Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party [Very Image Heavy!]

[sweets4ever]

For baby.sweets4ever's first birthday party, I based the party around his favorite rattle and book at the time, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle.

I start planning parties months in advance, so I can take full advantage of coupons and deals.  I buy everything and store it in big plastic totes labelled by event.  I kept his theme a surprise to friends & family until invites were mailed.  I'm doing the same this year!  I love a good surprise.  I linked to supplies and resources where applicable -- I hope they help someone!

Invites -- I designed them in Photoshop, printed them at home & then assembled with mini brads.  I used the Martha Stewart Circle Cutter to cut out these bad boys (THANK GOODNESS for the cutter, or I would have lost my mind ).








Wrapped & ready for hand-delivery:


I decided to design the food to match the story in the book.  I created little caption cards to match the text of the book.  If you are familiar with the book, you might recognize some of the food!



Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography


Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography

Chocolate fountain (purchased on Craigslist for $25)

Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography


Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography


Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography

I created the the tiered serving platters from glass plates and colorful plastic parfait glasses from Dollar Tree.  I stacked them and glue them together with E6000 glue.  Here I am running test setups to see which final designs I wanted to glue in place!


Mini rainbow lollipops (orientaltrading.com)

Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography

I designed the cake and "smash cake" (cake just for baby.sweets4ever to destroy by himself) and had a local baker, Short North Piece of Cake, create it for me.

Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography


Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography


Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography


Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography

I ordered a fabbbbulous custom bib from Fresh Vintage.  Mention you found her on Craftster!





Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography

I created favor buckets for the kids that doubled as table centerpieces.  I bought many of the supplies on Ebay, orientaltrading.com and my local Dollar Tree.

Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography

I printed little name tags and attached them with The Very Hungry Caterpillar pins.

Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography

I bought recycled pencils and little poms from Dollar Tree and glued them together to make little caterpillar pencil toppers.


My pile of supplies...


Trying to organize the chaos...


My inspiration for the party theme... baby.sweets4ever with his Hungry Caterpillar rattle.

[glambastard]

wow. there was a lot of detail that went into that party. great job! and the last pic is adorable

[gamemom42]

Best birthday party ever!

[sweets4ever]

wow. there was a lot of detail that went into that party. great job! and the last pic is adorable

Thank you!  Yes, I'm a little detail-crazed.

Best birthday party ever!

Thank you, gamemom!!

[LadybugsAndBumblebees]

   Would you adopt me??

[SMLounsbury]

Holy cannoli.  I'm planning my daughter's first birthday currently and now have been put to shame  (we were phoning it in with Hello Kitty).  This is one of the funnest parties I've ever seen.  Great job!

[sweets4ever]

  Would you adopt me??

SURE!  When is your birthday?  I need to start planning early, you know.

Holy cannoli.  I'm planning my daughter's first birthday currently and now have been put to shame  (we were phoning it in with Hello Kitty).  This is one of the funnest parties I've ever seen.  Great job!

Ooooh!!  That is SUCH a fun theme!  I can't wait to see your projects!  How far away is the big day?

[underthemountain]

Simply adorable!  Love the idea of the guests being hungry little caterpillars!   Happy Birthday Camden!!!

[sweets4ever]

Simply adorable!  Love the idea of the guests being hungry little caterpillars!   Happy Birthday Camden!!!

Thanks so much!

Erm, I'm actually a little (a lot) late!   His birthday is in October, hehe!  I'm already planning this year's, which reminded me I never posted last year's.  Eep!

[spotnik]

That is one of my favorite stories!  (That one and Go Dog Go).  You did an amazing job.   

[sweets4ever]

That is one of my favorite stories!  (That one and Go Dog Go).  You did an amazing job.   

Thanks!!  It's such a favorite here, too!  He's actually gone through three copies of the book already at 22-months (one was victim to unfortunate teething abuse -- RIP, caterpillar book.  RIP.)!

[lyttlegems]

Wow! I love it! 

[sweets4ever]

Wow! I love it! 

Thank you!

[crafty_cow]

This is amazing sweets!! I have just started to think about my baby boy's 1st birthday in December (we're away for 3 weeks in Sept, so need to start thinking now) and this has really given me some food for thought. I totally LOVE the idea of basing it around a book. At the moment, we are reading lots of Gruffalo and he loves giraffes. But this is so amazing!

You are UBER-CREATIVE! I am so jealous. 

x

[sweets4ever]

This is amazing sweets!! I have just started to think about my baby boy's 1st birthday in December (we're away for 3 weeks in Sept, so need to start thinking now) and this has really given me some food for thought. I totally LOVE the idea of basing it around a book. At the moment, we are reading lots of Gruffalo and he loves giraffes. But this is so amazing!

You are UBER-CREATIVE! I am so jealous. 

x

Aww, I just found your reply!!  So sorry for the ridiculously delayed reply to you!  How was your party?  Did you go with a theme?  Pleeeease tell me you have photos posted on Craftster!

[midgetflynn]

This is so awesome! I love everything, especially the invites. I'd even have a party like that for myself now!

[danzig4me]

Love this idea! I'm doing a similar theme for my girls... Question on the invites - How did you get the eyes & nose on the red circles? Are they cut out & glued?

[sweets4ever]

This is so awesome! I love everything, especially the invites. I'd even have a party like that for myself now!

Thank you so much!

Love this idea! I'm doing a similar theme for my girls... Question on the invites - How did you get the eyes & nose on the red circles? Are they cut out & glued?

Yep, they were just printed on white cardstock and cut out.  I used a trusty glue stick -- nothing fancy!