Lets train

Saturday was the big day.....Claire's 2nd birthday party!
(Her actual birthday isn't until this Thursday)
I have been planning this party in my head for over a year.
In fact, I had the theme of her 2nd birthday party before I had the theme of her first birthday party! (I am crazy like that).

I had so much fun planning her party and I thought it turned out cute.
Get ready for a photo overload of Claire's Ladybug party!

Here is Claire on the front porch before her party started.

I wanted to get a few pictures of her before the party because I knew once the party began, her dress would be messy & her hair would be crazy!

I got her dress from Ashley at Lil Blue Boo. She makes upcycled tshirt dresses and the quality is amazing! She is the same girl who made Kate's frog dress .

The ladybug dress was a custom dress that I had her make to match the colors of Claire's party. I LOVE how it came out!

Kate wore a simple white & black polka dot dress to match the theme.

Here they are, ready to Party!
This is one of my favorite pictures of them....they are both smiling AND looking at the camera!

Here is the invitation I made:

{Now available in my Etsy shop!}

I made a lot of the stuff for the party at the end of summer because I knew once school started, things would be crazy busy!

Party Details:
Black & Red Candy Table

Birthday banner:

Licorice:

Ladybug Spots (aka: licorice bites)

Red Ants (aka: Hot Tamales)
That name was Kevin's idea!

Claire sneaking some candy...

We found out Claire loves black licorice :)

Appetizers:
Ants on a Log (aka: celery, peanut butter & raisins)

Hummingbird Hummus:
(aka: Hummus served with carrots & pita chips)

The drink station:

Ladybug Juice (Fruit Punch):

Bumblebee Juice (Lemonade):

It's not a ladybug party without polka dot balloons!
I got them from Polka Dot Market,

The dessert table:

Close up of the pom poms I made:
(I used THIS tutorial)
Cupcake tower:

I made 5 different cupcake toppers for the party:

I also made ladybug cupcakes:

They were red velvet cake, red icing & topped with a junior mint & chocolate chips:

The amazing ladybug cake my mother in law made:

Antennae (aka: Chocolate Dipped Pretzels)
Party Activities:
I printed out ladybug coloring sheets for kids to color:

I hired my next door neighbor (she is also one of my students!) to do face painting and balloon animals for the kids.

Lunch Menu:
Potato Bug Salad (aka: Potato Salad)

Butterfly Salad (aka: Bowtie Pasta Salad)

Grasshopper Salad (aka: Tortellini w/Pesto Salad)

Caterpillar Kabobs (aka: fruit kabobs)

Hot Dogs

Chicken Apple Sausage

And, of course Buns!

After lunch, Claire was about to have a melt down (nap time!) so we declared it cake time!
We actually got a family picture (thanks, Becky!)

Claire was a little overwhelmed with everyone singing to her:

To her defense, there were over 50 people at the party.

She wasn't quite sure what to do...

Good thing she had Maddie & Kate there to help her blow out her candles!

Happy Birthday, Claire!

Cake time = Happy Claire!

Favors:
I got magnified bug catchers for each kid & then made a name sticker for each one to personalize it. I tried to get a real ladybug for each kid and called about 5 different Garden Centers, but they only carry real ladybugs in the Spring. Sorry, kids :)

{I got the containers HERE}

And, I had chocolate ladybugs on a stick for each guest:

They turned out SO cute!
I got them from this etsy shop & then I added my own favor tag!

We got so busy at the party, we forgot about the ladybug pinata that was hanging in the yard!
I think it is so funny we forgot the pinata because the pinata was one of the main reasons I had a ladybug party. LAST summer I got this ladybug pinata on clearance and that is what gave me the idea to do a ladybug party!

So, after naps, we let the girls attack the pinata!

She wanted 3 lollipops, all at once!

Oh well, it was her birthday party, we let the rules slide a little :)

It was a great party and so fun having a house full of family & friends!
The party was 2 days ago & I think I have finally recovered!
All this party planning has been a good distraction for me because I am in denial that my baby is turning 2! (tears!)

Thank you to everyone who came and helped us celebrate Claire turning TWO!

Click HERE to see her 1st Birthday Party - Ice Cream Theme

Claire's 7th Birthday Party was on Saturday. 

She wanted a Tea Party, but more specifically, an American Girl Tea Party.

Claire wanted roses & wanted the colors to be pink, red & aqua and have all her friends bring their American Girl Doll.

Here is the invite that I made for her party:

I decided to have the tea party in our front yard because it was a nice setting for a "garden" Tea Party. 

2 years ago, I had her Tangled Birthday Party in our front yard & it worked out really well!

 We have some hydragena bushes & rose bushes in the front yard, so it is a perfect setting for a tea party!

 I kept the decorations simple...put up some tissue puffs in our Japenesse Maple:

 I hung a bunting above the cake table (which is a bunting I used at Claire's Cowgirl Party)

My favorite part was setting the table for the Tea Party.

 I used the same table cloth as ones I used for Claire's Cowgirl Party...gotta love re-using party decor!

 I had tea cups & saucers for each girl:

 I made name tags for each tea cup:

I loved how they turned out!

I used my vintage blue mason jars for the flowers:

And, I found these cute napkins at a local party store:

It was definitely a "shabby chic" themed Tea Party

 For the food, I kept it simple since it was a Tea Party & it was from 2-3:30.

 Chocolate Chip Banana Recipe {HERE}

We had a variety of "tea" sandwiches:

 I got these & these cookie cutters to cut out the sandwiches.

 These girls had so much fun :)

 Dessert Table:

 I kept it pretty simple:

 

 Claire was VERY specific on what she wanted her cake to look like.

She wanted an aqua rectangle cake with a pink tea cup on it with flowers.

Can't believe she is 7!

Other desserts I had were: 

 For drinks I had Raspberry Lemonade, Pink Lemondade & Sweet Tea:

 The week & day of her party was 100 degreees, so that is why we had lemonade/sweet tea for her party instead of hot tea :)

 For activities, I set up 3 craft stations:

 I got these cool tea cup planters

 This is what they looked like after they were painted:

Inside I set up a necklace station:

 

 I also set up a coloring station:

 And, of course all the American Girl Dolls that Claire's friends brought so they could play with their dolls. They are all obsessed with AG Dolls!

 For favors, the girls got cookies:

 Singing happy birthday to Claire:

 This was such a fun party & Claire had a blast, so that is all that matters!

Hope you enjoyed Claire's Shabby Chic American Girl Birthday Tea Party as much as we did!