I started planning his birthday party back in May (yes that's right MAY), and I was sure that it was going to be a Mickey Mouse theme. However, as it got closer and closer to August I noticed that his love for Winnie the Pooh was turning into a toddler obsession. Everyday we would watch one of the Winnie the Pooh movies and read Winnie the Pooh books. So obviously, I knew that the birthday party theme had to be changed to Pooh.
I wanted to make sure that Colton's party was as cute as can be with some original decorations instead of just the store bought ones. I found some cute ideas on Pinterest (love that site) and of course came up with some ideas on my own.
For the present and cake table: I bought Winnie the Pooh tablecloths for the tables where the presents and cake would be. For the tables where people would be sitting, I just purchased solid colored tablecloths in red, blue, and yellow. On one table i placed his Winnie the Pooh cake and next to it i placed candy jars with gummy bears, honey drops, and bear cookies. This was also the table where i displayed Colton's 2 year pictures in frames. Next to the cake table was the present table. I decorated the present table with the group of stuffed animals that I purchased for Colt. Note: I purchase stuffed animals of all the characters from the Winnie the Pooh movie, and let me tell you......it was NOT CHEAP. (But it did look very cute...now my son has a Pooh and Friends army in his crib) On most of the tables I placed little signs with some very cute Winnie the Pooh quotes. Such as, "If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your hear and I'll stay there forever," "Think, Think, Think," "It's not much of a tail, but I'm sort of attached to it," and "Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon." The guests thought the quote cards were a very cute idea.
For the food table: It took me a while to decide on the food for the party, especially since a lot of people offered to bring something (a huge help!) I decided to have a few munchies for guests to snack on throughout the party. I really wanted to stay within the Winnie the Pooh theme even with the food so for the snacks, I chose items with a bear or honey feel. I had bowls of honey teddy grahams and honeycomb cereal. For the food that wasn't bear shaped or honey flavored, I figured out a way to connect them to the theme. I came up with the idea of little signs that identified the food, and each one of Pooh's friends had a food named for them.
For these adorable signs, I got a big piece of white foam board and using an X-Acto knife (scissors will not work) I cut out mini "wood" sign shapes just like the ones in Rabbit's garden. I painted them brown and then with a white paint pen, wrote a food on each. For the sticks I used wooden chopsticks that I bought at the party store. These signs looked so cute on the food table. Also, at the beginning of the food table (by the plates and napkins) I had a large cutout of Pooh with the saying "FILL THE RUMBLY IN YOUR TUMBLY" The decorations turned out very cute and I got a lot of compliments.
When you're throwing a party for a child with child guests, no matter what age, entertaining them throughout the party becomes the number one priority. I purchased a Winnie the Pooh piñata and filled it with age appropriate candy and toys. Because some parents, me included, that would prefer my son to not eat a ton of sugary candy, I also put packets of fruit snacks into the piñata. I also had favor bags for each one of the kids. And since I love to sew, I actually handmade my favor bags from Winnie the Pooh material that I had purchased at JoAnn Fabrics.
They turned out even better than I had expected. The best part, they are reusable!! My nieces carried them like big purses. I filled each of them with a Pooh coloring book (that I got from the dollar store), a box of crayons, a can of yellow play dough (it was an outside party so the parents didn't have to worry about cleaning up a mess), a bottle of bubbles, and some other little toys. I tried to pick things that would provide enough distraction for the kids so that the parents could actually get to sit and eat. One of the hardest things about a kid's birthday party is chasing them around. I finished these bags off with a name tag attached with a piece of Winnie the Pooh ribbon.
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| It was like 95 degrees and Colt was running around the whole time. I was so worried because his face was as red as a cherry. |
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| He took his cake into the grass so no one would steal it. LOL |
I was very happy with how the party turned out and more than that how much fun Colton and all the guest had. All the hard work paid off. I suggest that if you have the time and patience, add some handmade touches to your party. It really does make it more special.
