Nutcracker Merde Gift Ideas for Ballet Dancers + Discount Tickets

Today I’ve got a lot of ballet and Nutcracker things on the brain since my daughter Piper is going to be in Phoenix Ballet’s The Nutcracker. The production opens at the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix this weekend, and if you’re local I’ve got a 50% OFF code for you to get discount tickets to The Nutcracker. Also we made a fun little Nutcracker Merde gift to hand out to the other ballet dancers, and I’m sharing the free printable template.

My daughter Piper has been begging me to take ballet lessons since she was three. I kept putting it off because I could never find a studio I was comfortable with. Last year we were introduced to Master Ballet Academy, and after mulling it over for about a year (it’s about 40 minutes away so a big commitment), we finally enrolled Piper this Fall. She LOVES it, and is so thrilled to be in Phoenix Ballet’s The Nutcracker for the first time.

Most people are familiar with the music from The Nutcracker, even if you don’t realize it. I have only seen The Nutcracker one time (last year was my first time!), so the story line is fairly new to me, but main character is Clara who receives a Nutcracker doll as a gift at a family Christmas party. That night she falls asleep and has some very vivid dreams involving the Nutcracker come to life as a prince and an enchanted Sugar Plum Fairy.

Until recently I’ve never understood why The Nutcracker was a Christmas tradition. Last year we got all dressed up, and took our family to see it, and it was so magical! I’m so looking forward to going again this year — we’ll be taking the whole family to see Piper on Christmas Eve.

The snow scene shown above is one of my favorite parts, and the Arabian Flowers dance is a close second. Piper gets to perform in all 12 shows. She is in the beginning party scene and she gets to be one of the small angels in the snow scene. She also is an understudy for the small flowers in the Waltz scene. She could not be more excited!

Discount Tickets to The Nutcracker

If you’re in Phoenix, use code SUGARPLUM to get 50% off tickets to Phoenix Ballet’s The Nutcracker. You can order your tickets here. Get tickets at PhoenixBallet.org. Please note the discount code is not applicable to price Level 4.

Nutcracker Merde Gift Ideas

This cute Nutcracker Merde gift card is inspired by the beautiful Snow scene. Piper and I wanted to create a little something to pass out to her friends on Opening Night. We love these spiral bobby pins, which really help make a perfect and secure bun — another trick we’re learning as we make our way into the ballet world, along with how to apply stage makeup, fake eyelashes and all kinds of other fun stuff! I’ve also recently learned that “Merde” is how you say good luck to a ballet dancer before a performance. I did theater in my youth, and we always said, “Break a Leg!” but I can see how that expression wouldn’t be as appreciated by a dancer LOL!

Piper’s older sister Attalie, drew this cute ballerina, and the spiral bobby pin is her legs spinning as she does a pirouette, of course!

TO MAKE: These are super easy to make using my free template — just fill out the form below, and I’ll email it over. This is an editable template so you can use the free Adobe Reader software to personalize it with your child’s own name! Just print the template on cardstock, cut out each card and use a couple of Scotch permanent glue dots to attach the spiral bobby pin in place.