Ladybug Party

Gretchen's 2nd birthday party was on Saturday. We planned an adorable ladybug themed party!(Maybe I'm a bit partial?) For my final birthday post, I wanted to share with you how I made our theme come to life!

First, I chose her outfit. I purchased the outfit from Castles and Crowns. You can find them here and request a catalog! They are based out of Mobile, AL. so if you're in the area- stop by there store! Since her outfit was hot pink and black, I decided to go with a hot pink ladybug theme rather than the traditional red ladybug theme. If you decide to go the red route, check out Hobby Lobby for some cute red ladybug items in their store now! Of course, I make everything difficult on myself, as I did with this by choosing the pink theme rather than red! In order to make it a tad easier, I added an accent color of lime green!

We brought in her picnik table so the kiddos would have a place to play and eat! I set it up with some coloring pages, so the kids could have something to do while all of the guests arrived. I printed off ladybug coloring pages (just google for some free ones), as well as regular crayons, ladybug shaped crayons (purchased from Etsy), ladybug pop-ups from a local party store, and paper yo-yo's in our hot pink, lime green, and ladybug theme (also purchased from a local party store).

I set up our kitche island with the cake and food! I purchased hot pink plates and napkins, and green utensils. My mother brought up the cake stand that my wedding cake sat on, and we purchased a ladybug cake from a local baker. Last year, I purchased a small plate and dish for Gretchen's very own personal cake and ice cream dishes for her to eat with every year! I also purchased a party hat from Etsy. These are displayed on the island as well! I sat out a platter of delicious pink iced sugar cookies, as well as pink, white, and red (so, I compromised a bit!) m&m's in a clear glass vase. Thank goodness her birthday is close to Valentine's day! I also displayed the ladybug marshmallow suckers in a large glass margarita serving dish!

Here's a close up of the cake! The cake was chocolate (yes, it's my favorite!) with hot pink icing. The ladybug on top is edible as well, so we had enough to serve 30+ people with some left over! The head was edible as well, and my husband called that piece! I simply took a few pictures and ideas to the baker, and this is what she came up with! Do you see the baby ladybug on top?

I made the birthday banner with help from a friend! I also found the instructions at Brown Paper Packages. You can find the instructions here.

For games, we played "pin the ladybug on the leaf" and we decorated a giant ladybug! I simply made ladybugs out of construction paper, and different size black dots from construction paper. For decorating the ladybug, I had all of the kids in the kitchen, and explained that the ladybug lost her spots. Then, we took them into the living room where all of the spots were layed out on the tables, chairs, and floor for the kids to "find".

The kitchen table was covered in a pink plastic tablecloth. I added black construction paper circles and taped them in place. I also made the watering can. You can find out how I did it here.

I sat the party favors on our buffet table. Green buckets for the boys and pink for the girls.

I filled each bucket with lime green krinkled paper to look like grass. Each child received a ladybug pop-up, and a paper ladybug yo-yo. I ordered ladybug shaped crayons from Etsy, and each child received one. I added a crazy straw, bug shaped gummies, and bug shaped graham crackers.

Phew! It was a lot of work planning and preparing, but I wouldn't change a thing! Gretchen had a wonderful time, and we enjoyed the time with our family and friends! Later this week, I'll get around to posting pictures of the party, and I have to update on some of the adorable hair bows that I've been making!!!