Party Ideas - Ladybug Birthday Party

My baby girl had her 1st birthday party this past weekend and it was such a blast! I was really a procrastinator and didn't start preparing until last weekend. I had a whole list of crafty things I wanted to do and I only had to chop a couple of them (thank goodness) because I ran out of time. We decided on a ladybug theme for her party. This came about partly because I fell in love with the tutu outfit I found on Etsy and because my moms nickname for E is "ladybug." It just seemed fitting. Get ready for a ton of pictures. :D

Here is the invite. I made this on Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio program. Then, I just uploaded it to the Costco website as a regular 5 x 7 picture and I picked them up the next day. Way cheaper than ordering invites from Shutterfly or any other photo website.

These were the centerpieces for the tables. I did this with the Cricut. I just bought regular pots, 4 styrofoam balls, and green crinkle paper from the craft store. Then, I hot glued the styrofoam balls to the inside of the pots for stability. I painted skewers green and hot glued leaves I made with the Cricut to the skewers. The Cricut cartridge I used was "Walk in my Garden." It also had the cute little lady bugs on there which I glued all over the flowers and the pots. Then, I used a scallop punch to make the trim to go around the pots. It turned out just the way I wanted it.

The banner was also made with my handy dandy Cricut. I used the "Mini Monograms" cartridge for the scallop shape and inside circles and squares. I used the "Teardrop" cartridge for the letters and the "Walk in my Garden" cartridge for the ladybugs.

This was what I put in the party favor bags for all the kiddos. They got a little plastic pot with soil and seeds to plant at home, a small package of crayons with ladybug coloring pages tied on the back, a ladybug topper, and a jar of live ladybugs. I was originally going to put the cute ladybug jar top on the jar with the ladybugs inside, but at the last minute I realized those cute little bugs need air. So, I just cut some toile and put that over the top of it with a rubber band. I still put the ladybug topper in there because it was so stinkin' cute. I was also going to seal the goody bag I put all this stuff in with some cute raffia, but realized, again, that was going to cut off air supply. I just left the top open and gave the goody bags to the kids as soon as they got to the party so they could marvel at their awesome ladybugs-in-a-jar. I made the jar topper with different sized circle punches, googly eyes, and a black stamp pad and pencil eraser for the spots.

This was a cute game I saw on the internet. It's a spin on "pin the tail on the donkey." This one is called "pin the dot on the ladybug." I just took poster board and sketched out a ladybug. This was super easy. It's just a 24px circle connected to a small circle. Then, I took black and red felt and hot glued it in the appropriate places and cut out extra black spots for the kids. Then, all the kids take a turn and try and put their black spot on the white spot. The felt was a very kid friendly way to play the game because we didn't have to worry about pins with the 2 and 3 year olds and it stuck perfectly to the felt ladybug. They really liked it. (Can you see my little helpers' foot sneaking in the picture?)

These were super cute and pretty easy. They are oreo ladybugs. *Update* Check out my "Recipes" category on my sidebar for instructions on these little bugs.

Cupcakes and smash cake. A very talented friend of mine made these. She is a SAHM like me. She has never done this for a living. It's just something she enjoys doing. Incredible, right??

Grandma and E

I bought the ladybugs at my local garden center and apparently when you do this they come in a box with 1500+ ladybugs. I didn't need nearly this many for my little party favors so I decided to let the rest go at the park for all the kids to see. They LOVED it! Ladybugs were everywhere! We took them a good distance away from the party so that the bugs wouldn't be bothering all of the other party guests. I've heard since then that the kids are still talking about how much they loved it.

Me and my birthday girl

Getting 4 kids to cooperate for a picture is NOT easy! This was the best one I got.

This was a fun game. Each team has a bucket of water at one end of the line. Then, they have an empty bucket at the other end. Each person has a cup and the person next to the bucket of water scoops water in to their cup and then pours it in to the persons cup next to them. Then, they pour it in to their neighbors cup and so on. The last person pours their water in to the empty bucket. You give them a certain amount of time (60 seconds was what we did) and then whichever team has the most water in their "empty" bucket wins!

Water balloon toss

Pin the dot on the Ladybug

Opening presents

Tushy shot

Brother and sister

My birthday bug

Cake time!

My face says it all.

Happy Birthday!