D.I.Y - ideas for party planning...

I'm no Martha Stewart folks (thankfully) but I thought I'd share some ideas for planning a party with you today!  Granted, we just celebrated our daughter's 2nd birthday here... but the following decor ideas could be applied to other special events too.

Soooo, first step to planning a party - pick a theme.  We went with a "woodland picnic" style. 

Since the party was indoors... I covered the floor in patchwork quilts as part of the 'picnic' theme (and to discourage snacks getting ground into our area rug!).

Woodland snacks: acorns of course.  Got inspired from pinterest for this simple snack:

grab a Timbit - spread Nutella on top... press into chopped peanuts... pretzel stick to finish! 

1) A woodland picnic wouldn't be complete without worms and berries to munch on... hence, the candy shish-kabobs (standing in a soup jar I wrapped with birch bark - another easy d.i.y).

2) I also used mushrooms in the decor to go with Azriel's birthday outfit.  This middle terrarium shot was made with a styrofoam ball...covered in brown fabric, layered with moss and acorns... and topped with a mushroom 'ornament'.

3) A festive pumpkin with a carved mushroom motif also fits the theme... with a banner of felt leaves perched over top. 

These beautifully illustrated gnomish books first inspired the outfit for our daughter... we had them out for the kids to look through in a bright window seat.

Want a fast.easy way to pull off the popular 'photo-booth' at your party?

Paper plates are great!  I simply drew.cut.painted these critters right onto the plates... and then taped a wand to each for holding.

Use a room divider or hang a fun fabric for your backdrop... and voila - a fun way to remember the day spent with friends.

So there's a few tips/ideas for planning a party if you're interested.  As a mama I'm just learning to wear the 'party-planner' hat .. and already see the danger of going overboard with cute details I know my daughter won't give a hoot about!  Anyway, I know lots of other crafty.creative mamas are out there doing amazing events for their loved wee ones... and a recent post that was eye candy for me was over at BohoBabyBump's blog, check it!

Phew... I'm all partied out for now.

No more posts on this from here on.... deal?

See you tomorrow friends!

Mel :o)