Lilly turned 7 last month. I just can’t believe it! I know that’s what everyone says, but it really is true! We usually have very small quiet family parties with our immediate family and grandparents. This year, we decided to throw her first friend party. I have come to realize over the past few years that event organizing or party planning is not really my thing. I kind of wish it was my thing when I see elaborate party decorations and table arrangements in magazines. And I have two sisters-in-law who put on fantastic birthday parties for their kids every year — don’t try and deny how great they are Abby and Phoebe! I just find planning parties difficult. I have zero ideas, and I don’t want to spend a lot of time or money on the details. On the other hand, I wanted Lilly to have a nice party, so I tried to keep it simple, but nice, and as inexpensive as I could. Here’s how it went down!
First I needed a theme. I searched all over the web and landed on a very general idea: a spring themed birthday party! Using a very general theme would allow me to be flexible on party activities, crafts, and decorations.
For the invitations I used the Etsy seller KatarinasPaperie. She already had a cute spring themed invitation that I liked, and all I had to do was give her the relevant information, and print them off at home once she emailed me the digital file. I paid $13.50 for the PDF of my invitation, and could print as many as I needed. I’m positive I would have spent at least that much on off-the-shelf generic invitations. What I loved about doing invitations this way . . . original invitations, great price, didn’t have to make a trip to the store, and I didn’t have to fill out the information by hand. I knew I already had blank envelopes for this size invitation, so think about that factor before you order. Didn’t they turn out cute?!
For decorations I picked up lots of pretty polka dot balloons, hung up a few cardboard cut-out butterflies and flowers, and used potted perennials for the table decorations. I saw some pretty plastic flower table decorations at Party City when I went to pick up the balloons, but I knew I would never use them again and they would wind up getting thrown away along with the money that I spent on them. When my mom suggested perennials from the garden center, I knew that was perfect. Once it warms up enough, those perennials can be planted outside and my money will not have been wasted. I wrapped the black pot in colorful tissue paper and I was done. (The tissue paper should have been longer, but oh well!) And do the kids really care about table decorations? No! The kids did love the balloons, and everyone was sent home with one of their own.
I enjoy making our family birthday cakes completely from scratch. My mom gave me a recipe a long time ago that is super easy and turns out great every time. Honestly, I don’t even bother eating store bought cake mix cake or bakery cake anymore — they are just not worth the calories! I had already made my homemade cake for her family birthday party, and so I thought maybe I would go wild and not even serve cake at her friend party. Crazy? Maybe. I did still want to serve a spring themed dessert of some sort. Dirt! Very spring themed, don’t you think? The dirt was eaten so fast that this is the only picture I got! It was nice to be able to make the dirt in advance, keep it in the fridge, and then just bring it out all at one time without the natives getting restless. This saved me a lot of time cutting cake and scooping ice cream.
The best part of the party was the craft. I didn’t want to send the kids home with a bag full of junk that would be tossed in the garbage by sneaky moms a couple of days later. And personally as a mom, I don’t like bringing more junk into our home. We have enough already thank you very much! I wanted the kids to make something at the party that they could take home as their favor. I settled on small succulent terrariums — very spring themed! When the kids first arrived at the party I had them put their names on flower and heart shaped wooden craft sticks, and then color them to make them pretty. These would serve as the name markers for each terrarium so that they wouldn’t be mixed up at the end. It was also supposed to keep the kids entertained while we waited for everyone to arrive, but they ended up coloring pretty fast! When it was time for the craft, the kids gathered around the same table (covered in a plastic table cloth for easy clean-up). I bought small glass jars at my local Pat Catan’s for less than $1 each. My succulents came from the Etsy shop SanpedroCactus. The succulents were about $2 each and came in 2″ pots. I set out buckets of gravel and potting mix on the tables for the kids to use.
First they added a little gravel to the bottom of their jar to aid in drainage. Succulents don’t like to be too wet, so good drainage is important.
Each child was able to select two succulents to add to their terrarium, and they used the soil in the buckets to add to their terrarium if needed. It was really fun to see how excited they were to pick out the succulents they wanted in their terrarium. The kids were so focused and intent during this part of the party!
I also put some small rocks and seashells out on the table. Once the plants were in place, they added rocks and seashells to the terrariums for decoration and stuck their plant marker inside so they knew it was theirs. All the kids seemed very proud of their creations and were eager to show their parents when they arrived to pick them up. I spent about $5 per child on that craft project, but I feel better about that compared with spending money on cheap plastic that will end up in the garbage.
As for the rest of the party, we played some simple games such as relay races, egg and spoon races, and parachute activities. This was the part of the party that I should have spent a little more time on. The games ended much faster than I anticipated, and every time there was even the smallest lull in activity, the kids seemed to go crazy running around and being loud. I know that’s what kids do, but my nerves were really suffering that day!
So that was our spring themed party. What do you think? If you like the idea, pin it to your birthday party Pinterest board!
