn't have any strong frontrunners in the favorite character department this year, other than the perennial favorite highlighted already last year, and she doesn't have any major favorite activities (unless you want to count school, reading or watching television, none of which make for a particularly interesting or catchy theme), so I'm trying to think generic.  Like maybe a color theme.

Like maybe pink & orange, or turquoise & orange, or turquoise & pink, or, heck, turquoise & anything!  I have two boards on Pinterest dedicated to some of these color combinations:  Blue & Orange  and Pink & Orange, and then there's the ever-mind-shattering inspiration of Oilily.  (So now you've seen 3 of my 5 Pinterest boards, all needing a lot of attention...)  My mom has suggested a field of flowers theme, or butterflies, both of which would be excellent.  I'm thinking maybe flowers and stripes in turquoise & orange (I just love pattern-mixing, thanks to my Oilily past...).  We'll do the party at the local playground again - a definite benefit of having a late spring/summer birthday!

Grabbed this image off the web because it makes me drool...

So, if any of you have any great (read:  EASY and CHEAP) craft ideas that I can pull together quickly and on a dime, please let me know.  If you find anything great (read:  EASY and CHEAP) on Pinterest that you think would work (I'm only just now discovering what joys that amazing site holds), please send me the links!!