Caterpillar Party Recap

** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links

Last weekend we celebrated the 2nd birthday of our Little Guy, Adam.  I chose a caterpillar theme because he eats through everything – just like the beloved little bug in The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  I wanted to do a twist on that story, by using lots of bright colors found in the book and using them to set the scene for the party. Also, because I am creating printables for this collection to place in my Etsy shop, this party is also perfect for anyone throwing their child a bug themed celebration.

I promised myself that I wasn’t going to go overboard with decorations, food and games for this party because I just finished the Princesspalooza for my daughter and that was a LOT of work.  I figured since he is just two years old, too much would be....well, too much.  In any case, I was really happy with how everything turned out and my little guy  had a blast!!!  Keeping things simple (and for me, this was very simple) was the way to go.

Here are some photos:

We set up a table for gifts, party hats, favors and lime flavored ‘Buggy Punch’!

 

Party Hats!

This is the party crown for the birthday boy and some of the goody bags.

Here’s the invitation that we sent out – This and the entire caterpillar printable party can be purchased in my Etsy shop.

I made the treat bag holders & tags with my Cricut and glued festive party bags into them, then filled each with lots of candy and fun party favors.  For an added touch each one was decorated with ribbon and foam caterpillar stickers!

 

Place settings at the party table were set up for the kids.  They snacked on hot dogs, fruit salad & ‘Butterflies’ (Farfalle Pasta Salad).  I found the birthday plates and napkins at the dollar store – they worked so well with my color scheme that ended up not using the original plates I was going to use.  The plastic bowls and cups were found at Ikea....I LOVE Ikea - don't you?

I customized party blowers to match the rest of the decor.  You just take regular party horns from any party supply shop and add the decals with a bit of adhesive.  

I purchased butterfly nets from The Christmas Tree Shoppes to use for a fun game.  These are probably no longer available - but you can find similar ones here.

I served food that was just simple and easy - my favorite dish was a cold farfalle pasta salad that I called butterflies!  I think naming the food something fun is a great way to get kids to eat what's on their plate!

 

For a fun activities, the kids played on the moon bounce and playset – but we also played ‘Butterfly Catch’ which was a hit.  I made butterflies out of tissue paper and had the kids catch them in the butterfly nets….most of them ended up on the grass, LOL!

I also made chocolate cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting (sinful).  This was my attempt to recreate the caterpillar from the invitations!  These are super easy to make, just frost the cupcakes, and pipe on colorful dots for the caterpillar spots.  If you don't have a piping bag orange M&Ms or sixlets would be perfect!

Okay, so, I forgot the little feet at the bottom of the cupcakes….but who cares because……

HE LOVED IT!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE DUDE!!!

Check back next week to see photos from the Super Man themed birthday party I’m doing this weekend!

Caterpillar, Super Hero & ANOTHER The Princess and The Frog Party Sneak Peek

May is going to be a busy month for me.  So let me apologize in advance if I fall behind with my posts.  Next month, I have three parties to host!  The first party is for my baby boy, who will be two!  He's a little greedy monster and always wants to eat!  So, I am going to do my own take on The Very Hungry Caterpillar and I've planned a caterpillar party for him.  Since he's only two we're going to do a small party for him with just our family and one or two close friends.  I've decided to do some finger painting as an activity, read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and let them go bezerk on the moon bounce and in the back yard.  The food will be hot dogs, popcorn, fruit and cupcakes (of course). 

The invites went out earlier this week - here's a sneak peak!

The week after The Caterpillar party is The Superman themed party I told you about.  The invitations were passed out to the birthday boy last week to his classmates.  I got word that everyone is 'super' excited!  Ha-Ha!  I created two invitations for his party - one was a design I made on my own with an adorable super hero kid and then the one below.  Mom thought the one we chose worked best for what the birthday boy would like.  Taking a cue from my blog pal, Monique over at Enchanted Expectations, I used an image from Microsoft clip art's gallery and added the wording for the party and a cute cover and band for the invite.  I think it turned out SUPER (tee-hee)!

Check out the invitations for his party:

Lastly here is another invitation that was sent yesterday for another The Princess and The Frog party that I'm hosting.  It's a jazzed up version of the one I did for The Mini Diva's party earlier this month!  It's posted on deep purple shimmer paper and you can't really see it but the heart is a glitter gel sticker.  SO CUTE!!!!

I can't wait to show you the pictures from all of these parties!!!!  In the meantime, have a great weekend!!!!

Thursday Inspiration: Caterpillar Party Inspiration Board

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm insane.  I'm working on getting all the odds and ends finished for my daughter's Princess and the Frog themed birthday party that takes place next month.  Well, it would be just my luck I have two munchkins (and one big munchkin) all born in the month of April.  So, along with planning for The Mini Diva's party, I'm also knocking out a few items for my son's birthday.  I have completed the invitations, mailing labels and door sign - but I'm trying not to lose my head. Fortunately, he was born on the very last day of the month and we can celebrate his birthday in May. 

For today's inspiration, I'm going to show you the inspiration board I created for his party:

I can't wait to really get into this party!  It's going to be small, mostly boys party - but it is going to be lots of fun and I can't wait!!!  I initially wanted to do The Hungry Caterpillar as the theme, but that has been done before and there are actually party sets that you can purchase online. I really dislike licensed character party sets.  I like to use my creativity and do my own thing.  So, I thought that I'd just do a plain old caterpillar party.  For this party, expect a lot of color, a lot of mess and most importantly, a lot of FUN!!!!  I'll keep you posted as things come along.

DON'T FORGET!!!!  You have until midnight tonight to enter to win this week's giveaway!  Click here for more details.