Ahh, I'm hooked on book themes!
baby.sweets4ever's first birthday party was based on the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This time, I themed around
Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss.
Not only is one of his favorite activities hopping on his Daddy, but he loves sharing a bowl of popcorn with him in the evening. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to blend his favorites into one fab party! We had it at an indoor inflatable bounce center (HOP!) and served a popcorn buffet (POP!).
I linked to supplies and resources where applicable -- I hope they help someone!
We bounced and played for an hour & a half and then we chowed in the party/food room:
We bought plain kernels (very inexpensive!) and prepared plain, chocolate with M&Ms and caramel corn. Then we provide a variety of flavorings for people to mix & match to their own preferences. We offered chocolates & candy pearls, sugar & cinnamon, Fat Rat (spicy seasoning) and cheddar cheese flavoring.
I bought the scoops from Oriental Trading Company, the bags were probably left over from holiday treats the year previous and the glass containers are from my stash & I think one new one from Marshall's.
Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan PhotographyWe got cake POPS from an indie seller in Michigan,
Petunias in November. YUMMY!
Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan PhotographyI designed the cake on Photoshop and had a local bakery,
Bakery Gingham, bring it to life.
Highly recommend them! It was Cookie Monster (buttery yellow cake with homemade chocolate chip cookie dough baked into the batter) with cream cheese buttercream icing, and one layer of Haute Chocolate (chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing). Then we covered the whole thing in a fondant [that was perfectly sweetened & not heavy at all -- AMAZING!]
I bought a Hallmark ornament from Ebay to use as the cake topper. It winds up and the little bears hop on pop, teehee.
I ordered an adorable custom bib from
Fresh Vintage. She also did
Camden's 1-year bib. I think I'm hooked on her and she's part of our birthday tradition now!
I created favors for the kids from stove pipe hats from Oriental Trading Company. I thought they were very fun & Seuss-like! I got many of the goodies from Target Dollar Spot, including pins, pencils, rhyming flash cards and some other random goodies. I really wanted them focused around reading & learning. I scoured yard sales
all summer collecting Seuss books, new & old. I attached a card inside each book "from Camden" to his friends thanking them for coming to his party, and to please pass on the love of reading to a friend when they are finished with their gently-used book. The books I found at sales that had pages torn out, scribbled throughout and otherwise heavily damaged were repurposed into pennant decorations that hung from the ceiling!
We did buy
one brand new Hop on Pop book and it was just for Camden.
We had all of his guests sign it. We now read the book AND all of the little notes very often. It's one of his favorites!
Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography
Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan PhotographyMy little love with bib in action.
Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan PhotographyOh! And I bought his party shirt from Etsy seller
littleoneboutique.
Photo courtesy of Kelly Maughan Photography
