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Being pretty pregnant and knowing that birthdays are really all about the birthday boy, I changed my game plan this year. It was a hard shift, but it really made life easier. This year my party inspiration was simply to keep it simple. I used store-bought items for nearly everything and it took a lot less work and took off a ton of pressure.
With a bright color palette, I went with an anything goes attitude around colors. I pretty much used every color under the sun with a focus on bright! The dessert table looked much less polished than past years, but it had all of the fun elements kids care about. Cupcakes, tiny cookies, cake pop dinosaur eggs, popcorn and of course, birthday cake filled the table and all of the tiny bellies.
This was the first year I didn’t make the dessert table backdrop. I had Sarah Maiga design the backdrop to match the other paper goods and invitation. It’s super simple, but worked well.
Store bought cupcakes that Bodhi picked out (blue frosting, anyone?) were topped with small dinosaurs that I ordered from Amazon.
These teeny tiny cookies were made by Susan Howell of A Cookie Jar on Etsy. They were a perfect tiny addition and arrived looking beautiful. Bodhi LOVED these.
I painted tons of plastic dinosaurs solid white for decor. I put them all over the house. I threw balloons all over the floor and had 30 plus balloons inflated covering our ceiling.
My friend Kari made the dinosaur egg “cake pops” and had the clever idea of serving them in a nest. :) Love this! They were also the most delicious thing ever without a doubt.
B’s birthday cake was store-bought from Target. They just added a few frosting dinosaurs on the side. I topped it with ROAR (made out of Oh Joy for Target’s HOORAY topper) and a triceratops painted white.
I spent the majority of my budget this year on a bounce house. I know that may seem a little extravagant to some, but honestly, I usually bought fancier desserts and spent more money on food so decided to really just focus on activities. I also, sadly, didn’t hire a photographer this year. It means way fewer photos and the quality isn’t as great, but it also means my guy got to bounce off all of his sugar high craziness with his friends. So, there’s that! :) Bodhi loved the bounce house and played hard.
We also enjoyed a dinosaur egg hunt. I’ll share a few more photos in the coming days with more details including party favors and a mini photo booth.
Vendors
Paper products and dessert table backdrop design: Sarah Maiga Designs
Mini dinosaur cookies: Susan Howell of A Cookie Jar on Etsy
Green cake stand, Popcorn cups on dessert bar and ROAR cake topper: Oh Joy for Target. These are clearanced out now. There are several items left online and some in stores.
Birthday boy outfit: All the details are available on Oh Boy Style!
Absolutely loving all of this! The colors are amazing. Perfect classy boy party. Well done mama!!
Thanks so much Lani! It was not my best work, but it was fun. That’s what really matters, right?!
Awesome party! G had a blast!
Thanks so much Kari! And thank you for all of your help! It was wonderful!
It was a fabulous party – and super cute!
Honestly, everything looks awesome. The photos are great and all the decor had such special touches, store-bought or not. Great job! And yay to the bounce house, that sounds like so much fun for the kiddos.
This was our first B b-day party…if this was “simple” then I’m afraid to ask what all goes into “hard”?! :) Seriously, the kiddos had a blast (especially with the gift openning part…ha/ha!) and everything was perfect!! Well done lady!
This party was wonderful and beautifully decorated! As usual you ROCK as a mama! XOXOXO
Love this and how colorful everything is! Is it odd that I want to throw a party like this for my husband? My guy is a kid at heart. ;)
Love the simplicity of the display, I always like the way you style things.
xo
I love the colors! I don’t know which i find more impressive, the decoration or the photos. I am always telling myself I need to increase my picture taking and think I just need to finally make the leap and get a new camera. Your pics are always awesome, any recommendations? Thx!
Hi Rachel! Thanks so much for stopping by. I love my Nikon D90, but I think there are some great cameras at more affordable prices and to me, the key is in the lens. I love my 50mm f1.4. Enjoy!
I love all of this! How did you print that adorable backdrop? I’m having trouble finding a way to print a backdrop that big.
Hi Sara,
I ordered a large poster print online. I need to go back and see which company it was through. It was a very easy way to get it done. :)
Thanks! If you happen to find the site, that would be amazing! I’m having trouble finding anything bigger than 2x3ft and yours seems bigger than that. I love it! Thanks again!
Your party is huge inspiration and we love it! Q:What kind of white paint did you use? I want her to be able to play with the painted dinos after her party, but a lot of the paint I’ve found is either full of chemicals or water-solvent and chips off. Thank!
So creative! Did you use special white paint for the dinosaurs? Would love to do the same :)
Would love to know what kind of paint you used.