For months Bingham wanted a “dinosaur maker” party with pancakes and donuts. My head was busy designing t-rex’s in chef hats while googling how to setup a pancake station. And then my mom gave him a bag of bugs… my lightbulb went off, Bing’s did the same (with a little nudge) and bug party it was.

While the dinos would have been fab – and a theme I am sure we will end up with at some point – the bug theme was insanely enjoyable to put together.

Going into this I knew I wanted the invite to be covered in bugs but I wanted something truly unique to the insect themes I was seeing online. Bing loves music, the color orange and having fun. Once I decided on “Gettin’ Buggy Wit It” everything started flowing. I loved it but most importantly he really loved it.

I love a simple 2 or 3 color party palette because it makes your overall design gel in a more focused fashion. Being that we were doing bugs, and bugs live outside, grass green complimented the bold orange brilliantly. When planning I had to take into consideration that weather may restrict us from an outdoor space. Enter faux boxwood wall for the cake table backdrop – would have looked great indoors but, as you can see, it looked pretty fantastic outdoors too. (This kid and his amazing luck for gorgeous party days.)

The week leading up to the party we paper mâchéd balloons that we later used as bug bodies. We learned a lot through that whole process (like trying to dry paper mâché in 99% humidity is pointless), and did not end up with as many bug as we had planned buuuut what we did have were absolutely fabulous.

Last year we had a theme that lead us to an ideal food station. This year I wanted to tie in the concept as well. At first I was thinking about all the crafted “bug food” I was seeing online. Reality then slapped me in the face. There was no way I’d be cutting olives for ladybug heads or skewering fruit caterpillars t-minus 48 hours party time – it’s just too tedious and time consuming with everything else on my plate. So then I thought about sliders. It’s a word often used when talking about bugs, they can be made ahead (very easily) and people love sliders! One of our kickass guests surprised us with a plate of homemade bug clothespin cookies, absolutely adorable on the table. My mom picked up those ant skewers that looked like they were stealing the food – um yeah, CUTE!

The wall attached to the table are pallets with some extra boxwoods and letters spelling “SLIDERS” on top. (Notice the mix media in the word – I thought I had all those letters in chipboard. Realized day of I did not and had to use some balloons. Looks like a happy accident. I guess not throwing away things does pay off sometimes.) I used more fun song puns and silly images of Bing to decorate. The final touches were the lady bugs – big and small.

This may be my favorite food table yet.

Themed drinks, one of my party musts.

For activities we had a “Bug Dig” and “Water Pistol Art”. My amazing friend Jordanne offered her talents in face/body painting as well (she had a line, she’s awesome). The kids ate all this stuff up. I love to keep them busy at parties and these were ideal for a gorgeous summer day.

Cake, everyone’s favorite. We had to do it twice because I made Bing a “FLY” hat and forgot to throw it on him the first time. Thankfully we had two cakes.

I am still figuring out this whole “how to get pictures of people in front of the backdrop” situation. Putting it out in the yard was not successful, oddly enough. Moving it in the path of the exit to the cars and making them get a pic before they left was however. This particular backdrop was too gorgeous not to be used.

And can we talk about this party posse…

Another year, another gorgeous day, another little boy party. The bugs are super cool and all, but Bing, you always bring that extra zing to the party. We love you. (And a big thank to my man and parents. As always, cannot do any of this without you guys.)

Vendors:

Invitation/Graphic Design/Party Decor/Antenna Headband Design: PPJ Shop

Cake: Hetty Arts Pastry

Balloons: Bargain Balloons

Faux Boxwood/Faux Grass Runners: Amazon

Large Sign Printing: Vistaprint

Small Sign/Label/Graphics Printing: FedEx Kinkos

Bug Catchers: Dollar Store

“Better late than never” may as well be tattooed across my forehead because here it is,  more than a year later, Captain Bing’s Yellow Submarine 3rd Birthday Party!!!(Invitation can be found HERE)

First up the food. Naturally my mind went to submarine sandwiches but instead of pre-made I opted for a sandwich station in which everyone could chose their own ingredients. This was a fairly easy way to go about feeding a large amount of people. If they were not into a sandwich, there were plenty of chips, fruit and a crowd pleasing pasta salad to devour.

Can’t not mention the sea inspired beverages.The cake table was inspired by the invite with lots of blues/sea greens and a B&W stripe background (I am not sure I can throw a party without a little B&W stripe). I loved the simplicity of the cake which also provided that bit of yellow we needed. This particular year the cake was made extra memorable but a certain someone taking a bite out of it as soon as the “Happy Birthday” was sang and candles were blown. Looking back at these I can totally tell he is plotting  That grin afterwards is one of pride. Such a rotten kid! (And soooo cute!) Thanks to our friend Lisa for snapping these for us!For decor we used a lot of clear balloons for “bubbles” (which turned more white after a couple of hours as you can see). My talented mom made coral out of wire, spray foam and spray paint while I created the jellyfish from tissue paper and paper lanterns. The yellow submarine was made by cutting out cardboard into the shape of the submarine and covering with fringed yellow paper paper. The fish were the most tedious (despite their simple appearance) made from hoola hoops, tissue paper discs, fishing line, cardboard, paint and lots of glitter. I love how everything moved in the wind, almost making an underwater effect.Some year I will create my own piñata for the kids. (I have had 3 failed attempts now but I am not giving up DAMNIT!) I did manage to create a see creature hunt with blue orbs water beads and plastic sea life toys. We also had water balloons – always a hit.One thing Bingham has yet to experience is bad weather on his party day. I don’t know how this kid manages it but every year so far… not too hot and not one drop of rain. (And I already know what happened on his 4th birthday because it was over a week ago and PERFECT!) I realize someday he more than likely will not want me to throw these parties for him. But for now he absolutely loves every single ounce of it… and I am going to savor that for as long as he’ll let me.

Vendors:

Invitation/Graphic Design/Party Decor: PPJ Shop

Cake: CakeCrazy

Balloons: Bargain Balloons

Party Decor: Walmart/Amazon/Hobby Lobby