DIY "Goodnight Moon" party

We did it! Our little guy turned one last weekend and we had family and friends over for what turned out to be a really fun party. The last of the "Goodnight Moon" posts, I promise!

Here are some really easy things I did to stay in theme:
First- RED BALLOONS. Anywhere you like-- the mailbox, next to the cake, next to the favors, on the chairs... since the red balloon is a "character" in the story, you can get by putting them just about anywhere.


When I ordered the cupcakes, I just told the bakery "icing in primary colors-- red, green, yellow, blue." Easy, right? Then I printed out the book cover and cow painting from the story as passport-sized pictures, and on one sheet got about 12 prints. Hot glue + toothpicks = cupcake toppers! To mix it up a bit, I wrote "hush" (thanks, little old lady) on some premade yellow flag toppers with a Sharpie.

And because I am apparently becoming a mother straight out of "Toddlers and Tiaras," I also painted the cow jumping over the moon in acrylic. It was a good space-filler.

The birthday boy had THREE wardrobe changes (again, "Toddlers and Tiaras"). Dressy pre-cake:

 Something to get messy in for the smash cake (shameless plug, but I'm actually about to start selling these in my Etsy store.)

And a t-shirt to wear after all the madness.

This was a random find, but at our local Tuesday Morning I found the "Goodnight Moon Game." Yes! A board game made after the book... and for $9.99! I turned it into the centerpiece for the table, and the kiddos got to play the game after we were done eating.

Same rule for the banner as with the cupcakes: primary colors. I separated each word with a picture of the rabbit from the story (this was actually a picture of a paper plate I printed out several times... i.e., there's a set of "Goodnight Moon" paper products out there somewhere on the interwebz. Google it!) 

This rabbit was actually something we already had, I thought he worked for the theme because he was wearing a night cap. The three balls next to him were Dollar Store finds... I'm not even sure what they really are (stress squeeze balls maybe?) but their colors worked-- and they were a buck!

This pales in comparison to the swanky parties I saw online, but for what we were doing it was great and just enough.  Time to start planning the next one!

"Goodnight Moon" Birthday party ideas... the best on the 'Net

Since I've been doing so much combing of the Web for inspiration for the Bean's first birthday, I thought I'd compile what I've found in one place to hopefully save someone else the time looking. Here are some of the cutest ideas I've seen so far (I will add to this as I find things). T-minus 5 days until our big Goodnight Moon bash!

1. Bright candy, snacks, and labels. I love the idea of just using anything with primary colors in it for food. And the picture frame photo booth idea? So cute!

2. Spotlight on yarn. I kept seeing these balls of yarn and sadly it took me a minute to "get" it-- Oh! The little lady whispering "hush" is knitting! Cute space filler.

3. Cows jumping over moons everywhere. They don't have to be the Goodnight Moon cow; your guests will get the point.

4. More primary colors, and a sleeping rabbit. Here's an example of finding something not specific to the theme, but in keeping with it because the colors/ideas work. The Bean has a stuffed rabbit I'll be using with a pillow, too.

Notice this person has also included a "framed" picture like in the book... I did this too, with the picture that has the cow jumping over the moon and red farmhouses. It was really easy, I just needed a canvas, paintbrushes, and acrylics in red, midnight blue, yellow, and white.

5. Keep your birthday boy or girl in theme. I found this adorable shirt on Etsy but needed to stay in budget so I made a similar one with my embroidery machine (not as cute but makes the point). You could also use Avery heat press vinyl to do this. If you're not crafty... just order it!

6. But when baby smashes that cake... Granted this isn't about Goodnight Moon, but it's important to note: you're going to want them to be in something they can get completely messy.  I bought some cheapie baby "undershirts" by Gerber and made an open bowtie onesie, adding the words "Let's Party" on it because... well, it's going to be time to party when we bust this out.

Getting creative with kid's birthday party decor

Continuing on from here as I plan the Green Bean's first birthday, I wanted to share a sort of weird-but-makes-sense-to-me idea I had for unique or hard-to-find themes. 

What about dollhouse items or scrapbooking embellishments on the tops of cupcakes or table decor? If you think outside the box, you could do all kinds of great themes.

They are about half the price of designated "this is for a birthday" items I've found, usually come in packs of multiples, and give you a broader spectrum to choose party themes.

For example, if I go with the "children's literature" theme... how perfect would these be on top of frosting?

Or these for an "On the Farm" or Charlotte's Web party?

A Fancy Nancy party:

A "Garden Party":

 

$4 on Etsy

A "Mardi Gras" or Madeline party:

"Snow White" party:

 

Crayon/primary colors party:

Anything that comes in a "set" for a dollhouse or scrapbook could work!

An "I Love Ikea" party:

Just kidding.

I should probably stop blogging and start deciding on a theme for my little buddy!