Motherhood has been a surprising and wonderful experience so far. It is both exhausting and exhilarating in the same breath. Our daughter turned 1 this year and we were excited to celebrate every little bit of this beautiful girl.
The theme: A Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
I chose this theme because it seemed easy to translate to all things birthday. It's broken down into very simple objects and also it's super easy to find inspiration on the internet and especially Pinterest!
The invitations:
I found this idea on Pinterest (http://tinyurl.com/merzkqt)! The template was not shared due to copyright issues, so I had to find and modify the images on my own. After a few google searches, a little photoshop magic and some cutting this was the result!
The decorations:
I Pinterest had a ton of ideas for Hungry Caterpillar parties, however as we got closer to the party I had to decide what I really wanted and what would simply be too time consuming.
The caterpillar:
Simple tissue paper poms, fishing wire, construction paper and staples!
The balloons:
The balloons hanging down were meant to mimic the colored dots in the book. We hung them with fishing wire and paper clips throughout the room.
Food trail:
I created a trail of food from the door into the party room. It was all the foods from the book (and I do mean all) in order. 1 apple, 2 pears etc. I used contruction paper and markers to create these. The kids loved it!
Headbands and coloring pages:
I found the headband idea on Pinterest! Construction paper and staples! I created the coloring pages with some more google and Photoshop magic! The coloring pages were on the tables with crayons and stickers! The stickers were printed on sticker paper and were the exact illustrations from the book! So fun!
E's shirt:
I wanted her shirt to match the theme. This was created with felt, thread, and a little hot glue to hold it in place while I threaded it for decoration.
The cake:
My wonderful mother made an awesome caterpillar cake! She used a bundt cake for the body and buttercream icing for most of it. Very cute!
Cupcakes:
We thought cupcakes would be the easiest way to feed a crowd (plus they are in the book!), so we did these in addition to cake. My sister iced these to look like grass, and my mother made the toppers out of fondant. They were so cute!
Photo cut out:
I wanted one other thing at the party - a photo op! Created out of cardboard, spray paint and a bit of glue. We also used some leftover styrofoam to support the back of the cardboard. It was not the most sturdy, but it worked pretty well.
Party Favors:
I searched long and hard for party favors. I found the cocoons on Pinterest, but sadly the link is broken, so I can't give credit to the original creator. My struggle was the range of ages that would be at the party. The kids ranged in age from younger than 1 to 15! I settled on a range of favors and decided that parents could decide what worked best for their child. I created the cocoons out of mod podge, water balloons, and tissue paper. The butterflies were made from felt, so that they would be for safe and soft for the babies at the party.
Thanks for reading! I hope it inspires even greater ideas!
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