2nd Birthday Party Planning

Carder's 2nd Birthday party is this coming weekend.  Although his 1st Birthday party turned out just fine, there was a part of me that felt like I has "skimped" on his party because I didn't make a lot of things myself.  Although I know it makes no difference to him, I wanted his 2nd Birthday to have more effort on my part.

So, a few weeks ago, I began planning and creating.  Thanks to Pin.terest, I had more ideas than I had time.

I started out with the invites.  I used to make our own Christmas Cards each year, so making party invitations was a lot of fun.  I did do something a little bit different this time and I printed certain parts of the invitation rather than hand stamping/writing it all.  Other parts were added as embellishments by hand - like the ribbon and the foam ball stickers.  They were delivered to recipients in pretty clear envelopes that look really cool in real life but make picture taking tricky due to the glare.* 

 

My next inspiration was for a cupcake stand.  I decided pretty quickly what I wanted the top of the stand to look like and I think it turned out great.

 

The cupcake stand itself wasn't as much of a slam dunk.  I found a few tutorials and examples online and it looked pretty easy.  I couldn't find premade cardboard cake rounds without having to buy them in bulk, so I decided to make them myself. Derek brought home some boxes and I set to work.  Getting perfectly round cardboard circles was not quite as easy as I had thought it would be.  After covering them with wrapping paper and edging them with ribbon, they didn't look quite like I thought they would, but they would do.  The spacers became my problem.  Nothing I tried made seemed sturdy enough.  Since putting cupcakes on an unsteady stand seemed like a recipe for cupcake disaster, I scrapped that plan and went with a new one.  I am currently in the process of making another one out of boxes.  Since there will be no flimsy risers involved, I think this one will work.

 

I also made picks to stick in the top of the cupcakes with the same foam stickers I used for the invitations.

 

I made a personalized birthday banner (thanks to my friend Xio who could flip letters upside down with her newer computer and software!!!)

 

I found a giant bubble wand and a couple more smaller ones.  I made some Super Bubble solution to use at the party to blow big bubbles.

 

Next were the gift bags - inside are homemade bubbles (from the Super Bubble Recipe), play dough, funny glasses, foam ball stickers, temporary tattoos, and some fruit snacks.

 

I have also made thank you notes too!

 

Still on the to do list are chocolate covered Oreo pops (that will look like baseballs and basketballs) and finishing up the cupcake stand. 

 

And of course the food...This is where I have opted to take the easy route on a few things and buy a fruit tray and a veggie tray and I ordered my cupcakes (baking isn't my strongest suit).

 

Hopefully these last couple of days will be productive and Carder will have a wonderful 2nd Birthday!

 

 *Should you decide that you would like to mail things in clear envelopes, I think I got them here.  But you can Goggle Clear Envelopes and find other suppliers.  They come in many shapes and sizes and are a great way to showcase your hand made cards.  Just be forewarned that the USPS charges more to mail them because they can't be machined.