I have a share with you today that I have been wanting to post for some time. It's a birthday party we put on for my grandson's 1st birthday! Now it was a few months ago but I realized I never shared the photos and wanted to do so.
It was a great party and we found some great ideas that I thought some of you might enjoy. The internet, You Tube and Pinterest are all amazing resources for a wealth of ideas, which is where we found a lot of ours.
Once we decided on the theme, the first thing we wanted to do was figure out something for the invites. We found a lot on Pinterest that we could print ourselves and some that we could order but we wanted something just a little bit extra special. As I said before, Pinterest was a huge help! I will try my best to provide links to all the projects and supplies we used.
In my quest to find the perfect invitation, I ran across an idea to create a Dr. Suess storybook for the invitation. There were no downloadable printables or anything to purchase so I had to get creative and figure out a way to make them on my own.
I simply scanned parts of different Dr. Suess books to use as the illustrations.
This was the cover of the book.
I spread out the design in Photoshop Elements. I used an 8 1/2 x 11 canvas and carefully placed the pages on each page so that when they were printed out and folded, the story line would be correct. Since this is not my profession, it took a little bit of practice but finally it worked!
We had to use some creativity to recreate a story that would fit the theme of the party as well as keep the phrasing and rhyming that Dr. Suess books are known for.
We were happy with the outcome and I think it's something that he will love to look back on when he is older. Of course, we couldn't go to this much trouble for the invitation without creating a matching
envelope!
For the envelope, I designed it in Photoshop Elements as well and simply used some images found on Google. The font was a free font downloaded from Dafont.com and its called "Grinched", I believe. There is also another font similar to Dr. Suess font and its called "Dr Soos".
The party was held in a photography studio our friends have and it was the perfect place! Plenty of room, bright light and just a really cool space.
We made truffula trees and placed them around the space and as the main centerpiece on the table.
These added so much color and such a fun element. We made them using pool noodles. Thankfully, this was during the summer so they were easy to find! We wrapped the noodles alternately with white and black duct tape all they way to the end of the noodle. Then we used a regular rubber ball found at most stores. The best way we found to secure it was to wrap the bottom portion with duct tape, securing it to the noodle. The next step was to add feather boas around the ball. We first tried hot glue...yeah not such a bright idea considering it was a rubber ball! LOL What worked the best was spray adhesive....but let me warn you, you will want to do it outside with lots of ventilation and in a place that will not be affected by overspray. It was quite messy but the result was phenomenal! We were so happy with them!
The cake table held the main cake, some Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes, the birthday boys smash cake and some other goodies! We used Dr Suess cutouts and banners to decorate around the table which can be found at most party supply stores. We also used tissue balls.
We found most of our party supplies that were purchased here.
The Lorax face was cut just using some felt and adhering to the vase. We filled it with orange slices.
The book covers were purchased as a set and we used them throughout the party decor.
Audio's great grandmother made the Cat in the Hat cake. We found the idea online
and she was able to recreate it!
Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes. I created the circles in Photoshop and printed and cut them. Inserted using toothpicks!
Here is the table decor with the food just prior to guests arriving. All the food was Dr. Suess
themed. Green Eggs and Ham was actually Green Eggs and Oreos using Oreo cookies and white and green chocolate. A lar jar of goldfish cracker was called "One Fish, Two Fish" and well, I think you
get the idea!
The 'Oh What Fun" banner was created by me using a paperpad I found at
Michaels crafts that was already cut to banner shapes. I simply punched them out, layered them and of course cut the letters with my trusty Silhouette.
We had food and snacks for the adults as well and continued the Dr Suess themed food here.
Everything was delicious and everyone seemed to enjoy it!
Drinks were Suess Juice which was sweet tea (hey we're in the South, it's expected!) and Moose Juice which was blue lemonade drink for the kids.
We also had "Hop on Pop" popcorn.
Each place setting had the childs name (this seat was for Thing 1). The plates, napkins, hats and blowers were all purchased. We made the juice boxes so the kids could take them home. We cut the Dr Suess image out of vinyl on the Silhouette.
Each child also got their very own fish bowl at their place setting to take home. I created the cute tags with the saying and tucked inside is a little bag of fish food. Yeah the parents were thrilled about this! LOL
We happened to have the theme already planned when we found these adorable goody bags at Target. This was their loot bag! We filled it with fun items that the kids would love....a Dr Suess plate, cup, pencils, and some other fun things.
Now this is is amazing! We wanted a chalkboard with all of Audio's currents...
weight, length, likes, etc. My niece is so creative! My daughter made a list of all the specifics and my niece designed the layout and hand wrote and drew everything! Seriously amazing. So much so, that my daughter has saved this and still has it hanging in Audio's play area!
As a guest book, we ordered the "Happy Birthday to You" book by Dr Suess. We made this sign to put on the table as you enter the room so that guests would be able to sign the book as a keepsake for Audio.
Here's the full view of the table in the entry that held the guest book and gifts.
This was the view coming into the room. It was exactly what we were going for!
Fun, full and colorful!
Everyone had such a great time!
There was a pin the hat on the cat game. Again, my niece drew the design onto regular whiteboard found at the Dollar Store. The hats were ordered from BirthdayExpress.com.
Thing 1 and Thing 2 even came for the party!
My niece made the outfits out of just plain tshirts, shorts and leggings. She hand drew the Thing 1 and Thing 2 on white felt and we sewed it onto the tshirts. The wigs were ordered through Amazon.
The white and red picket fence was a find on our local buy, sell and trade site. It came at the perfect time and made the perfect backdrop for fun photos!
Audio's little outfit was made by my talented sister, Kristi. She wanted him to have a special outfit. We were going to buy one on Etsy but she insisted on making it for him. I'm so glad she did because it is so much cuter and much more special. She lives out of state so wouldn't get to be here for the party and it was her way of being a part. We ordered the leggings to go with his outfit. Yes, I am sure he will get us later for putting him in this but oh well, it was cute!
We were so happy to find his Converse Dr Suess shoes! You can't find these anymore so you have to hope you happen to find them from someone getting rid of them. To find his size at the time we needed was just a blessing to us! They were like brand new. His mama says she's not letting go of these!
Audio calls my husband Pop so he had to have a shirt with "Hop on Pop". I found some iron on transfer paper that you can run through your ink jet printer. I found the image online and with some tweaking in Photoshop, I was able to get a size to work and ironed onto a tshirt. Perfect!
He is Lolli's boy!
Audio loved opening presents!
Audio with his Mommy, Daddy and Mema, his great grandma!
It was such a fun day! It was a lot of work but so worth it!
