Just like every post when I talk about my sons’ ages, I want to start it saying, “I can’t believe they are [insert age here] already!” I can’t believe Tobin is two already! I feel better now. Let’s talk about his birthday party! You may remember from last year that Tobin shares a birthday with Dr. Seuss and Texas. With all the Lorax fun happening right now and our general love of Dr. Seuss, we decided to go with the good Dr. for theme inspiration this year.

I did some searching for Dr. Seuss-themed parties and came up with some great examples (which I quickly pinned). As with all the celebrations we have, I try to stick to the theme mostly in solid colors and some accents. I don’t like to have everything too matchy and I don’t like to spend money on all the theme plates, cups, etc. That stuff can get pricey (I’m talking to you  Party City). This year I used Dr. Seuss’ robin’s egg blue and red (with some orange and other primaries thrown in for good measure). I also used red and white stripes when I could.

My favorite place to find cool Dr. Seuss stuff is the Official Dr. Seuss Website. I compared prices on the official site with ones from Oriental Trading and other go-to party sites and they were similar (and in a few cases, lower). I did get a couple of the items from Oriental Trading, but the majority of the theme stuff is from the Dr. Seuss site. The beauty of sticking with so many solid colors (or the stripes in this case) is that you can reuse or buy from local stores.

Enough background, here are some of my favorite details from Tobin’s Second Birthday Party!

Tables, colors & balloons. Except for the light blue table covers and the red and white striped skirts, all the table covers, plastic ware, cups, plates and napkins were red ones from Nicholas’ party last summer. I got too many then, but didn’t have to buy those things this time, so I call it a win! I got four Green Eggs & Ham mylar balloons for dotting around the rooms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The banner. I really like this year’s banner. The supplies were simple: letters from the Dr. Seuss site (they are meant for school bulletin boards), blue card stock from Hobby Lobby, white circles cut from copy paper, black ink for the edges, double-sided tape for adhering all the layers, red acrylic paint for the plain wooden dowel rods, florist foam for holding the dowel rods in place, cord left over from Tobin’s party last year, and purple Easter grass. I cut out the blue squares, rounded the corners, inked the edges of the white circles, and did all the sticking in about 10 minutes. After I adhered the letters, I traced them with a fine-point black Sharpie for some extra emphasis. I punched holes and threaded with the cord and the banner part was done. The whole project, including painting the dowel rods, took about 30 minutes. I had the pots from last year’s party, so with all the stuff I bought, the banner set up might have cost $5.00.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cat’s marshmallow hats. I found them on Babble first and really love how they turned out. They were simple to make and were a great addition to the decorations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The food. Because I am trying to simplify my world and not stress so much about every detail, I decided to order the food. Nothing crazy, sandwiches (PB&J for the kids), a veggie tray, a fruit tray, chips, goldfish (One Fish, Two Fish, etc.), and drinks. The one item I had to make after seeing it on so many other sites was Green Eggs (regular deviled eggs with a few drops of bright green food coloring).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cake. Originally, the cake was going to be a top hat with red and white stripes, but the South Texas heat and humidity made it impossible. The fantastic Jennifer of Sweet Thangs by Dragon made a super tasty, really cute cake. Next year, we’ll defy gravity and humidity!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture time! My awesome colleague, Linda, drew the Lorax for us and I added details with acrylic paint and orange felt. I got the big Cat In The Hat and Thing hair from the Dr. Seuss site. I had planned for the kids to play pin-the-whiskers-on-the-Lorax and to get a picture of all of them together wearing their Thing hair on next to the Cat and the Lorax. That didn’t happen because they stayed in the jump house outside almost the entire time. I’m good with that too. I also love that we’re giving the cat, the Lorax and the leftover Thing hair to T’s daycare for the library section of his classroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodie bags. The bags themselves are recycled bags with Dr. Seuss characters on the front and a quote from the corresponding story on the back. These are sturdy bags, and I felt like the bags themselves were really the goodies for the kids. There was also a Lorax bag that didn’t make the picture somehow. The set came with three per design and the kids had fun choosing which character they took home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodie bag insides. I did want the bags to have something in them since the younger kids at least would be looking for something inside! I included a blank white bookmark with red and white striped ribbon on top; Dr. Seuss stickers to decorate the bookmarks (or whatever); a couple of Dr. Seuss temporary tattoos; and a cute sucker. I was also excited to be able to add some of the fun Lorax goodies that the wonderful rep at BlissDom shared with me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodie bag tags. I used the same red and white striped ribbon for the tags that I used for the bookmark. I also used the same blue card stock for the background paper as I used for the banner. I cut and rounded the corners of the tags like I did for the banner, stamped a white circle with my favorite “Thank You” stamp, adhered and done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had such a fun time with Dr. Seuss and our friends again this year. What was your favorite detail?