I’ve been meaning to share a bit of what I ended up doing for Joseph’s birthday party. For those of you that follow me on Pinterest, you might have noticed that we were having a “Friendly Monster” theme. I had an overwhelming amount of ideas for what to do. After considering the limited amount of time I had available, I distilled it down to these few things to focus on.
I made an “Adopt A Monster” bin, having each child bring home a little guy as part of the favor bag. I fell in love with this idea when I first saw it, and knew that if I only did one homemade thing for the party, this was it. I already had this pattern, and they were fairly quick to make. I decided to use fleece that I found in the remanent bin at JoAnn’s, however, these would be just as cute in different fabrics.
I also made up the “Monster Eggs” bags. I got a ton of jelly beans -yes, I picked out all of the black ones! – and portioned them out in glassine treat bags. Then I took some card stock and stamped the lettering on there, added a sticker, and voila!
I also made some of the garland to hang using this simple tutorial. I bought some tissue paper on clearance and used some yarn I had already on hand to string it up. Shawn and I got them all made in one evening watching TV. I was so happy with how it looked and it cost me pennies!
Last but not least, I printed out each of Joe’s monthly photos and used spray adhesive to attach them to some canvases I got on sale at the craft store. Shawn and my dad hung them all for me using 3M hooks. I actually still have them up for right now, I love looking at them.
All this being said, I really could have gone overboard on the craftiness. I think that is a side effect of Pinterest, all these wonderful ideas and beautiful photos, you get to the point where you think you are crazy if you DON’T make a million individual cupcakes and matching paper drinking straws to your homemade origami napkins. These are the things that I wanted to do, however I also augmented my decorating with store bought banners, balloons, and used fabric yardage as a table cloth. I also farmed out the food to a caterer (pasta and italian beef sandwiches) which cost less than buying everything and making it myself, not to mention saving me from a mental break down in the kitchen the night before the party while I wept into the spaghetti sauce. (Ahem. . . it’s happened.) I also ordered his cake from a bakery. I was getting where I was panicked about making it “perfect” and Shawn looked at me and said something along the lines of “You’re nuts, order a damn cake.” Thank God for that man. It was delicious and adorable and I didn’t have to freak out trying to make the monsters “cute enough” or that it would list to one side like a drunken sailor.
All in all, I was super happy with the party. All the people we love were there to help us celebrate Joseph’s first year and that is all that really mattered.
Reading books is this my jam. Some of my current favorite books are Goodnight Gorilla, Pony Brushes His Teeth, and Roadwork. I also have overcome my fear of Thomas the Tank Engine and really like to play and watch “Choo Choos” a lot.
Widdershins 