Woodland Animal First Birthday Party

I love a first birthday party because the parent generally has control over the theme.  I saw this theme trawling through Pinterest one day and became obsessed!  I fell so in love with it that I started having regrets that I didn't use this as a nursery theme back when I was pregnant.  ANYWAYS...  I wanted a fun party with lots of activities for the kids and cute decor.  My son's birthday was in November so the perfect time of year for a forest-y theme.

No first birthday is complete without the requisite monthly picture banner and I found this banner on Etsy

Those who follow my blog know that I like useful favors in keeping with the theme.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and loved it!  S'mores snack bags with super cute personalized favor tags ordered on Etsy.  They got tons of compliments and were not $$$ to make.

I found lots of banners and cutouts at Hobby Lobby for decor and then ordered a personalized sign on Etsy and even found some cute balloons on Amazon to compliment the theme.  I think balloons can add to a kid's party- especially cute ones like these.

Everyone is into stations these days for food.... Candy buffets, Mimosa bars, you name it.  So I thought instead of having random snacks why not roll with the theme and create a Trail Mix Station.  People loved this idea and I was really pleased with how much use it got.

Side Note:  LABELS can go a long way.  You can call the food cute things to keep with your theme.  In this case I had 'bear poop' malt balls on a dessert table, 'campfire flame' cheetos, and 'Pond Scum punch' to drink.

I had a lot of kids attending this party and had just had so much success with the face-painting at the Avenger's party (along with lots of leftover face-paint) that I once again hit up Pinterest for how to create forest animal looks.  The kids loved it and I wish I wasn't so busy hosting that I had gotten a chance to take more pictures of the kids.  I also created a Scavenger hunt for the older kids to do outside and keep them from running wildly throughout the party and they enjoyed doing this and bringing back their lists for a candy prize.

The desserts for this event were a lot of fun to plan.  I found how-to instructions on the internet for making the fox smash cake and knew my mom was more than capable.  I also ordered cookie cutters on Amazon to make the deer and fox cookies and while baking and food decorating isn't my forte they got lots of compliments and an A for effort.

A very fun party to plan and lots of compliments from the guests.

Skunk face paint option

Avenger's 3rd Birthday

When my son decided on an Avenger's theme for his second birthday I was really excited because we had so many Avenger's toys I could incorporate into the party without spending any extra $$$.  This was one of the easiest and most fun kiddie parties I have planned. 

For favors I wanted something kids would actually use.  My biggest pet peeve about kid parties are the generic goodie bags filled with candy and let's face it- CRAP that most of us parents toss in the trash upon arriving home.  All those spinners and rings and spinning tops that kids play with for about 0.01 seconds and then toss aside.  I wanted favors in keeping with the theme but something kids could use and reuse.  So I thought- BOOKS!  The Little Golden books were very inexpensive on Amazon and in truth cost less than putting together a junk goodie bag would have.  I ordered cute favor tags on Etsy and even found some Avenger themed fruit snacks at Kmart.  Super cute!

Drink station in keeping with the theme

The thing I really wanted to focus on for this party was FUN!  Let's face it- 3 year olds don't care too much about decorations.  So I put most of my planning efforts into the games and entertainment portion of the party.  I went onto Pinterest and had my artistic mom learn how to do Avenger's face-painting.  I made a sheet of choices for the kids to choose from and it was a big hit!  I also found a company that had character's visit birthday parties and they had an Iron Man.  This was the highlight of the party.  Kids who didn't even know who he was were thrilled and left the party obsessed with Iron Man.  I also decided to have him play a few games with the kids so it wasn't just a quick picture meet and greet.  I made a Hulk Smash game using styrofoam cups covered in green tissue paper where the kids punched out a prize.  Then I drew a giant spider web on a piece of foam board and gave the kids a can of silly string and let them pretend to be Spiderman.  Both were huge hits!

Hulk and Iron Man Face Paint 

Close up of the Iron Man Face Paint 

Iron Man poses with the birthday boy

Hulk Smash game

Iron Man posing with some party guests

Shooting spiderwebs

Lastly, I figured that aside from having fun, kids probably care most about the yummy snacks.  I had my mom make a simple cake with the Avengers colors and symbols and I remembered making Frankenstein pudding cups for my kids at Halloween so I thought- why not call them Hulk pudding cups?! They look the same!  The kids loved them and the adults were impressed as well.

Overall a very fun and easy to replicate party!

Hulk pudding cups

Cowgirl First Birthday Party

Since I had been spending much of my time lately chasing after a two year old and giving birth to baby number two, it was super fun to get back into the party planning mode with my niece's first birthday celebration!  

My sister decided on a Sheriff Callie Cowgirl Birthday celebration and I have to say, the theme was not only very cute but very easy to find party goods and ideas for.  

The biggest crafting project for the party came in creating a photo booth jail for guests to pose in with props.  I love doing a spin on the traditional photo booth and the jail served not only as a fun activity for guests to enjoy, but as a cool decoration to add to the western theme.  We once again enlisted the help of my dad in building the jail and he actually just transformed an old puppet theater he had lying around the house from when we were kids. I hopped onto the computer and created a WANTED poster with my niece's picture to help complete the look. This came out so cute that we actually ended up plastering them all over the room to help give the room that old west feel.  A small table with some necessary props (cowboy hats, a toy pony on a stick, sheriff badges, handkerchiefs, and some stick props), along with a fun sign that I created that read 'Howdy, Grab Yer Gear Partner' made it a fun place for guests to pose and have fun.

Photo Booth Fun!

Prop Table

Photo Booth Jail & Personalized Wanted Poster

My sister wanted my niece's monthly pictures displayed along the fireplace and we wanted to come up with some western-themed ideas to add to this.  We ended up creating a sign with her name on it that we spelled out in rope.  SO easy to DIY and really added to the western motif.  We also painted a giant 'E' for Everly that we painted in the Sheriff Callie colors and topped with a cowboy hat to tie in the Callie theme, along with displaying the figurines from the show. Amazon had a great horse balloon and some cow print balloons that looked great flanking the fireplace and the overall effect was adorable.

Fireplace Decor

Rope Name Sign & Sheriff Callie 'E' Decor

For goody bags we kept it very simple...Chocolate gold coins tied up in pink bandanas and secured with a sheriff badge.  Adorable and yummy!

Goody Bags

One of my favorite things about this party was that we were able to keep with the theme on the menu as well.  We did all BBQ food and it was delicious!  Pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, chili, macaroni and cheese, and cole slaw... YUM!  Of course chasing after three children under three did not enable us to take adequate food pictures, but I assure you, the food looked and smelled fantastic!

Old Fashioned Root Beer

Kettle Corn for guests to enjoy

We also ordered cute food labels to display with the food and they all had cute names like 'Pig Slop' for the chili, and 'Hay Bales' for the Rice Krispie treats.

My sister had also decided she didn't want to spend money on an elaborate cake so we decided to go with simple cupcakes and a smash cake.  The cupcakes were just plainly frosted in pink and blue (Sheriff Callie colors) and topped with personalized Sheriff Callie cupcake toppers found on Etsy.  The smash cake was just done in pink and blue as well and in the shape of a number 1. Very economical but still very cute.

Smash Cake

Sheriff Callie Cupcakes

Overall, a fun and adorable party that could be utilized for a variety of different ages.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 2nd Birthday Party

For my son's second birthday party, I wanted to keep it super simple and small- just a little friend's party.  He LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so the theme was easy to come up with and with just a few simple craft projects, it turned out super cute!

Simple Paper Plate Mickey Mouse Decorations

DIY Centerpieces

Sometimes a Party City banner is easier and cheaper than ordering a custom banner on Etsy!

Made these instead of goodie bags.  Just bought a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter and sprinkles on Amazon and made the favor tags.  Very easy, cute, festive, and delicious!

Hot Dog Station for the Kids

Masquerade Sweet 16

When the client explained that her daughter wanted a black and white themed masquerade for her daughter's Sweet 16 birthday party, I was immediately excited.  Such a cool theme and there was so much we could do in terms of decorations.  

This one took lots of creating & crafting, which I love!  We decided to use black and white ostrich feather centerpieces in black eiffel tower vases which looked really elegant and really transformed the room.  Not your typical sweet 16 centerpiece but totally in keeping with the theme.  The tables were accented with black lace votives that I made and these really turned out fabulous as well.  We also added in a cool memorabilia table with black and white pictures of the birthday girl through the years which was a nice personal touch.

The guest of honor wanted cupcakes instead of a cake and so I used the crystal cupcake tower I had made for my wedding and transformed it in keeping with the masquerade theme.  Cupcake picks shaped like masks and lots of confetti on the table, as well as a mask topper made this piece really fun.  

Probably the most aesthetically challenging aspect of this event was the candy bar.  The guest of honor wanted the candy bar to feature only popular candies that she had chosen, rather than black and white items that would have kept with the theme.  I wanted her to have what she wanted but also have the candy display flow with the room and not be a colorful visual that would stand out among all the black and white.  The banner I ordered on Etsy, as well as some crystals, confetti, and mask adornments all helped keep the candy bar right on track with the theme.  I also used some black and white feathers and a chalkboard sign to tie in more black and white.  It came out great and still fit in with the room as a whole.

Originally, the idea of  hiring a photo booth company was thrown around.  However, we decided that a photo wall backdrop would be fun and different and also less expensive.  I enlisted my dad's help to create this and it turned out very cool.  We chose a silvery fabric since all guests would be dressed in black or white and used PVC pipes as the structure.  Add in a basket full of fun props, a scrapbook for guests to sign messages for the birthday girl, and the only thing missing was the traditional photo strips a photo booth rental company would typically provide.  But with social media today we realized that guests could take pictures on their phones and cameras and use a special hashtag to share pictures.  Then the birthday girl could print pictures later on to fill up her scrapbook.  The client said this worked well and was a big hit.

I was incredibly pleased with how this event turned out: a sophisticated and elegant Sweet 16 that was also super fun.

Setting up the room 

Memorabilia Table

Cupcake Display

Cupcake Display Top

Photo Booth Backdrop

Guests Using the Photo Wall

Ostrich Feather Centerpiece

Lace Votives

Candy Buffet

Candy Labels

Candy Table Decoration using leftover centerpiece vases

Candy Table Decoration