Brown Bear Birthday Bash

Samuel turned 2 in December! (Yes, I am just now editing the pictures and blogging...)
He LOVED Brown Bear Brown Bear by Eric Carle for about 2 months. It was the only book he wanted to read over and over and over... he would read it to himself, to his toys, to us - it was the cutest thing I've ever seen. So, naturally, I planned a Brown Bear Birthday Bash for his 2nd birthday.

I don't like to have BIG parties for birthdays. I think it's important to celebrate with family and friends, but to keep the celebration small and focused on things that make the child happy. I have a goal to have a birthday day for each of my children when they are old enough to choose what they would like to do with just Daddy and Mommy, in addition to a small family gathering. I want to keep it a day focused on them and not overwhelmed with 25 screaming children and 50 frantic adults climbing around ball pits, jumping houses, and whatnot. I don't want to associate birthdays with stress. ;) ...although I'm sure I won't escape having a crazy, frantic party or two.....

So, with that said, we kept this "bash" on the small scale. Our guest list was small, the decorations mimimal. We planned a few games and set up a photo booth. I planned it for 2:30 in the afternoon, so I wouldn't have to serve a meal (awesome for a low budget). Samuel had SO much fun. He tends to get overwhelmed with too many people, so our small gathering was just right for him - he was beyond happy to see his guests!

I spent about $40 on the decorations for his party. I found the Brown Bear themed decorations here at this adorable Etsy shop - SmashCakeandCo for $10.

The favor tags were too cute! I made Cocoa Rice Krispie Treats as favors. They were supposed to be in the shape of a bear paw, but ended up looking like brown blobs of...well, you know...SO I didn't photograph those too closely ;)

favor tags

 I adored this banner! I purchased red and white ribbon from Hobby Lobby and threaded each pennant onto it. It was so easy and looked adorable. I used the same ribbon throughout the party on other small details.

banner

The cupcake toppers made the cake table look so fun! I printed them and used double sided tape to attach them to colored card stock, and then taped them to these red and white paper straws I found at Hobby Lobby.

 

cupcake toppers

My biggest splurge was $20 on two photo collages I printed from Walmart. I chose my favorite instagram photos from Samuel's 2nd year and arranged them into two 11x14 collages, which I hung above his "gift opening area".

his gift opening area ;) (I'm obsessive)

we love this ornery boy!

Thankfully, my mom is amazing at making cakes (the most delicious cakes). So, we have beautiful cakes on small budgets because we get them for free! :) She found this design on Pinterest and did an adorable job replicating it!

cake

sugar overload

We had LOTS of cake for our small party. No one complained, though! ;)

Finally, I found the idea for the food on Pinterest. We had fruits and veggies of the colors in the Brown Bear book. Our guests pigged out on these! I left this party feeling healthy....with the exception of the 2 cupcakes I ate... ;) I resisted eating 3

food table

We had a pinata filled with Samuel's favorite candy: suckers...and this preggo mommy's favorite candy: flavored tootsie rolls. ;) We also had a photo booth - a plastic table cloth on the wall with some goofy props - this was a blast!

All in all, we had so much fun! Samuel was showered with love and gifts! I cannot believe he is 2. I feel like he's grown up overnight. I'd love to bottle up some of this adorable two-ness to savor on days he's grown and has morphed into a turbulent teen... ;) But I'll just soak up the sticky fingers and funny words as much as I can now. ;)