Art Party Invitations

I finished the art party invitations for O's 2nd birthday.

You can read all about how I made them here.

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.

A Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday

It has come and gone. All the planning, crafting, and stressing has finally come to fruition. Her birthday party was this afternoon, and I think it was a success. From the dress (thanks Grandma!) to the cake, the photo board to caterpillar paper lanterns, the snack table and all the guests. It was so much fun!

I made this sign for the party room door using scrapbook paper, my Cricut, and pompoms.

We hosted her party in one of the party rooms at the Discovery Museum. We were still setting up when the guests began to arrive. 20 minutes to set up isn't much time! But it worked out. We served pizza and cake. And of course we served all the fruit that the caterpillar munches on in the book: apples, pears, plums, oranges, strawberries, and watermelon.

Here's the food table. We served all the fruit from the book. I also made the photo board on the table. 

The food table. I downloaded the labels for the food here.

On Monday he ate through one apple.

On Tuesday he ate through two pears.

On Wednesday he ate through three plums.

On Thursday he ate through four strawberries.

On Friday he ate through five oranges.

On Saturday he ate one slice of watermelon.

Photo board I made from newborn to birthday girl. Amazing to see how she's grown.

Above the table I hung a paper lantern caterpillar.

I got the inspiration for this big guy here.

I printed out the labels I made for the favor tins.
The Baby Caterpillar Food tins are filled with puffs.

The regular Caterpillar Food tins are filled with M&Ms.
I bought the frames at the dollar store and spray painted them different colors.

For her guest book, I used a hardback copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
I made the pen using a Sharpie and a green pipe cleaner. I glued a red pompom on top.
Then I attached google eyes with hot glue and twisted on a piece of black pipe cleaner for antennae.

After fruit and pizza, Olivia opened her presents. Her friends and family were so generous. She is very loved.

After presents, we changed Olivia out of her pretty caterpillar dress. And we tried (without success) to get her to wear the silly birthday hat I made.

The hat was inspired by this one.

Then, it was time for the cake! Our friend Amanda made the cake from scratch and even learned how to work with fondant. It turned out beautiful. And pretty tasty too! Thanks, Amanda!

Here's the cake Amanda made for us. It was chocolate and vanilla. YUM!
I made the cake stand. I bought a plain white stand and hot glued grosgrain ribbon around the rim.
Then I hot glued pompoms to the ribbon.

Olivia had her very own large cupcake. She loved everything about it. The way it felt, the way it tasted, the way it made her hair stand up on end when she rubbed the frosting into it. What a mess! But so much fun.

And while a picture is worth a thousand words, here's a video. Those photos don't quite capture the messy baby Olivia is.

After cake, it was already time to clear out of the party room. But Olivia got to enjoy some playtime in the museum with her friends.

You can see most of the dress my mom made.

Now both Daddy and Olivia are down for the count, and I have a few minutes to get the pictures uploaded.

Thanks to everyone who played a part in Olivia's special day!

Caterpillar Bug Jars

I created the centerpieces for the four tables in the party room for Olivia's birthday party. I continued the theme and made caterpillar bug jars. Here they are!

If you're interested in a tutorial, check out my crafting blog: Olive's Originals.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Invitations

Olivia's birthday party invitations went out in the mail yesterday. I'm so pleased with how they turned out.

Since her party theme is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, I decided to make some caterpillar invitations. I think my favorite part might be her cute little thumb prints on the envelopes and in the caterpillar's eyes.

Here is a picture of the supplies you will need:

The paper on the top I created in Microsoft Word. I used the dots from the book as a watermark inside a 3-inch circle text box and added the text myself. Then I printed out enough copies and cut out the circles.

You will also need an assortment of red, green, and yellow card stock, scissors, a fine-tipped Sharpie, red and green stamp pads, envelopes to fit 4-inch circles, glue, and mini brads. I found the mini brads in the scrapbook section of Hobby Lobby.

Here is what the invitations say:

Once I gathered the supplies and created my invitation wording, I got to work.

First, I cut out 3.5-inch circles from the red and green card stock. You will need one red, two dark green, and two light green for each invitation. I used my Cricuit to make them perfect. Then I cut out the circles that I created on the computer. I used scissors for these, so they are a little rustic.

Once I had all the circles cut out, I cut out small ovals out of the yellow card stock. These will be the caterpillar's eyes. I glued them onto the red circle.

After that I left Olivia help. We used a green stamp pad and her cute little thumb to make the centers of the caterpillar's eyes. I made sure the ink was washable and child-safe. And I wiped her hands as soon as we were done. It didn't take very long, and it wasn't as messy as I thought it would be. I think I may have a little crafter on my hands!

When we finished, I decided they needed a little something else. Turns out the caterpillar in the book has a nose. So we used her little thumb and gave our caterpillar a nose too. Here are the faces all finished.

After finishing the faces, glue the printed circles onto the green card stock circles. Make sure to do it in the right order, alternating between dark and light green.

Once the glue has dried, it's time to assemble them. I pushed the mini brads through edges of the cards stock circles and attached them together. I found that taping the brads to the backs of the circles made them a little more durable, since they will be moving when the invitation is opened and closed.

Here is a closeup of each of the four circles.

And here is what they look like assembled and finished. The circles are meant to be swiveled together to fit inside the envelop and then unswiveled to view.

Once we finished the invitations, Olivia and I made the envelopes to go with them.

I took Olivia's cute little thumb again and dipped it into green ink. Then we made the green wings on the butterfly and green circles on the caterpillar. Once those dried, we dipped her thumb in the red ink and made the red wings and red circles. I used the Sharpie to draw on the antennae and little feet.

Now I'm inspired to make some decorations for her party too!