Bug Party

This was my first go at a themed birthday party - being for my gorgeous little man's first ever birthday! To be honest there was heaps more I thought of -than I ended up doing , simply because I was trying to keep it basic since he would not really remember much of it at all! And...being a first time mum I was just concerned about being able to do a kids party at all....and getting that cake that would be forever immortilised in photo's, spot on!!

I wanted this birthday to record Caleb's family and closest friends thoughts on him then and what he might get up to in the future....so I created some cards with bug stickers on them (sooo easy!) to go into a time capsule.

cards for time capsule

I have put them in a small, flat silver tin that at some point I want  to decorate or at least SEAL properly...and keep somewhere safe until his 21st birthday! I picked card in primary colours but obviously to do something similar for another theme it'd be easy to choose colours to suit other themes or even patterned or shaped (ie cupcake or flower etc) cards. Something special to look back on anyway!

This was the cake...."Colin Caterpillar"! Took this idea from The Australian Women's Weekly, Kids' Party Cakes book. Loved making this one! Used the natural food colours to colour the icing ( as opposed to the bright more vibrant ones used in the book. I did this so my baby didn't get an excessive high from all the fake colourings etc) and coconut which is the outer layer of the muffins.  As the caterpillar gets longer, the muffins get 'shaved' down and tapered to the right size and shape. I was really happy with how this turned out....but being my first cake -did take me a while, lol :)

COLIN CATERPILLAR

I made extra cupcakes to supplement the birthday "cake"....and decorated the tops of them with various bugs. Sadly (sniff !) hubby, who was taking the pics, didn't get to taking a picture of the masterpieces before they were all gobbled up!! :( I was so proud of them.....they looked a little like these below (also from the Kids' Party Cakes book)....

 My bug cupcakes were modelled after these ones!

We managed to get one pic of one of the spider ones at least.....!

One of my lovely friends who was a guest, created a caterpillar using rolled up lavash bread (stuffed with lots of yummy chicken and salad) and used cucumber to give the little guy some feet! You can see a similar idea on theWoolworths Fresh Food kids website :) Very easy and super yummy!! Was an effective way to add to the theme without being too complex!

The invite I created....very simple and easy!

I did decorate a little with some pictures I printed off the internet....I had lady bugs, caterpillars, leaves, spiders and bee's- even though they are insects- as it wasn't strictly just a bugs theme! There is a lot more you could do for this theme but it can also be as simple as you need too :)

{Tea Party} Party

In October 2009 my baby girl had her first birthday, I had planned a few fabbo birthday's by now, but only for boys, this was my FIRST EVER girl's party and I was STOKED! As she wasn't really "into" anything (what with only being one!) we planned a girly little Tea Party for family only.


This is Ella-Rose and her Daddy, her brother Jacob, their Grandfather, and Travis, all helping to blow out the candles. A good time was had by all!

When I plan a party, it's usually many many months in advance (sometimes shamefully a year or more!) and while party planning is a very exciting time for me, I'm really not all that into planning the food, so usually we enlist the help of some very wonderful Grandmas!

This was my first real try at fondant, it worked well, we will be showing some hints and tips on using fondant here on the blog.

Ella's Ella-phant cup cake

Two Op Shop sundae vases filled with coffee sachets. $4

One exciting thing to use as decorations for big birthdays (1st, 16th, 18th, 21st and so on) are baby clothes on twine using cute little wooden pegs (which I didn't here, but just imagine!) and guess what... THEY ARE FREE DECOS!!!!

I love to make sure that the adults don't feel forgotten when giving thanks for bringing the kids to parties, in this case I made these lavender filled tea bags as part of the adult take home gifts, we popped them into mugs I had purchased earlier in the year with a few chocolates, and there you go.... SUCH cute!

When I plan a party, I like to think about a substantial gift, that doesn't cost too much, and isn't full of sugar like most treats! I will cost out this favor (guests who were invited, no peeking!)

The kid's take home. Soda/Milkshake cups with an array of drawing products...

A Soda/Milkshake glass - $1.00 (on special from Kmart 2 months earlier)

A long squiggly pencil - 20c

 Some stickers - 10c

A note pad - 20c

Some crayons 10c

 Dress up necklace for good measure - 20c

(FYI, the adult gifts cost about the same, perhaps a little less)

So in total, it cost $1.80 for these totally sweet little kids gifts with not a bit of sugar in them! 

TIP: Purchase specific items that have SOMETHING to do with the theme, but don't have something TOO specific set in your mind, that is when it can get expensive!

TIP : Sometimes when playing games, it's a bit hard to find little gifts for little ones, if in doubt, make up some cute baked goods, pop them little boxes or bags and hand them out once the party game has been won!

A few little touches. 1) The yummy selection of tea bags 2) The face washer cupcakes for each guest to take home also serving as decorations 3) The adult take home gifts hanging around the room (again, as decorations) 4) Ella's baby clothes 5) Photo cubes I made from card 5) The tablecloth I made especially for the occasion.

Hope you get some great ideas that you can use for your next party!