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The American Girls Party Book: You're Invited!
Includes ideas and instructions for party decorations, foods, favors, and games reflecting the worlds of each of the six American Felicity, Josefina, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha, and Molly.
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 1, 2025
Ahhh this is such an absolutely gorgeous American Girl party book! Each American Girl in this book comes with three themed parties with plenty of recipes and activities to keep you busy!
This was wonderful! Now, I have only read four of the six girls mentioned so far (Kirsten, Samantha, Addy, and Molly) but I really liked how well the parties matched their individual stories.
For example, one of Addy's parties has mini sweet potato pies (which featured in Addy's Surprise) and we see a bean-doll (like Ida Bean!). Molly's Hawaiian party has instructions on how to make a skirt and lei - just like she did in Meet Molly!
The recipes of this book felt well-chosen. They all leaned toward sweets but there was always a couple of drink options, a couple of fancy recipes and a few that were quite simple (often requiring premade dough). It gave a nice variety of finicky-ness for the party planner - if you want simplicity, just add food coloring to white grape juice for Samantha's Artist Party. And if you want to wow your guests, you can make liberty tea for Felicity's Colonial Party.
The crafts chosen were quite fun as well. I liked all the old-fashioned ideas - from sewing cats, to making games using papercraft, to painting flower pots. There was a good mix of 'mess' and 'easy-to-clean' for the crafting.
And finally, there's the activities. Each party had a few different indoor or outdoor games accompanying them. I liked how the book took the time to explain how girls from these different eras would play the various games and often there'd be a few historical blurbs talking about what children did in general during those eras.
All in all, this is a fabulous addition to the American Girl Verse. I was very impressed by the sheer amount of content (and if you are curious about what all was in the book, I have it listed below since this is an older book and it might be hard to track one down for yourself).
Felicity
Colonial Party
Crafts Include:
--Parchment Invitations (using tan paper)
--Stenciled Name Cards (using paint)
--Fruit Pyramid Centerpiece (using a Styrofoam cone and toothpicks)
--Bilboquet (paper cup and ball game)
--Papyrotamia (paper cut into decorative designs)
Recipes Include:
--Queen Cakes (muffins flavored with rosewater and currants)
--Ginger cakes (buy the ginger cakes/cookies but frost them at the party)
--Shrewsbury cakes (using refrigerated sugar cookie dough brushed with rosewater)
--Liberty Tea (with dried raspberry leaves, sweetened with honey and milk)
--Candied Flower Petals (dipped in egg whites and sprinkled with sugar)
Activities Include:
--Hoop Race (running alongside a hula hoop)
--Game of Graces (played with two sticks and a small hoop)
--Frog in the Middle (a game of catch)
--Queen Anne and her Maids (a guessing game)
--Hunt the Ring (guessing game with a ring)
--Hide the Thimble (thimble is hidden in the room)
New Year's Ball
Crafts Include:
--Fan Invitations
Recipes Include:
--Twelth Night Cake (instructions are just for decorating)
--Eggnog
--New Year's Cookies (using refrigerated cookie dough)
Activities Include:
--Minuet Dance
Plantation Picnic
Crafts Include:
--Sweet Smelling Invitation
Recipes Include:
--Lemon Tartlets
--Chicken Salad
--Cranberry Apple Punch
Activities Include:
--Quoits (a game with dowels and hoops)
--Bowls (outdoor game with croquet balls)
--Scotch Hoppers (hopscotch)
Josefina
New Mexican Party
Crafts Include:
--Ramillete Invitation (decorative paper flower)
--Framed Name Cards
--Majolica (painting pots)
--Cornhusk Flowers
Recipes Include:
--Flan (a sweet custard-y dessert)
--Bizcochitos (a cut out cookie flavored with anise and vanilla)
Activities Include:
--The Rainbow (a game of chase and colors)
--El floron (a guessing game)
--The Sea Serpent (like London Bridge)
--The Coyote and the Fox (a game of chase and catch)
--The Little Burro (a leapfrog game)
Harvest Celebration
Crafts Include:
--Corn Invitation
Recipes Include:
--Empanaditas (filled with jam or applesauce)
--Roasted Pine Nuts
Activities Include:
--Little Blind Hen (a blindfolded game where you have to catch people)
Fandango
Crafts Include:
--Dancing Slipper Invitations
--Decorative Candles
Recipes Include:
--New Mexican Hot Chocolate
--Marquesote (a sponge cake, buy but decorate at home)
--Anise Cakes (flavored with Anise and almonds)
Activities Include:
--Waltz of the Broom
Kirsten
Prairie Party
Crafts Include:
--Bonnet Invitation
--Hay Bale Invitations
--Calico Kitten (a sewn cat)
--Straw Horse (made by tying string around the straw)
Recipes Include:
--Prairie Teacakes (flavored with lemon extract)
--Maple Gingerbread
--Ginger Punch
--Apple Tarts
Activities Include:
--Jackstraws (Pickup Sticks!)
--Puss in the Corner (played with five people trying to steal corners)
--Here I Bake, Here I Brew (trying to break out of a circle of friends)
--I have a Basket (a naming game)
--Honey Pot (a game where you carry each other)
--Fox and Geese (a tag game with chalk lines on the ground)
Barn Dance
Crafts Include:
--Barn Invitation
--Homemade Harmonicas
Recipes Include:
--Baked Apple Dumplings
--Cornbread
--Apple Cider
Activities Include:
--Old Dan Tucker (a square dance song)
--Snap Apple (biting an apple as it swings from a string)
--Apple Dance (partner dancing with an apple pressed between your forheads)
Patchwork Party
Crafts Include:
--Patchwork Invitation
--Handkerchief Doll
Recipes Include:
--Patchwork Cake (decorating instructions)
--Quilt Square Cookies (sugar cookies decorated to look like quilts)
--Spiced Chocolate
Activities Include:
--Cats Cradle
Addy
Freedom Party
Crafts Include:
--Banner Invitation
--Lantern Name Cards
--Tissue Paper Flowers
--Spool Puppets (just like from the book!)
--Bean Doll (Ida Bean!!)
Recipes Include:
--Benne Candy (made with sesame seeds)
--Mini Sweet Potato Pies
--Tangy Iced Tea (tea with a fruit juice)
--Fruity Ice Cream (ice cream served with a fruity syrup)
Activities Include:
--Ribbon's End (a chase game)
--Hot Boiled Beans (a hide and find game)
--Feather (keeping a feather in the air)
--Shadow Bluff (guessing who is making the shadows)
--Little Sally Walkers (an acting game)
Summer Fair
Crafts Include:
--Fair Booth Invitation
Recipes Include:
--Strawberry Shortcake
--Fruit Pies
--Lemonade
Activities Include:
--Juggling Balls
--Jump Rope
Stitch-in-Time Party
Crafts Include:
--Spool Party Invite
--Beanbags
Recipes Include:
--Pincushion Cupcakes (candy on pretzel sticks)
--Butterscotch Milk
--Sew Sweets (cookies decorated to look like buttons)
Activities Include:
--Beanbag contest (putting the beanbags away as fast as possible)
Samantha
Victorian Party
Crafts Include:
--Victorian Scrap Invitation
--Pressed Flower Name Cards
--Butterfly Napkin Rings
--Fern Candle
--Homemade Sketchbook
Recipes Include:
--Jam Tart Cookies (thumbprint cookies)
--Victorian Sponge Cake (jam in the middle of two cakes)
--Ice Cream Bombs (ice cream molded into shapes)
--Cucumber Sandwiches
--Hot Tea Punch (various juices with sugar and lemon rind)
Activities Include:
--Taboo (a guess-the-word game)
--Whispers (like telephone)
--Throwing the smile
--Read Tea Leaves (different futures based on the leaves)
--Tea Table (a memorization game)
--Teapot (a guess-the-chosen word game)
Nutting Party
Crafts Include:
--Squirrel Invitation
--Nutty Party Favors (using walnut shells)
Recipes Include:
--Nut Crunch Apples (apples filled with a sugary nut mixture)
--Nut Sandwiches (cream cheese and walnut)
--Apple Cider
Activities Include:
--Walnut Shell Fortunes (a sailing game that will lead to fortune telling)
Painting Party
Crafts Include:
--Framed Invitation
--Paint on Glass (making a pretty design on a jar or vase)
Recipes Include:
--Painted Cookies (decorated with a paintbrush and gel icing)
--Artist's Palette Cake (decorated to look like a paint palette)
--Water Color (white grape juice dyed fun colors)
Activities Include:
--Tableaux Vivants (charades)
--Drawing Game (making a picture among guests)
Molly
Home-Front Party
Crafts Include:
--V-Mail Invitations
--Star Name Cards
--Hanging Flags (a banner of paper flags)
--Kaleidoscope (made from cardboard and beads)
--Marbles (made with polymer clay)
Recipes Include:
--Sugarless Apple Pie
--Quick Chocolate Cake
--Fruit Fizz (ginger ale and fruit juice)
Activities Include:
--Musical Flags (a musical search game)
--Prisoner's Base (outdoor game to capture members of different teams)
--Flag Relay (a race game)
--Statues (freezing into a statue and the sculptor gets to move them)
--Red Rover (a chase and catch game)
--Pom-Pom-Pull-Away (a tag game)
Summer Camp-Out
Crafts Include:
--Tent Invitation
--
Recipes Include:
--Doughboys (biscuit dough baked and filled with jam, peanut butter, etc)
--S'mores
--Pigs in a Blanket
Activities Include:
--Sprint Tug-of-War
--Pitch-a-Tent (different ways to make fun tents)
--Flashlight Tag
Hawaiian Hula Party
Crafts Include:
--Palm Tree Invitations
--Leis
--Hula Skirt
Recipes Include:
--Hawaiian Banana Bread (decorated with fresh fruit)
--Tropical Twists (a smoothie drink)
--Fruit Kababs
Activities Include:
--Limbo
--The Hula
This was wonderful! Now, I have only read four of the six girls mentioned so far (Kirsten, Samantha, Addy, and Molly) but I really liked how well the parties matched their individual stories.
For example, one of Addy's parties has mini sweet potato pies (which featured in Addy's Surprise) and we see a bean-doll (like Ida Bean!). Molly's Hawaiian party has instructions on how to make a skirt and lei - just like she did in Meet Molly!
The recipes of this book felt well-chosen. They all leaned toward sweets but there was always a couple of drink options, a couple of fancy recipes and a few that were quite simple (often requiring premade dough). It gave a nice variety of finicky-ness for the party planner - if you want simplicity, just add food coloring to white grape juice for Samantha's Artist Party. And if you want to wow your guests, you can make liberty tea for Felicity's Colonial Party.
The crafts chosen were quite fun as well. I liked all the old-fashioned ideas - from sewing cats, to making games using papercraft, to painting flower pots. There was a good mix of 'mess' and 'easy-to-clean' for the crafting.
And finally, there's the activities. Each party had a few different indoor or outdoor games accompanying them. I liked how the book took the time to explain how girls from these different eras would play the various games and often there'd be a few historical blurbs talking about what children did in general during those eras.
All in all, this is a fabulous addition to the American Girl Verse. I was very impressed by the sheer amount of content (and if you are curious about what all was in the book, I have it listed below since this is an older book and it might be hard to track one down for yourself).
Felicity
Colonial Party
Crafts Include:
--Parchment Invitations (using tan paper)
--Stenciled Name Cards (using paint)
--Fruit Pyramid Centerpiece (using a Styrofoam cone and toothpicks)
--Bilboquet (paper cup and ball game)
--Papyrotamia (paper cut into decorative designs)
Recipes Include:
--Queen Cakes (muffins flavored with rosewater and currants)
--Ginger cakes (buy the ginger cakes/cookies but frost them at the party)
--Shrewsbury cakes (using refrigerated sugar cookie dough brushed with rosewater)
--Liberty Tea (with dried raspberry leaves, sweetened with honey and milk)
--Candied Flower Petals (dipped in egg whites and sprinkled with sugar)
Activities Include:
--Hoop Race (running alongside a hula hoop)
--Game of Graces (played with two sticks and a small hoop)
--Frog in the Middle (a game of catch)
--Queen Anne and her Maids (a guessing game)
--Hunt the Ring (guessing game with a ring)
--Hide the Thimble (thimble is hidden in the room)
New Year's Ball
Crafts Include:
--Fan Invitations
Recipes Include:
--Twelth Night Cake (instructions are just for decorating)
--Eggnog
--New Year's Cookies (using refrigerated cookie dough)
Activities Include:
--Minuet Dance
Plantation Picnic
Crafts Include:
--Sweet Smelling Invitation
Recipes Include:
--Lemon Tartlets
--Chicken Salad
--Cranberry Apple Punch
Activities Include:
--Quoits (a game with dowels and hoops)
--Bowls (outdoor game with croquet balls)
--Scotch Hoppers (hopscotch)
Josefina
New Mexican Party
Crafts Include:
--Ramillete Invitation (decorative paper flower)
--Framed Name Cards
--Majolica (painting pots)
--Cornhusk Flowers
Recipes Include:
--Flan (a sweet custard-y dessert)
--Bizcochitos (a cut out cookie flavored with anise and vanilla)
Activities Include:
--The Rainbow (a game of chase and colors)
--El floron (a guessing game)
--The Sea Serpent (like London Bridge)
--The Coyote and the Fox (a game of chase and catch)
--The Little Burro (a leapfrog game)
Harvest Celebration
Crafts Include:
--Corn Invitation
Recipes Include:
--Empanaditas (filled with jam or applesauce)
--Roasted Pine Nuts
Activities Include:
--Little Blind Hen (a blindfolded game where you have to catch people)
Fandango
Crafts Include:
--Dancing Slipper Invitations
--Decorative Candles
Recipes Include:
--New Mexican Hot Chocolate
--Marquesote (a sponge cake, buy but decorate at home)
--Anise Cakes (flavored with Anise and almonds)
Activities Include:
--Waltz of the Broom
Kirsten
Prairie Party
Crafts Include:
--Bonnet Invitation
--Hay Bale Invitations
--Calico Kitten (a sewn cat)
--Straw Horse (made by tying string around the straw)
Recipes Include:
--Prairie Teacakes (flavored with lemon extract)
--Maple Gingerbread
--Ginger Punch
--Apple Tarts
Activities Include:
--Jackstraws (Pickup Sticks!)
--Puss in the Corner (played with five people trying to steal corners)
--Here I Bake, Here I Brew (trying to break out of a circle of friends)
--I have a Basket (a naming game)
--Honey Pot (a game where you carry each other)
--Fox and Geese (a tag game with chalk lines on the ground)
Barn Dance
Crafts Include:
--Barn Invitation
--Homemade Harmonicas
Recipes Include:
--Baked Apple Dumplings
--Cornbread
--Apple Cider
Activities Include:
--Old Dan Tucker (a square dance song)
--Snap Apple (biting an apple as it swings from a string)
--Apple Dance (partner dancing with an apple pressed between your forheads)
Patchwork Party
Crafts Include:
--Patchwork Invitation
--Handkerchief Doll
Recipes Include:
--Patchwork Cake (decorating instructions)
--Quilt Square Cookies (sugar cookies decorated to look like quilts)
--Spiced Chocolate
Activities Include:
--Cats Cradle
Addy
Freedom Party
Crafts Include:
--Banner Invitation
--Lantern Name Cards
--Tissue Paper Flowers
--Spool Puppets (just like from the book!)
--Bean Doll (Ida Bean!!)
Recipes Include:
--Benne Candy (made with sesame seeds)
--Mini Sweet Potato Pies
--Tangy Iced Tea (tea with a fruit juice)
--Fruity Ice Cream (ice cream served with a fruity syrup)
Activities Include:
--Ribbon's End (a chase game)
--Hot Boiled Beans (a hide and find game)
--Feather (keeping a feather in the air)
--Shadow Bluff (guessing who is making the shadows)
--Little Sally Walkers (an acting game)
Summer Fair
Crafts Include:
--Fair Booth Invitation
Recipes Include:
--Strawberry Shortcake
--Fruit Pies
--Lemonade
Activities Include:
--Juggling Balls
--Jump Rope
Stitch-in-Time Party
Crafts Include:
--Spool Party Invite
--Beanbags
Recipes Include:
--Pincushion Cupcakes (candy on pretzel sticks)
--Butterscotch Milk
--Sew Sweets (cookies decorated to look like buttons)
Activities Include:
--Beanbag contest (putting the beanbags away as fast as possible)
Samantha
Victorian Party
Crafts Include:
--Victorian Scrap Invitation
--Pressed Flower Name Cards
--Butterfly Napkin Rings
--Fern Candle
--Homemade Sketchbook
Recipes Include:
--Jam Tart Cookies (thumbprint cookies)
--Victorian Sponge Cake (jam in the middle of two cakes)
--Ice Cream Bombs (ice cream molded into shapes)
--Cucumber Sandwiches
--Hot Tea Punch (various juices with sugar and lemon rind)
Activities Include:
--Taboo (a guess-the-word game)
--Whispers (like telephone)
--Throwing the smile
--Read Tea Leaves (different futures based on the leaves)
--Tea Table (a memorization game)
--Teapot (a guess-the-chosen word game)
Nutting Party
Crafts Include:
--Squirrel Invitation
--Nutty Party Favors (using walnut shells)
Recipes Include:
--Nut Crunch Apples (apples filled with a sugary nut mixture)
--Nut Sandwiches (cream cheese and walnut)
--Apple Cider
Activities Include:
--Walnut Shell Fortunes (a sailing game that will lead to fortune telling)
Painting Party
Crafts Include:
--Framed Invitation
--Paint on Glass (making a pretty design on a jar or vase)
Recipes Include:
--Painted Cookies (decorated with a paintbrush and gel icing)
--Artist's Palette Cake (decorated to look like a paint palette)
--Water Color (white grape juice dyed fun colors)
Activities Include:
--Tableaux Vivants (charades)
--Drawing Game (making a picture among guests)
Molly
Home-Front Party
Crafts Include:
--V-Mail Invitations
--Star Name Cards
--Hanging Flags (a banner of paper flags)
--Kaleidoscope (made from cardboard and beads)
--Marbles (made with polymer clay)
Recipes Include:
--Sugarless Apple Pie
--Quick Chocolate Cake
--Fruit Fizz (ginger ale and fruit juice)
Activities Include:
--Musical Flags (a musical search game)
--Prisoner's Base (outdoor game to capture members of different teams)
--Flag Relay (a race game)
--Statues (freezing into a statue and the sculptor gets to move them)
--Red Rover (a chase and catch game)
--Pom-Pom-Pull-Away (a tag game)
Summer Camp-Out
Crafts Include:
--Tent Invitation
--
Recipes Include:
--Doughboys (biscuit dough baked and filled with jam, peanut butter, etc)
--S'mores
--Pigs in a Blanket
Activities Include:
--Sprint Tug-of-War
--Pitch-a-Tent (different ways to make fun tents)
--Flashlight Tag
Hawaiian Hula Party
Crafts Include:
--Palm Tree Invitations
--Leis
--Hula Skirt
Recipes Include:
--Hawaiian Banana Bread (decorated with fresh fruit)
--Tropical Twists (a smoothie drink)
--Fruit Kababs
Activities Include:
--Limbo
--The Hula
December 26, 2024
i spent my entire childhood reading books like this not realizing was i going to turn into an introverted adult with -3 friends.
i am being so serious, when i have kids i will be reading them the american girl books and we will be having fun old timey themed parties !!!!!!!
i am being so serious, when i have kids i will be reading them the american girl books and we will be having fun old timey themed parties !!!!!!!
May 14, 2025
felicity’s plantation picnic??? oh no 😟
this did have some cute things and ideas for many of the girls but that really side swiped me ngl
i find felicity so so hard to even enjoy.
this did have some cute things and ideas for many of the girls but that really side swiped me ngl
i find felicity so so hard to even enjoy.
April 8, 2008
Sweet Book. Some very nice ideas for little girls to have a properly organized party. Something far removed from my normal craze involved with birthday party planning.
Some positives: unique recipes, party games and crafts. Lots of options to make your party historically authentic.
Great mother-daughter-time activities.
Some positives: unique recipes, party games and crafts. Lots of options to make your party historically authentic.
Great mother-daughter-time activities.
June 3, 2015
I remember doing so many of these crafts when I was younger. American Girl always comes up with such great ideas for fun activities for young girls.
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