A PEEPS Party (for Easter)

I've always loved celebrating Easter with Easter Egg hunts.  As a Kindergarten Teacher in a Catholic School, the Easter Egg Hunt I planned for my students was my all time favorite activity.  When I moved to NY and began teaching in a public school, I was very sad that this practice was frowned upon.  I really think those kiddos are missing out (Catholic or not) on a beloved Springtime event.  To satisfy my Egg Hunt urge, I would plan an egg hunt for 5 of our little cousins that live on Long Island.  We celebrated Easter with them three years in a row and they loved the Egg Hunts.  Once I had my own children and those 5 cousins got older and busier I started planning small egg hunts for my kids and their younger cousins.  I've always longed to throw a larger Easter Party and Egg Hunt and this year was the year!  The idea began with a playdate with friends and turned into a festive soiree.  I chose a PEEPS theme for the party since I love those little marshmallow delights. I was inspired by these Ideas for a Peeps Party I found on Celebrations at Home blog.

I made iron-on transfers to match the theme for my girls to wear to the party.   I found free printables here.

I love this play on words...PEEPS = FRIENDS :-). 

I created these signs for the patio doors.

The party took place outside.   It was a beautiful spring afternoon.  A little chilly but not too bad.  I set the main table up on our deck.  I wish there wasn't a shadow when I took the pictures. The party was after lunch so I served some sweet treats and light snacks to go with the Easter theme.  Food included Peeps (of course), cupcakes, cookies, Annie's Cheddar bunnies and baby carrots.

I made regular cupcakes and topped them with PEEPS.

Another cupcake tower was used to display the leftover PEEPS.  I bought way too many packages of these.

 My friend Kristina made these yummy Easter Egg cookies for the party. 

I found free water bottle labels here .  I had no time to create my own for this party. 

I kind of threw together this PEEPS Garden Centerpiece.  I put the peeps on lollipop sticks and stuck them into styrofoam inside the basket.

I served Pink Champagne for the mommies and it was yummy with the Peeps garnish. 

Pink Lemonade for the kiddos with a floating Peep just for fun. 

I created the banner for the front of the table using scrapbook paper and ribbon. 

In addition to the egg hunt, the kids dyed Easter Eggs.  

I also created Coloring Sheets for the kids to color.

The main event was the Egg Hunt and the kids had a blast!  Each guest brought 12 eggs filled with surprises and the mommies hid them around the yard.  I told each guest to find 12 eggs and then they could open them.  What fun!

Since I had so many peeps leftover, each guest went home with a little Peeps treat.  This was super easy to make and super last minute.  I used ziplock bags I already had on hand and these toppers I found for free here... 

This was such a fun day and I loved celebrating my favorite season with friends and making it special for my girls.

XOXO!

Olivia The Pig Party

Morgan really loves Olivia the Pig (books by Ian Falconer and Nick Jr. Cartoon) so for her 3rd birthday we decided to throw an Olivia the Pig Party for her and 10 of her closest girlfriends.  I always said I would never do character parties but this is the 2nd year in a row for her...last year was Abby Cadabby.  I like to create the party decor rather than purchase the character supplies at the party store.  I usually choose two or three colors that match the character and go from there.  We went with black, red and white for Olivia the Pig.  The Olivia the Pig V-Day party on HWTM was a huge inspiration for this party.

I love creating a sweets or dessert table, although I'm not sure why I do it...I know the parents of the little guests don't like all the sweets for their kiddos. I just think they are so beautiful and a great way to add flare to a party.  I am going to have to start thinking of some healthier foods for the next round of parties...I'm afraid people are going to stop coming with all the cupcakes, cookies, cake pops, candy, etc. that are served.

The party was in March and still cold outside.  I have an empty room in my basement (just haven't gotten around to furnishing yet) so I decided to hold the party in there.  It was a little small but worked out well.  I planned a two hour party with a craft activity, a game and also a bounce house in the back yard.  We also had lunch and cake and desserts.  It was fun, but exhausting entertaining 10 little girls under the age of 5.

Here are the details...

The Party Room

The Cake Table

My favorite local bakery, Cornerstone Caterers, made the cake.

The topper was purchased on Amazon and is actually a bobble head doll.

I made the water bottle labels.  The water bottles were served with lunch.  I think it is always fun for the kids and the birthday girl to have customized water bottles.  It is also a great way to highlight the party theme.  I love the twist top water bottles from Poland Springs.  They are perfect for little kids and spill proof because the actual cap cannot be removed.  I take off the labels and replace with my own using scotch tape...super quick and easy.

I used red lunch bags that I found at Target to pack each guest a little lunch.  This made passing out lunch to each child super easy.  I served macaroni and cheese in individual containers.  I used ziploc containers from the supermarket.  I created a round label which fit perfectly on the top to tie in the theme.  The small red bags were leftover from V-Day treats and I used them to hold chicken nuggets.  Each lunch bag also had a small red apple as well but it didn't make it into the picture.  The label on the bag said "Dinner with Morgan" after the book, Dinner with Olivia, which I read to the girls just before serving lunch.

I tried to serve treats that also coordinated with the party colors.  I included M&Ms in red, black and white, red strawberries, red heart peeps (from Valentine's Day), and Red Twizzlers, cupcakes and custom cookies.  I designed the toppers for the cupcakes and the party circles used to dress up the jars I used to hold the treats.

Yummy #3 Cookies from Andrea's Goodies on Etsy.

I made this feather boa wreath which I hung above the dessert table.  I used this tutorial on Heavenly Blooms to make the wreath.  It was super easy...but not super inexpensive.

This cluster of honeycomb balls and daisys hung on one wall in the party room.  I used party circles on the centers of the daisys.

I had a large Olivia the Pig in the corner of the room to serve double duty as a photo prop and for Pin the Bows on Olivia.  I bought the Olivia Giant Wall Decals from Birthday Express and put the large one on a large cardboard box.  I then cut around the decal with an exacto knife.  It worked out great and the kids loved posing with it.

I decorated the TV we have mounted in the room to resemble a theater and had Olivia playing throughout the party. 

I made party hats using heavy scrapbook paper and ribbon. I embellished the birthday girl's party hat with red feather boa.

I set up a table in our living room as well and the kids colored Olivia coloring sheets that I printed off of the Nick Jr. Website as we waited for everyone to arrive.

Once everyone arrived, I read the book, Olivia by Ian Falconer, to the group. 

There is a part in the book where Olivia paints Picasso style on the wall using black and red paint.  For the craft, I bought a small canvas for each guest and gave them 5 minutes to paint Picasso style as Oliva did.  It was a very messy craft!

While a cleaned up the craft the kids went outside to jump in the bounce house and play for a bit.  Then it was back inside for Pin the Bows on Olivia.  I attached double stick craft dots to small red ribbons and let the kids try to pin the bows on Olivia's ears.

After the game, I read another book Dinner With Olivia, before serving lunch with Morgan.

After lunch it was time for cake.  We sung Happy Birthday to the birthday girl!

When the party was over, each guest went home with an Olivia Activity Book and a Crayon Roll made using Olivia Fabric.  I got them custom made from My Kids Boutique on Etsy.  I placed both in a large celophane and tied it up with ribbon and a black and white swirl Lollipop.

The party was a success and Morgan had a blast.  She still talks about her Olivia party almost daily and it has been 4 months.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BIG 3 YEAR OLD SWEETHEART!

MOMMY LOVES YOU!

XOXO

P.S. Morgan's Outfit was a Custom Pillow Case Dress with fabric featuring images from vintage Olivia books.  It was made by Wonderfully Made on Etsy.  I paired it with black crop leggings and red Converse sneakers.  Super cute!