A Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday

     This year Kinley is turning the big 2!  How did that happen?  Seemed liked yesterday we found out we were having a girl...now she's walking, talking (even putting sentences together), jumping twirling, recongizing her colors, numbers, letters, and shapes, and singing her ABC's and "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen (her favorite songs).  She is one spunky little stinker, so full of life and happiness.  I still can't believe she's TWO!        Well, back to her party...at first I wanted to do a really girly party, with pinks and purples and frills and ruffles, or maybe princesses with sparkle and glitter, or maybe a fancy tea party with fun tea sandwiches...but then I thought, she has a few friends that are boys and probably wouldn't care too much for all the sugar and spice and all that's nice, since you know, that IS  what little girls are made of.  So, I got to thinking what could be sort of neutral, but still fun, with bright colors for everyone.  Last year I did a Somewhere Over the Rainbow theme which was a lot of fun and a big hit with all her guests.  This year I found inspiration in one of her favorite books, yep, you guessed it, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.         

     The first thing I did was order an adorable dress from Wild Olive Kids and a matching headband from Liz Anns Bowtique on Etsy for Kinley to wear for a little photo shoot I had planned.  Check out how the pictures turned out on my previous post My Little Caterpillar is becoming a Beautiful Butterfly.  I wanted to include one of those pictures on The Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Invitations I also found on Etsy.  I also, had some of the pictures printed then put them in some frames from the dollar store  to set on the table.  Once I got those done, it was onto coming up with the fun stuff...the decorations, menu, games, prizes, and goodie bags.

The Decorations....

     I found a few ideas on Pinterest, like the Chinese lantern caterpillar that I hung up above the table.   I found the Red, Dark Green, Light Green lanterns on Amazon.  Then I cut out the eyes and nose out of construction paper and taped them to the red lantern.  As for the antennas I used purple pipe cleaners and attached them to the top of the red lantern.      The backdrop is just red and green streamers I bought at the dollar store.  Taped them up then twisted them for a fun effect.

     To add some garden feel...I went to Albertson's where I usually get flowers for parties, and I just so happened to find some that fit perfectly into the color scheme.

     For the centerpiece, I found a paper mache  #2 at Hobby Lobby and painted the Very Hungry Caterpillar and her name on it.  I also found a Very Hungry Caterpillar Plush and a Eric Carle Butterfly (I used for her invitation photo shoot), which I included with her board book.

     While looking on Amazon, I happen to come across these Tissue Paper Grass Mats.  I love how they added that grassy garden feel to the tables cape.

     I found this cute The Very Hungry Caterpillar Garland on Amazon too.  It's totally reusable.  There are lots of letters and they can slide on and off the ribbon, so you can spell out anything.

     As for the rest of the table...I ordered some The Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric off Etsy that I used as a table runner on top of a red tablecloth.  The cool Palm Leaf Serving Trays are off Amazon too, they add some playfulness to the table.  

Now onto the food....

     If you are looking for a theme with an easy set menu, this one is it!  It has the perfect menu already planned for you.  I did find The Very Hungry Caterpillar Food Cards which I had printed at Office Max and attached to a food pick.  I got some The Very Hungry Caterpillar Napkins, Plates, and Cups that I set out on the buffet table.

On Monday, he ate through one Apple...

On Tuesday, he ate through two Pears....

On Wednesday, he ate through three Plums....

On Thursday, he ate through four Strawberries...

On Friday, he ate through five Oranges...

On Saturday, he ate through one piece of Chocolate Cake...

(Sweet Sheet Cake)

One Pickle...

One slice of Swiss Cheese...

One slice of Salami...

One Lollipop...

One  Ice Cream Cone...

One Sausage...

One slice of Watermelon...

One  Cherry Pie...

(Cherry Pie Cuties)

One Cupcake...

(Vanilla Cupcake with Marshmallow Frosting)

On Sunday, he ate through one Leaf

(Spinach Salad with Pineapple, Candied Pecans, & Feta)

     While we waited for all of Kinley's guests to arrive, the kiddos enjoyed themselves playing with all the toys in the playroom.  I was able to capture a few fun moments in there.

Now on to the games....

     Last year we got a bounce house for the kiddos to play in, this year I wanted to incorporate some fun games the kids could play instead.

     One of the games was a Very Hungry Caterpillar scavenger hunt.  I made these little fuzzy caterpillars out of pom pom balls from Hobby Lobby and glued them onto some clothespins.  Then hid them through out the party area.  Then I came up with this little poem:

Up High, up low....

Where did that Hungry Caterpillar go?

Look here and there, all around,

There are 8 that can be found!

On a shelf or in a shoe,

There's just 1 for each of you,

If you find one, let me know,

A prize will be given....

So GO GO GO!

     I printed it out then put my scrapbooking skills to work by mounting the poem on some cute polka dot paper.  Then put it in another frame from the dollar store.

Looks like someone found a caterpillar!

     As a prize for finding a caterpillar I gave each child a bottle of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Bubbles.

     Another game they played was Pin the Head on the Caterpillar, which I did draw myself.  For the heads, I cut the shapes out of construction paper.

YAY! Everybody's a winner!

     The other game I drew was the Fruit Toss.  I just drew the pictures of fruit onto a foam board, then cut out some holes for the kids to throw the balls into.  It turned out great and was a big hit with the boys!  

     A game everyone, including the parents, got to participate in was the Guessing of the Caterpillars. I found a large mason jar at Hobby Lobby, then stuffed it with as many gummy worms...ahem, I mean caterpillars as a I could.  I made a cute label using the The Very Hungry Caterpillar image and some construction and scrapbook paper.  I just modge podged it on the jar.

And the winner guessed 100 caterpillars, only 1 off from the correct amount!!

     I found these The Very Hungry Caterpillar Lacing Cards that the kiddos had fun trying to lace up.  Building up their hand eye coordination and having fun!

     The last activity I had planned for them was a Very Hungry Caterpillar craft.  This was pretty easy to make.  Just needed some 12 x 12 white scrapbook paper, red, dark green, and light green tissue paper,  markers/crayons, glue sticks, and stickers.  First, I traced and cut out some circles out of the tissue papers.  Then the kiddos could glue the circles on the white paper, draw on the face, legs, and antenna.  And to add the last touch, there were lots of stickers (I found at the dollar store).

     After some playtime, lunch, games, and crafts we moved onto Happy Birthday time!  I made these really yummy  Cupcakes in shape of the Very Hungry Caterpillar.  As for the caterpillar's head, it's just a cake baked in small cake pan.  Then I colored some already made frosting and frosted the mini cake.  For the eyes, I found some fondant at Walmart, so I rolled and cut out the eyes and nose shapes.  Then placed them on the frosted head.  The antennas are just purple pipe cleaners, so are the little black feet.  The red and blue little hairs on the caterpillar's back are the Pull 'N' Peel Twizzlers that I cut.

The birthday girl is ready for her cupcake!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

One, two, three..blow!

The frosting on hers and the other kiddo's faces shows me they all loved the cupcakes! 

After a little clean up, it was time to open the mountain of presents!

I found this The Very Hungry Caterpillar Tablecloth to decorate the gift table.

To thank Kinley's guests for all the great presents, 

I bought some The Very Hungry Caterpillar Thank You Cards to send out!

Look at the cutie!

She loved all her gifts, especially the new rocking horse from MeeMaw and PapPaw.

     Before they headed home I gave everyone a little goodie bag with some Very Hungry Caterpillar items I found at the Dollar Spot at Target.  I also made these little snack bags filled with Trix then attached these cute The Very Hungry Caterpillar Favor Bag Toppers I found on Etsy.

Besties!

My little Butterfly had a wonderful day! I'm so happy she got to spend it with a bunch of her friends!

Happy 2nd Birthday Kinley!