Madeline is a wonderfully naughty little girl that gets into scrapes and is also smart enough to get herself out of them. She lives in the middle of Paris in an orphanage with the other orphans, their teacher Miss Clavel, and their dog Genevieve in the center of Paris. If you have such a little girl, this is a perfect birthday theme!
How would Paris look from a child’s point of view? Try to have that mood in your invitations. You can always purchase Madeline invitations, but making your own is much more fun. Look for a picture at the base of the Eiffel Tower and paste Madeline there. Or, look for a picture of an old French house like the orphanage and use that. Write the party details in bright red ink. Finish off the invitation with a golden yellow and royal blue ribbon.
You may notice three colors running throughout the book: royal blue (like the capes they wear), bright red (their hair bows), and golden yellow (their straw hats). One point – keep things to a minimum. This is a French theme and the French are masters of minimalization. You could hang a red, white, and blue banner at the door and place lollipop topiaries at either side of the door. Tie a red ribbon around the trunk of each topiary. Display a straw hat decorated with a black ribbon at the entrance, too. Display bouquets of balloons in these colors in the room and hang up tissue poms over the tables. Keep everything to the same colors to keep that French mood.
Use a royal blue tablecloth for the children’s table topped with a bright red table scarf. Find several thin cylindrical golden yellow vases to put in the center and fill it with simple red flowers like carnations. Use royal blue plates for the food and red utensils. A yellow napkin gets a ring of ribbons around it.
Use the same cloths on the table where the cake will be displayed. Throw on the same blue and yellow cloths and center the cake on that. A typical Parisian cake would be a croquembouche. But, the cream puffs may not appeal to the children so make it out of donut holes instead. Cover a Styrofoam cone with parchment paper and stick donut holes in with toothpicks. Decorate it with sugar flowers glued on with royal icing, piped icing stars in blue, red, and yellow, and a French flag on top.
The Madeline birthday menu is simple and typically French. This is a snack, so it’s not heavy or elaborate. Treat the children to crepes filled with chopped fresh strawberries and crème anglaise topped with chocolate sauce and paired with a hot chocolate and langues de chat. A cold drink could be a citron presse, otherwise known as lemonade!
Each child could get a little red purse filled with a scented lip gloss and red bead bracelet. The boys could get a red bandanna and a straw hat.