Very Hungry Caterpillar Party Part II
I have been so excited to share this final installment of Bristol's Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday party! Our friend Jeff was so kind to take these photos for us and we will cherish them always. The next time I have a chance to scrapbook, I think I'm going to have to print these ones and turn Bristol's guest book from her party into a full-blown birthday scrapbook :)
At the main table we had bottled water, party hats for the kids and all of the food that the Very Hungry Caterpillar eats on Monday through Friday (apples, pears, plums, strawberries and oranges). Scott's mom Jan and stepdad Gary were a huge help in cutting up the fruit for our guests!
That head table was in the living room. We made a caterpillar from lanterns which hung above the table and a birthday banner which hung below the table. Throughout the living room were big tissue paper pom poms hanging and everything was done in primary colors. Also in the living room was our decked out fire place--a framed VHC puzzle hung above the fireplace, the mantle was filled with photos of Bristol from her first year and a pop-up version of the story, the hearth had VHC pillows on it and hanging from the mantle was one of the seven fabric buntings I made using VHC themed fabric.
In our kitchen we filled our island with all of the foods the VHC eats on Saturday:
On a side countertop we also had an assortment of buns and bread so that guests could make a sandwich out of the salami and cheese and "nice green leafs" (lettuce) like the caterpillar eats on Sunday in the story. We mostly stuck to the foods in the story, but we did have a few kid-friendly munchies around as well--pretzels, animal crackers and goldfish crackers.
We hosted around 70 guests at Bristol's party, though it was impossible to capture photographs of everyone. Here are a few of the guests greeting Bristol when they arrived:
We are SO grateful to every single person who came to celebrate with us!!
Bristol's party was an open house, but we let everyone know she would be smashing her cake at 4:30pm. So just before cake smashing we wanted a way to gather the children and reading the story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar was the perfect way to do it! My mom, who is very animated and loves children, read the story for us and as you can see the little birthday princess couldn't get enough of the book! Meanwhile, my sister and I adjusted the party hats so that they would fit the children since the night before we'd made each hat's elastic band a little too tight (oops!).
Halfway through her party Bristol had a quick snack followed by a whole lot of fun smashing into her own little cake. My friend Shannon is our talented baker and she made the cake according to specifics I gave to her. It worked out perfectly for the smash cake to be the VHC's head and for the body to be made up of cupcakes which guests could quickly and easily grab to eat once Bristol was done putting on a fun show.
In our dining room is where Bristol did her cake smash and where we also had set up three long tables for guests to eat at. In the centers of each table we made a little fabric centerpiece out of the VHC fabric and had flowers, bowls of colorful jelly beans and gummy (worms) caterpillars. We had one of my fabric buntings hanging on our dining room mirror, some tissue paper pom poms hanging by the room's light fixture and balloons all around. We also hung photos showing the Caterpillar's progression from tiny to fat in conjunction with Bristol's progression from 3-9 months old. It was very colorful and festive just like the living room!
After Bristol was finished with her cake (or I should say, mostly icing since that was what she wanted more than anything!) we cleaned her up and let her visit with her baby friends and open a few gifts. At this point she started to really get tired because she hadn't been able to get a good nap in sensing the excitement of everyone setting up for the party earlier that day. She managed to open a few things though and stayed pretty happy for the rest of her party. She was thankful to have many friends helping her to open the presents :)
Bristol received many generous, perfect presents (thanks friends and family!). She got the perfect mix of some toys, some books, a few new outfits, gift certificates and other fun mementos.
To thank her friends for celebrating with her, Bristol gave colorful swirly suckers to the big kids and to her baby friends she gave butterfly treats that were filled with Trix cereal. These favors were located on a table near our door where we had Bristol's guest book. Here are a few additional photos of the favors and other details:
Teeny B had the best birthday party a little girl (and her mommy) could ever dream of and it was fun for us from the moment the first plans were laid right up until our last guest left the celebration. Thanks once again for everyone who helped us decorate (my stepmom, my sisters, my friends!!), to those who helped with the food (our baker Shannon, Scott's parents!!), to our clean-up crew (Lauren and Mark!) and to our photographer who gave us the gift of these beautiful photos and all of the memories that they each include (Jeff!). I'm sure I'm forgetting someone out there--please know you are appreciated!
If you'd like to see the first post on Bristol's party, it is available here. And her guest book photos of her acting out the VHC story are here. Enjoy :)
At the main table we had bottled water, party hats for the kids and all of the food that the Very Hungry Caterpillar eats on Monday through Friday (apples, pears, plums, strawberries and oranges). Scott's mom Jan and stepdad Gary were a huge help in cutting up the fruit for our guests!
That head table was in the living room. We made a caterpillar from lanterns which hung above the table and a birthday banner which hung below the table. Throughout the living room were big tissue paper pom poms hanging and everything was done in primary colors. Also in the living room was our decked out fire place--a framed VHC puzzle hung above the fireplace, the mantle was filled with photos of Bristol from her first year and a pop-up version of the story, the hearth had VHC pillows on it and hanging from the mantle was one of the seven fabric buntings I made using VHC themed fabric.
In our kitchen we filled our island with all of the foods the VHC eats on Saturday:
On a side countertop we also had an assortment of buns and bread so that guests could make a sandwich out of the salami and cheese and "nice green leafs" (lettuce) like the caterpillar eats on Sunday in the story. We mostly stuck to the foods in the story, but we did have a few kid-friendly munchies around as well--pretzels, animal crackers and goldfish crackers.
We hosted around 70 guests at Bristol's party, though it was impossible to capture photographs of everyone. Here are a few of the guests greeting Bristol when they arrived:
We are SO grateful to every single person who came to celebrate with us!!
Bristol's party was an open house, but we let everyone know she would be smashing her cake at 4:30pm. So just before cake smashing we wanted a way to gather the children and reading the story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar was the perfect way to do it! My mom, who is very animated and loves children, read the story for us and as you can see the little birthday princess couldn't get enough of the book! Meanwhile, my sister and I adjusted the party hats so that they would fit the children since the night before we'd made each hat's elastic band a little too tight (oops!).
Halfway through her party Bristol had a quick snack followed by a whole lot of fun smashing into her own little cake. My friend Shannon is our talented baker and she made the cake according to specifics I gave to her. It worked out perfectly for the smash cake to be the VHC's head and for the body to be made up of cupcakes which guests could quickly and easily grab to eat once Bristol was done putting on a fun show.
In our dining room is where Bristol did her cake smash and where we also had set up three long tables for guests to eat at. In the centers of each table we made a little fabric centerpiece out of the VHC fabric and had flowers, bowls of colorful jelly beans and gummy (worms) caterpillars. We had one of my fabric buntings hanging on our dining room mirror, some tissue paper pom poms hanging by the room's light fixture and balloons all around. We also hung photos showing the Caterpillar's progression from tiny to fat in conjunction with Bristol's progression from 3-9 months old. It was very colorful and festive just like the living room!
After Bristol was finished with her cake (or I should say, mostly icing since that was what she wanted more than anything!) we cleaned her up and let her visit with her baby friends and open a few gifts. At this point she started to really get tired because she hadn't been able to get a good nap in sensing the excitement of everyone setting up for the party earlier that day. She managed to open a few things though and stayed pretty happy for the rest of her party. She was thankful to have many friends helping her to open the presents :)
Bristol received many generous, perfect presents (thanks friends and family!). She got the perfect mix of some toys, some books, a few new outfits, gift certificates and other fun mementos.
To thank her friends for celebrating with her, Bristol gave colorful swirly suckers to the big kids and to her baby friends she gave butterfly treats that were filled with Trix cereal. These favors were located on a table near our door where we had Bristol's guest book. Here are a few additional photos of the favors and other details:
Teeny B had the best birthday party a little girl (and her mommy) could ever dream of and it was fun for us from the moment the first plans were laid right up until our last guest left the celebration. Thanks once again for everyone who helped us decorate (my stepmom, my sisters, my friends!!), to those who helped with the food (our baker Shannon, Scott's parents!!), to our clean-up crew (Lauren and Mark!) and to our photographer who gave us the gift of these beautiful photos and all of the memories that they each include (Jeff!). I'm sure I'm forgetting someone out there--please know you are appreciated!
If you'd like to see the first post on Bristol's party, it is available here. And her guest book photos of her acting out the VHC story are here. Enjoy :)
Comments
And Bristol just looks SO happy with all her friends. What an exciting day for the birthday girl!!
p.s. great job on the photo collages!