by Caroline Nelson of Little Cupcakes Company
Kids birthday parties are one of my favorite things to plan and organize.
My kids are are 2 years (and 2 days) apart – so getting TWO parties for the price of ONE – is fabulous! The first year we had an “Under the Sea” party which featured a girl dressed as Ariel who captivated the kids with a very interesting magic show. The second year, we did a Farm Party that featured a full Petting Zoo in our backyard – Llama and all!
This year, I asked my daughter, Campbell (5), and my son, Charlie (3), what kind of party they wanted, and after much deliberation we decided on a Reptile Party. Yes, Reptiles!! I contacted The Creature Teacher, and we were all set to go!
Next up was the invitation, which is one of my favorite parts of the party planning process. With the help of Meg at olliegraphic and Sara at sarah + abraham we came up with some adorable invites! I love them so much!
Next we had to figure out decorations, so I did a quick search for a Birthday Banner on Etsy, and came up with this Vintage Fabric Banner from Jump Up and Down. Not really reptile-ish – but cute, right!? It will definitely get lots of use in years to come.
For party favors, I got help from Dacia at Lima Bean Kids for these cute party favor tins with an adorable alligator design. We filled each tin with some candy hearts, a colorful gumball, and a custom-made green Alligator Crayon from Made by MAXX… a big hit!
Take a look at this cute cake done by Darcy Rosa here in Dallas. If you happen to be in Dallas, order from her – she can do ANYTHING! I also bought LOTS of plastic snakes and frogs – along with cute Lizard Galoshes that I filled with Red Tulips for part of the table display.
Finally, what to wear? Since my website features birthday shirts I’m always excited when my kids get to wear my things. Since the theme was reptiles, I thought it would be cute to have them wear these coordinating Gator Shirts.
All the kids had a great time – we couldn’t believe they were all brave enough to hold a Tarantula, Chameleon, Frog, and BIG Snake!!
Love, love, love this idea! I am always on the lookout now for boy/girl parties. My two are 1 month apart starting on New Year’s Eve. It’s hard to get people together for 2 separate bday bashes right after the holidays! Maybe 1 would be easier? I’m saving this idea. Again – love it!! 🙂
Love the party ideas. I have 2 kids w/ bdays in a few months and would love to use some of your recommended sites.
AHHH! What brave kiddos! The olliegraphic invites are fabulous, as usual, and I LOVE the tulips in the rainboots!! I am already trying to figure out when I can use that! 🙂
What FANTASTIC ideas! You are very creative, and every detail is just darling! I am sure every little girl and every little boy were delighted…even with the tarantula!
The coordinating birthday shirts were great! What a clever way for the “guests of honor” to feel special.
Your kids are adorable!
What a perfect party! I can’t wait to share with my readers. It so nice you can still do joint parties, my boys are 5 and 8 with their birthdays a week apart, and this year is the first time we are doing seperate parties.
Great post Caroline! Having twin boys, I can definitely see the “reptile” theme in my future. That cake is just amazing!
This is so cute. I am loving the party favors and the banner especially. You are so creative!
Since we have boy/girl twins, I will be borrowing your ideas for all our future birthdays! Yeah for combo parties! I plan to do up big since we only are doing 1!!
Hello! So, we came across yoru site looking for bday ideas and you have us sold!! Thanks for such a different idea. Even though I am dreading this my son is through the roof about it! I did want to ask, where did you find those rainboots? They are about the cutest ones I have ever seen!