Olivia's Birthday Party

I've started planning Olivia's birthday party this week. I can't believe she's going to be two next month. Amazing. People say they grow up so fast, but you really don't know what that means until the baby you swear you just brought home from the hospital is getting ready to turn two!

Right now, Olivia is really into arts and crafts. She loves anything that involves crayons, markers, colored pencils, stamps, stickers, playdough, etc. So, this year, I'm planning an art party for her birthday. I've rented out a community room here in town, and I've been furiously planning what activities to include. Some of her friends are arty like she is, and some of them haven't had much experience with art supplies beyond crayons.

I'm planning three different activity tables. The first one will be for paper crafts, including crayons, markers, stamps, and stickers. A playdough table is also a must. I'm going to make homemade playdough using this recipe because some her friends still like to put things in their mouths. I'm planning to include a sign that the playdough is safe to eat, so parents can relax a little. I'll provide the usual playdough toys and cookie cutters, and I think I'll also include some other sculpting materials such as pipe cleaners and feathers. The third table will be a painting table. I toyed with the idea of making a no-mess baggie finger print activity, but then I decided that they can do that anywhere. Olivia's party should be the real deal. I included information in the invitation to wear art clothes, and I'm planning to make each child a smock as their party favor.

I've already started the invitations. They are so cute (if I do say so myself). I was inspired by an invitation on Etsy. I created the palette on my computer and printed it onto brown card stock that sort of resembled cardboard. Then, instead of glitter paper cut into paint blobs, I used glitter glue and painted on the blobs myself. I had the glitter glue on hand from the Toddler Christmas Tree I made, and I didn't have any glitter paper. I only used stuff I had on hand for the invitations, so they cost me nothing. In fact, I have enough postage leftover from Christmas cards that I won't have to buy more. Love saving money!

I'll post pictures of the invitations when I'm done. I'm really pleased with how they are turning out. Last year's were really cute too. I'm not sure which I like better. I did forget to include a date for RSVPs this year, but I think it will be OK.