Brought To You by the Letters A and J and the Number 2

First let me start off by saying I am far from an expert party planner.  I take that back, I am an expert planner but execution is where I'm lacking.  It never fails that I forget to put out the water bottles and I never plan for an attractive way to get rid of garbage.  I've decided after almost 7 years of planning my kids parties that they don't have to be perfect.... I aim for sweet and from the heart.  

My first tip is to pick your theme far in advance.  I know it's hard with kids because they change their minds, but if they pick something you know they'll love for awhile it's safe to start planning at least 6 months ahead of time.  It's so easy to pick up clearance merchandise when you're not planning at the last minute.  Like my invites that I made for a mere .06 cents each total!

Clothes are always a biggie for me.  I don't always dress my kids up for their parties, however I have been known to make Jake where a monkey costume for a safari themed birthday party and I did order a race car shirt for Jake and t's that said "pit crew" for the rest of the family for his race car party.

Decorations were really easy for this party.  I used lots of color and textures.  Everyone loves noise makers and blowers so I picked up some from the dollar store.  I had these pipe cleaners and I glued them together to make two little chandeliers.  I was inspired by some "Polish" chandeliers that I've seen posted lately (see post below).  I also had a lot of brightly colored fabric so I cut circles out of it and ran it through my sewing machine for a cute garland.  That's a really easy, good, bang for your buck and time decoration.

Favors were Play Doh and a few stampers from a larger pack that I bought and broke up.  I tried to give each kid letters to at least their first name and the number of their age.  We had two babies and they got a book and magnet numbers from the dollar store.  I also had two older boys and they got gift card coins from Target.  I think the favors averaged out to not even $2 a child including the bags and name tags.  (Early planning).

I used white kraft paper for table clothes that I stuck foam numbers and letters on.  Across the table I scattered balloons that I had and pom poms and foam shapes from the dollar bin.  I filled clear cups with crayons and chalk and put words out of foam that are Sesame Street inspired like "learn, live, create, explore, laugh, sing and dance".  I love the art the kids came up with!

As for food, we did a brunch which ended up being a lot of work since you're trying to cover breakfast and lunch.  I wanted to highlight the desert though.  I didn't want to do traditional cake and ice cream because is was late morning, early afternoon.  I did however make the cupcake tree at the last minute and I'm glad I did, the kids loved it and the white icing and colorful sprinkles looked great.  I also had the flag banner that I taped up and stuck letters on spelling "Happy 2nd Birthday Andy".  I bought doughnuts and dipped them in different colored icing and sprinkles.  I also layered a jello in a trifle bowl starting with blue and than green, yellow, orange and red.  That was easy but time consuming and looked great on table.  My mother in law made yummy pretzel jello for the adults which was the perfect early afternoon treat. 

Since I used Play Doh as a favor I set up a little  Play-Doh table with all of my extra stampers and some Elmo, Big Bird and other Sesame character stampers.  It was a hit.

Most importantly, we're blessed with great family and friends who love our kids and they really made the party!

The weather was on our side and fun was had by all!