Flamingo party {2 year old}

 Last Sunday we had Button's 2nd birthday party. I did a flamingo theme because, for some reason, I've developed a liking for flamingos for her. So last summer when I saw that the Dollar Tree had flamingo party stuff, I spent about $10 on plates, napkins, cups, an inflatable flamingo and a few other small decorations. I didn't know what I was going to do with them but, hey, it was cheap and why not?  I bought a scrapbook kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs called Coconut Grove to make invitations and whatever I needed. I gathered ideas from Pinterest and around the web and got started mid-February/early March. I found a few ideas for invitations and, in the end, this is what I came up with.

The invitations

I made a matching banner using the kit and strung it up on blue ribbon across our entrance way to the kitchen. I hung the inflatable flamingo from the chandler and we blew up pastel balloons for the tray ceiling. I had a giant wall hanging that had 2 flamingos on it from the dollar store (no picture) that I hung over the front door and I hung a few cut out flamingos on the mantle under which we put the gifts.

A few decorations

I decided on triple coconut cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes. The coconut cupcakes were completely from scratch while the chocolate cupcakes were from a box. The chocolate fudge cupcakes ended up having strawberry icing with dark Lindor truffles in the center. I halved each recipe so I'd only have 12 of each instead of 24. I made 2 different cupcake wrapper in two of the patterns from the invitation, one with 2 flamingos and one with the number 2. I made water bottle labels with either a 2 or a L (her first initial) with a flamingo overlay (this was a great tutorial on it).

The party turned out great, in my opinion, despite me having been super sick the day before. Everything looked nice and all our guests had a good time.  She got quite a few things, though mostly clothes which she needed. Among other things, my mom bought her an InnoTab 3 Baby and some shoes and BT's mom got her a balance bike and a helmet. The helmet she loves, the bike we are working on. My sister got her a water table which she and Bub played with that afternoon and we got her a grocery cart that she now careens around the house pushing. We also got her a Curious George tea set and we have been treated to several tea parties already. 

I feel like I did a few less decorative things for this party than I did for her 1st party. I enjoy making these things so much. I practically need another kid  (haha NO) so I can make more party things. So another party in the books.

Even her dress and hair clip were flamingo themed

Ladybug Party {1st Birthday}

Button's first birthday party was a ladybug theme. I made the invitations using some clipart and a free scrapbook theme I found online. I like the way they came out. I ended up using the same clipart and backgrounds to make matching cupcake and favor toppers too.

 

I also used the banner from this free ladybug party kit to make one for the mantle. It took a while because I hand cut all the flower and circles but it came out cute. I had extra so I made hanging cutouts for the chandelier in the dining area. I bought from a local party store these plates for the cake as well as the matching hanging cutouts and the tablecloth. For the rest I got from the dollar store,  red plates, black plastic tableware and red cups.

I had to cut the tablecloth so I use the rest to dress up her highchair.

Balloons hanging over table made a cute touch.

I fretted over the cake for way too long but ended up making it. I had made a giant cupcake (using the Wilton pan) for her smash cake pictures and I decided that I wanted to do the same. When I googled ideas for giant cupcakes a YouTube video came up and gave me the idea of making a cupcake linear out of red candy melts. I love how it came out. I use black candy melts to make polka dots though I wish I'd printed out a guide plus to make them more even. I also wrote out a Happy Birthday for the top of her cake.  I use the leftover batter to make regular size and tiny cupcakes.

I dipped some ladybug strawberries on a whim (fun fact: I use to work at Godiva Chocolatier when I was in college) and I think it really completed the dessert table. Everyone said the cake and the strawberries were good.

For the favors I dipped some giant pretzels to make them look like ladybugs. I put them in snack-sized ziploc bags and made a favor topper that matched the invitations.

 And as an addition I put up red and black candy on the bar for people to grab as they walked by.
I used red and black Twizzlers, red and black raspberries candies and red and black jellybeans. The vases and bowls are from the dollar store.

BT made a ham and we served up ham sandwiches with chips to eat.

I really loved how it turned out. Pinterest is so great for inspiration because I find a great party is in the details and there are so many great ideas on there.

Shabby Chic Giraffe Baby Shower

Someone asked me what the theme of my cousin's baby shower was going to be. "Shabby Chic Giraffes." They said they didn't know that could be a theme. I said well it is now.

I  made these invitations based on an image I found on google with a grey chevron background and a giraffe. I gave the giraffe blue spots since my cousin is having a boy.

The favors were hot chocolate spoons with minature marshmallows on top and I made little "thank you" labels and tied them with ribbon. The spoons are the made to look "real" ones from the Dollar Tree.

I did Wishes for Baby cards with the grey chevron background and a baby clothesline garland. Since it is a boy I made onesies with a giraffe, a tie, a truck (his room will be vintage trucks) and an S for his name.

 The cake ended up having blue giraffe spots on the sides and a giraffe on top. I made food cards for the table. We had a sandwich tray, a veggie tray, jambalaya, a creamy salsa dip, a banana split trifle, chocolate chip cookie dough dip (which was a huge hit), and giant chocolate covered marshmallows.

I made two diaper bouquets and added sock and washcloth buds along with the diaper "flowers."

For games we did gift bingo and the envelope pull. I got notepaper for prizes, something everyone uses. I think it turned out well. It was very simple and clean, not really babyish, but I figured the mom-to-be would get enough of that with her other showers.

Ready to Pop baby shower

My sister-in-law, BT's younger sister, is due to have a  baby late September so this weekend her mom and I threw her a baby shower with a "Ready to Pop" popcorn theme. Let me tell you Pinterst is really my best friend now.

We based the whole thing off of these invitations which we thought were so cute.

I thought a popcorn buffet with four different types of popcorn would be cute. There is a Popcorn Bistro nearby where three of the four popcorn flavors were bought. We had cheese, rainbow, cinnamon toast crunch and white chocolate with M&Ms. I found popcorn tubs at the dollar store and made a matching label for each flavor.

Popcorn Buffet

I also made diaper bouquets in popcorn cups for centerpieces. I got the idea after seeing this pin and thinking that it is really cute. I bought newborn size Target brand diapers since I knew the bouquets would be small and also they are the only all white diapers that I know of in a decent brand. I rolled them up and tied them with clear elastics and inserted a wooden skewer. Then I put a piece of floral foam in the popcorn cup and arrange the diaper "flowers." I added some metallic tissue paper around to cover up the skewers and to make it look pretty. I love the way they turned out.

Close-up of Diaper Bouquet

My mother-in-law made diaper wreath for the front door which turned out really cute. I'm not sure what tutorial she used but the basic idea is here and it turned out really cute. She used size 2 diapers so the new mommy doesn't have to take it apart right away.

Diaper Wreath

Food wise, we had a sandwich tray, brie tartlets, bacon wrapped cocktail weenies, a fruit salad, a very cute shower cake made to match and a popcorn cake. My MIL made some baby cake pops too. For drinks, we had mimosa punch and a non-alcoholic raspberry punch along with the usual sodas.  It was all very good.

Dessert Table

We  hung garland made of baby onesies, socks and a pair of bloomers from the mantle for decoration in the present opening/gathering area. I customized plain white 0-3 sized onesies with designs that I thought the guest of honor would like: an elephant, a cupcake, an airplane (the dad-to-be is a pilot) and the baby's first initial A. I used some of the patterns along with the how to instructions from this DIY onesie party and found the pattern for the plane on google images. There wasn't any good red/yellow fabric in a fabric bundle so I got a pink/green bundle instead figuring that it would be cute on a new baby.

Onesie clothesline "garland"

We didn't do many games. Just present bingo (my favorite) and an envelope pull. Just have each guest write their name and address on a thank you card envelope and pull a winner out of a basket. That way the mommy-to-be doesn't have to address all those envelopes and it makes for a fun quick game. Prizes for this shower were some popcorn cups with shaker of popcorn seasoning. Favors for the shower were microwave popcorn bags with a Ready to Pop wrapper (similar to these). I made a matching Wishes for Baby card for everyone to fill out which will hopefully be a sentimental keepsake.

All in all, I am happy with how it turned out. I think everyone had a good time and it was really cute.

And check out the mommy-to-be's blog Hot Shot Mama for her take on pregnancy and prepping for a new baby.