“Pinterest Moms”…we all know them, we all love their great ideas, but we also love to hate them at the same time, right?! I get how they can make you feel inadequate, or like you don’t have it all together. Truth is, we are inadequate, and we don’t have it all together (Hello! That’s why we have Jesus!) and that’s okay!
“Pinterest Moms” get a bad rap for a lot of reasons (Yeah, turning my child’s lunch into an artfully made butterfly or ladybug that they are just going to eat?! Not happening here!) but especially when it comes to throwing a child’s birthday party. But that is my forte, Pinterest inspired or not! Truth is, I grew up having themed birthday parties, and those are memories I love and cherish. I want my kids to grow up with the same fond memories! Even more truth, I’ve been planning SOME of my kids birthday parties since before I even had kids! Yeah! If you know me, you know I’m a crafter! If you’ve been to my house, you’ve seen my craft room! If you’ve ever let me know you needed help with a project, you know I’ve volunteered to help! I love creating things with my own hands! So now that you know a little about my crafting addiction, I wanted to bring on the details of Beau’s homemade 2nd birthday party!
Somebody from my Pittsburgh baby shower, (I don’t know who because they didn’t write their name in it!) gave us a collection of Curious George books, and they have always been my favorite to read to Beau! He has always loved them! As he got older, he saw the TV show on PBS and put two and two together. His love grew, and kinda sadly, the first name he ever learned was George lol! Our inside joke on why Beau is such a bad talker at age 2 is that he learned how to speak from George and therefore speaks “George” haha! Really, it seemed only natural to have a Curious George themed birthday party for him, and it was fun to plan!
We knew we wanted to have it somewhere other than our house, so we decided to have it at an adorable little place in Cool Springs called The Monkey’s Treehouse This place was great to work with if you are ever looking for a cool place outside the home to have a party! They’ve pretty much got it all from slides and trains to a play kitchen and dolls!
My friend and former roommate, Angie, is a fabulous cake decorator (and party planner!) I remembered her once telling me that she was having a Curious George themed party for her daughter. She had told me she was getting individual books that pertain to birthday parties, and setting them up. This idea stayed with me over the years and I stole it from her…thanks Angie! These are some of the ones we used…
“Curious George and the Birthday Surprise” – for Beau’s guests to sign.
“Curious George Says Thank You” – by the treat bags!
We also had “Curious George and the Pizza Party” set up by our Pizza Station, and “Curious George And The Surprise Gift” set up next to the gift table.
Beau may be the only 2 year old who doesn’t like cake! So, no fabulous George birthday cake here! Instead, we had banana creme pie cups and mini banana cupcakes for the kids who do love cake (like most do!) The cupcakes came from a Brentwood bakery called “Royal Flair” and the flavor is Southern Royalty…they are out of this world delicious! Think Banana Creme Pie meets a cupcake…YUM!
If party planning isn’t your thing, and you’re in the Nashville area, check out Royal Flair Events I’ve not personally worked with them, but I know from close friends they are wonderful to work with and plan parties that put my parties to shame! But no feeling bad, mine was made with love and a 3 month old baby so yeah, I think we did okay!
My favorite part of his party was the treat bags! I printed out the photo of George, cut them and pasted them to the bags, then cut out letters on my Cricut machine to say each child’s name! Inside the bags I put all kinds of George goodies and some banana flavored candy like laffy taffy and runts! I put a pre-written thank you card inside, which saved me from having to do thank you notes after!
One of my Pinterest inspired crafts was this adorable Birthday wreath!
It was so easy to make, but time consuming to fill it completely. I made it on our car ride home from Texas, so it was a great way to fill the hours in the car! I love that I will be able to use it again and again for every birthday! My hope is that my kids grow up excited to see the “Birthday Wreath” on the door on their birthday 🙂
Okay, I lied when I said my favorite part was the treat bags…my FAVORITE part was my kiddos matching George outfits! How cute are they?! I just love them!
A picture of my kiddos together in their matching outfits…forget about it! This is the best I could do!
LOL! Photo evidence that I did dress them up, I did match them from time to time, and I did try to document it! They just didn’t cooperate! I’m over trying to get perfect photos of my kiddos together…it’s not worth the headache! I’ve instead learned to embrace the realness of our moments…no faking it! We’re not afraid to say that we aren’t perfect in this house!
Now that I’ve got this blogged, I can start thinking about planning Greta’s 1st Birthday party…less than 5 more months to go…ahh!!!
Happy Crafting!
Maggie! You did a fantastic job with everything! So cute! And Greta has your eyes 🙂