A Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party, Part 1: Decorations

Hooray! I've survived another crazy birthday party and although this one was a lot less work than the previous two that I threw, it was still such a crazy busy day that I needed two whole days to recover from it! Actually, now that I think about it, I only had one day to recover because Sunday was Easter and we were not home for most of the day. I'm about two days behind on laundry and my refrigerator is nearly empty because I didn't do the requisite grocery shopping for us, only the party. So today, instead of being a dutiful mommy and getting around to those things, I'm sitting at my desk trying to update everyone on this VHC party that I'd been planning for weeks and weeks. So let's just get to it, shall we??? I'll start with decorations today and when I receive my other pictures for the activities we did, I'll put up a second post.

This is our dining room turned party room. I love all the bright colors- it felt fun and festive for a first birthday. My daughter and I finger painted the huge butterfly that's hanging between the shelves. She's requested that it be hung in her bedroom once the party was over and sure, why not? It turned out great! I covered my big shelves in thrifted fabric so they became backdrops for the VHC fabric panels. On the table is another fabric panel from Eric Carle. I simply hemmed it and placed it in the center of our table.

This was our gift/party favor table with my handmade caterpillar front and center. I hung a leafy Ikea canopy overhead to provide a soft backdrop because the wall was bare and I didn't want to brainstorm another decoration to fill it in. I liked the effect the canopy created though. It was so pretty framing the caterpillar and the cocoon favors. We had "caterpillar" eggs that we later threw into the ball pit as a party game for the kids. More on that later but now you know why the bucket of eggs is on the table. =) It was a hilariously fun game that the kids enjoyed too! Oh yeah- that's a thrifted tablecloth too. Pretty, isn't it??? I won't be keeping it on the table long though. Three messy, juice cup-spilling kids would destroy it in an instant and even though it was probably only $6 or less, I like things to last around here for more than one use. Agreed, moms? =)

Here's the birthday boy enjoying the ball pit before the party started. He was jumping in and out of this thing like he'd been doing it all his short life! I scored this lovely ball pit with all 500+ balls on Craig's List for $60 and the kids have made good use of it before, during, and after the party. Money well spent, I say!

This is the wall above our electric fireplace. I had the poster printed online through Staples and edited the text to fit the party theme. Originally, I was going to print up pictures of my son from newborn to 12 months but what can I say- I got lazy! I hung a 6 month portrait instead as a compromise and I think that was just fine. Up in the right corner, you can see a bit of the paper garland I sewed. Unfortunately, we didn't get pictures of the garland and streamers that swooped down from our loft to the living room. It was quite a festive effect so I'm hoping the photog I invited managed to capture a few pictures of them.

 

I hung large lanterns between the party room and living room. Sorry for the poor picture- this was the only one I had of them!

Our party favor bags.

These pretty cookies took me nearly five hours to complete from start to finish. I made gingerbread cookies instead of the usual sugar cookies. The kids gobbled them up! I placed them on top of a platter of Trix cereal. The kids liked those too. =)

I bought these plastic leaf platters on Amazon. They look great with the colorful fruits, don't they? I'm already thinking about what else I could use these platters for. Maybe a summer luau is in store for us! =) I must always be able to use something more than once in order for it to be worthy of purchasing- otherwise, I won't buy it. If I had hoards of money hidden away somewhere, I'd still live by this rule. "Waste not, want not." Right? I forgot where I heard that, but it's so true!

And there's the birthday boy in his ball pit again. He had a fantastic day and I'm so happy that all our guests enjoyed the food and activities. I can't wait to post up the pictures of what we did at the party! Til next time, happy Tuesday!