Drinks

Party Recap

Last fall my baby turned TWO (I know I can hardly believe it myself). When I started running through ideas for his party I knew I wanted something special for him, something that he could relate to, and something that he would be excited about. At this age it's so difficult because they really don't get excited over birthday parties, like a 5 year old does.

He has this ratty old green monkey, which he's been inseparable with since birth, and one night while all 3 of us were snuggling on the couch it hit me. MONKEY! That's it!! I'm going to design & style his entire party around his ratty little friend! You can't get much more special than that... there's nothing that he can relate to at this age more than his monkey... and he's always excited to see him. Oh and he (Monkey) got a bath, which doesn't happen often enough, for the big day.

With the theme in place I got busy working on the invites and other designs. I found this incredibly cute monkey costume at Sew Simply Sweet that I absolutely wanted him to wear at the party and decided to incorporate Halloween into the theme. His birthday is in October after all, so it worked. Since monkey is a lime green and the costume I bought had that same green and a deep purple, I opted for that color scheme (which also fit nicely with Halloween).

The next big question on everyone's mind was... What about the cake? Well, to be honest I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do until the night before. I knew I wanted something fun and I knew I wanted to incorporate Monkey, but other than that... nothing! I was so consumed with all of the other details that I hadn't really given it much thought. Usually I design my themes around the cake, but this time I designed it around something else. Thank God for the last minute... it motivates my creative mind in ways I can't explain. When I was finally finished, in the wee hours of the morning while everyone else was asleep. I took a step back and literally admired it in awe. It was perfect!!

The weather in Michigan was amazingly perfect for that time of year... I think it got into the 80's that day! So I was able to hold the whole party outside on our deck, which made a wonderful backdrop for the dessert table.

There were all sorts of treats available: Cake, cupcakes (topped with Monkey, of course), cookies, caramel apples, cake pops, caramel corn balls, ghost peeps, chocolate mummy pretzels and a few seasonal candies.

Along with the sweets, we had some fun activities planned for the kiddies. I found this really cute idea at Lowes for using your hand print to make ghosts so I got all of the supplies and everyone got to make their very own ghost to take home. It was a really easy and inexpensive project and something that the parents can display year after year!

I forgot to put together the photo booth I had in my mind. Hey, what can I say... it happens. But, everyone seemed to have fun with the photo booth props regardless. I printed out some conversation bubbles (which are available as part of the collection) and found these really cute masks that I painted.

Overall, the party was a great success. Everyone had fun and my little man went around all day pointing out everywhere I incorporated his "ratty" friend.... MONKEY!

Idea

Party Highlights

  • Best Dressed

    The birthday boy!

  • Desserts

    Dessert table consisted of: Cake, cupcakes, cookies, caramel popcorn balls, caramel apples, chocolate pretzels, seasonal candies.

  • Activities / Games

    Handprint Ghost craft, bounce house, costume parade and contest, photo props

  • Budget

    under $500

  • Party Favors

    Handprint ghost craft

  • Best Moment

    Watching my little man light up every time he noticed his monkey incorporated into the theme...

  • What People Ate

    We had finger foods and a dessert table

  • What People Drank

    juice, pop, water, beer & wine (adults only!)

  • Most Touching Moment

    Knowing I had made his birthday special to him.

  • Funniest Moment

    When the birthday boy got ahold of his cake!

Hand

Party Helpers

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2 comments

  • Megan D

    Megan D wrote:

    My 2 year old daughter has this same green monkey and she is just in love with him. we made party favors around our monkey. I also just make an acrylic painting of our green monkey friend for my daughter's room.

  • Jodie {Party Nv} V

    Jodie {Party Nv} V wrote:

    Aww... how cute! I love monkey, he was such a fun theme to work around!