Monday, August 29, 2011

Grayson's Very Hungry Caterpillar 1st Birthday {Part 1- the decor}

FYI- There will be tons, no really, a LOT of pictures!  Brace yourselves. :)

I started planning this party about a month before Grayson turned 1.  I got my basic idea for a Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday from this pin I saw on Pinterest.

I just loved the caterpillar made from paper lanterns and went from there.  Grayson also has a Very Hungry Caterpillar baby book, so it just made the theme even better.  But man, it was a lot of work!  I told my mom later I had a greater appreciation for all her work throwing us birthday parties when we were kids.  She said, "now you understand why we had alternated each year between friend and family parties!"  Oh boy do I!

Anyways, all the hard work and effort paid off.  It was so fun and Grayson had a blast. Here are the details!  Come back tomorrow for the pictures of everyone enjoying the party.

The Cake



Decorations
Pull string pinata
This was a great pinata for little kids.  There were a bunch of ribbons hanging down and you take turns pulling one off.  One of them releases all the candy.

Caterpillar plate art
My sis had this idea and Grayson "decorated" the green plates with shaving cream dyed green.

Caterpillar name
I used my silhouette to cut out the circles (from cardstock) and vinyl letters.

Birthday Balloon Wreath
I made it from this tutorial.  I'm especially excited about it as it's going to be the wreath we bring out the week of any family member's birthday.  So fun!

Hanging Caterpillar
And my very own lovely caterpillar lantern.

Colorful Circle Garland
I spent a couple days watching Love in the Wild and cutting out a TON of 2" circles from my scrapbook paper stash.  Then I sewed a lot of them together into 2 garlands.  The rest used throughout the other areas of the party to sprinkle on the tables like really big confetti.  I don't have a picture of the other garland that was above the food table, whoops.

Stations
Write a note to the birthday boy!  There was a section in his baby book for notes from friends and family, so it was a prefect addition for the party.

 I love the caterpillar plushie!

Guess How Many Jar
I used Skittles for "caterpillar food" and filled a jar with them.  Then guest wrote down how many they thought were in there.  Closest guess won the jar.

 The coffee table has 2 stations...

Caterpillar coloring!
Pretty self-explanatory.  Coloring pages and crayons- easy, simple, fun.  I downloaded the coloring sheet here.

Caterpillar Bookmarks
I loved these, they are so cute.  The kids use their thumb and red and green ink pads to make a caterpillar.  I got washable ink (super great for these little kids) and had baby wipes on the table for quick and easy cleaning.  Oh, and I cut out the plain bookmarks with holes with my silhouette.  Super handy!

too cute, no?!


Table Runner
I used some of the cut circles as a table runner for the food table. :)



Food 

 I l.o.v.e.d. the way the food table turned out.  It was my favorite part!

I used all the food the caterpillar ate in the first 5 days of the book. Plus a few other things. :)



How cute are those caterpillar kabobs?!







So, what do you think?!


Stay tuned for more pictures of the party in action. :)

linking to some of these parties

21 comments:

Candice said...

How adorable! You did a great job, Jenna :)

http://www.wherenothinggoodcomeseasy.com

Rick and Kori said...

Such a great job Jenna! I LOVE The Very Hungry Caterpillar and this is such a cute party theme! I especially love the food table too. What a fun idea!

Kevin+Ashley said...

Wow you really went all out. I don't think i'll ever put that much work into it! Wait and see what happens when you have two...I don't know that Tyson will even get much of a party for his first bday next month.

The Daytons said...

Jenna! I love it! How cute! I seriously might have to steal this idea for one of the boys birthdays down the road. What a great job! Now, I'm really sad that we don't live closer so that we could have been there! Happy Birthday Gray!

Shelley said...

Holy crap, Jenna!! You are so good!! I'm really impressed. You should def be a party planner or something. Very creative and cute!!

Ali Richardson said...

JENNA!!!! It is amazing! All of it! I love it so so much!! Great work mama, that is one lucky little boy :)

Rachel said...

Seriously?!?!?! That is absolutely darling. Grayson is one lucky little boy. I hope you get to relax after all that planning :)

Grace said...

You are pretty much amazing, Jenna! It looks so adorable and I'm sure it was tons of fun!

Jake and Lauren said...

wow jenna! i'm so impressed! the whole thing looks amazing! can you plan my next birthday please??

Betsey Rhames said...

It looks amazing! I wish I could have come. You are a natural party planner:)

Randi said...

This is adorable Jenna! I think I am going to have steal the idea for when I have a kid. Super cute! I think you are an awesome mother to spend so much time on Grayson's party.

angela said...

Looks like you went all out! Sorry we had to miss the fun. What a fun mom you are. I have been trying to talk Jon into the "every other year" thing and so far he isn't buying it. Problem is, he's not the one who plans it!! :) Happy Birthday Grayson!

Handy Man, Crafty Woman said...

A-maz-ing! I love the circles for the table runner, the story in the fruit, the bookmarks and especially the hanging lanterns over those gorgeous babies! Thank you for linking to Wicked Awesome Wednesday.

Shayna said...

way to cute!!! i may just have to steal this idea for my little boy!

Patrice said...

It all looks so great! Great job! Thanks for linking up with Lemon Tree today!

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home said...

I love the Very Hungry Caterpillar too! Great party! I'd like to invite you to link up at my Friday Favorites party!

Melanie @ bear rabbit bear said...

Love, love, love this!!

I'd be honored if you'd visit and link to our Crafts for Under Twenty Somethings party going on now until noon Saturday!!
http://bearrabbitbear.blogspot.com/2011/08/crafts-for-under-twenty-somethings-4.html

Melanie
bearrabbitbear.blogspot.com

Kristina @ A Home Made by Kiki said...

Oh.My.Goodness Jenna!! You did such a great job on this party!! I love every single detail! I've seen that pin of the caterpillar lanterns on Pinterest too, but you took it to a whole new level! We also alternate each year between family and friend parties, but I always make a cake for them each year. I love making their cakes!! I will definitely be sharing this one on Facebook!! Wow!!

Unknown said...

This is too cute!!! Bet the kiddos really had a lot of fun with this party!! Love the little banner and extra touches you added! Thanks for sharing on Fancy This Fridays!!!

Lyuba @ Will Cook For Smiles said...

Love it, love it, love it!!
Great job, very creative!!

netbooks said...

And what birthday party would be complete without balloons? I got the idea from a blog which posted photos of Angry Birds balloons. I found the templates, printed, cut them out, and placed the cutouts on to the respective colors of balloons.