My baby is turning 2 on June 12 (today!). And, like the first time around, I started planning her birthday "theme" six months in advance --yes, really!
Livia's first birthday party had a preppy, east coast, nautical motif -- navy blue, bright pink, stripes, boats, pinwheels...you get the picture.
But, for her big #2? Well, it's for the birds. Literally. A bird themed birthday. After I chose the theme, I scoured the internet (mostly Pinterest and Etsy) for ideas. I was flooded with inspiration. Everything from DIY invitations, printables, felts, food, and fancy. It was hard to know where to begin, but I decided upon: venue, invitations, decor, giveaways, and cupcakes.
First things first: Venue. Last year, we threw her an over-the-top first birthday party at a local park, which was perfect because we invited everybody and anybody who knew we even had a baby. Having it at a park was all good, except for the transport, of well, everything. Note to my blog readers: never have a huge event at a park, unless you drive a Mack Truck to transport everything. We, quite thankfully, do not drive a Mack Truck; therefore, we had to rely on friends and family (thank you!) to haul over all the extras we couldn't fit in our Jeep (pretty much everything except the decorations). This year, we are throwing Livia two separate birthday parties to keep it more low key (yes, two = more low key) -- a "friends" birthday party (all her toddler friends from my mother's group) on a Wednesday morning, and a "family" birthday party (just grandparents and aunties) on a Sunday morning. Because I was slightly scarred from the park scenario the year before, I decided to just have it at...drumroll please...home. Our backyard is perfect for hosting -- we have a kiddie pool, water table, grass, and a shaded, fenced in deck perfect for the parents. Venue set: home.
Livia's first birthday party had a preppy, east coast, nautical motif -- navy blue, bright pink, stripes, boats, pinwheels...you get the picture.
But, for her big #2? Well, it's for the birds. Literally. A bird themed birthday. After I chose the theme, I scoured the internet (mostly Pinterest and Etsy) for ideas. I was flooded with inspiration. Everything from DIY invitations, printables, felts, food, and fancy. It was hard to know where to begin, but I decided upon: venue, invitations, decor, giveaways, and cupcakes.
First things first: Venue. Last year, we threw her an over-the-top first birthday party at a local park, which was perfect because we invited everybody and anybody who knew we even had a baby. Having it at a park was all good, except for the transport, of well, everything. Note to my blog readers: never have a huge event at a park, unless you drive a Mack Truck to transport everything. We, quite thankfully, do not drive a Mack Truck; therefore, we had to rely on friends and family (thank you!) to haul over all the extras we couldn't fit in our Jeep (pretty much everything except the decorations). This year, we are throwing Livia two separate birthday parties to keep it more low key (yes, two = more low key) -- a "friends" birthday party (all her toddler friends from my mother's group) on a Wednesday morning, and a "family" birthday party (just grandparents and aunties) on a Sunday morning. Because I was slightly scarred from the park scenario the year before, I decided to just have it at...drumroll please...home. Our backyard is perfect for hosting -- we have a kiddie pool, water table, grass, and a shaded, fenced in deck perfect for the parents. Venue set: home.
Second obstacle: Invitations. I was so proud that last year I handmade all of the party decorations, but as for the invitations? I relied on Etsy (I honestly couldn't have done better if I did them myself--they were perfect). This year, though? I was determined to make my own. I found an amazing website, How To Nest For Less, that provided a free birdie invite template. After downloading it to my computer, I uploaded it to FotoFlexer (a user-friendly, free photo editing website) and added my own text. After visiting the local Kinkos for printing, and our local scrapbook store for birdie-themed cardstock, the couture invitations were ready to put together -- a few fancy brads here, and a few sparkly gems there, and voila -- the invitations were ready to mail!
Livia's sample invitation for her Wednesday party.
Third: Decor. After browsing Pinterest for an hour or so, I found all the inspiration that I needed to make some really cute bird decorations. I decided to go with the tissue paper pompoms, felt birdies, felt flower and tissue paper bouquets, a yarn-wrapped door wreath, a yarn-wrapped "L" and "2," colorfully painted birdhouses, and my favorite...a colorful birdie branch. Paper-and-String provided a really cute DIY tutorial for making the felt birds, and Boho Wedding provided a really easy tutorial for tissue paper decorations. The felt flower and tissue paper bouquets were my own idea, as was the yarn-wrapped birdie door wreath, "L", "2," birdhouses (found at Michaels for a buck each!, and then painted by me), and the birdie branch (branch found outside on our lawn, randomly, and painted and Mod-Podged by me). All the decorations blended so well!
Tissue paper pompoms, felt birdies on a twine line, and birdhouses hung on top of the pompoms.
Felt birdies (I made at least 50, all different sizes and colors)
1 out of 7 different birdhouses.
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2 out 7 different birdhouses.
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1 of 7 different tissue paper/felt flower bouquets.
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2 of 7 different tissue paper/felt flower bouquets.
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Yarn-wrapped "L"
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Yarn-wrapped "2"
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Yarn-wrapped birdie door wreath
Colorful branch with felt birdies and flowers.
Prepping for the party
Fourth: Party Giveaways (which I completely forgot to actually give away -- sorry friends!). Again, Pinterest gave me the idea to make bird treat ornaments, and bird seed bags -- How To Have It All provided an easy recipe and tutorial for the ornaments, and as for the birdseed bags, I just put some seed in a tiny, clear plastic bag and tied it with some colorful yarn (easy peasy). Livia loves to watch birds, so what better than to give away treats that attract more birds?!
Birdseed baggies.
Last, what makes a party more of a party than really great themed cupcakes?! I first got the idea of putting Peeps on the cupcakes from my Aunt Jill. She threw a Peep themed birthday party for my cousin Phoebe -- so cute. The Peep theme stuck in my mind when I crossed over to the bird theme. How cute would it be to place Peeps laying eggs on the cupcakes? VERY!
And in the end, the two birthday parties were successes. The weather was wonderful, the kids were in great moods, the food was great, and Livia received some pretty amazing gifts.
Whew. I'm glad I get a breather for the next six months.
Whew. I'm glad I get a breather for the next six months.
Cousin love
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