Toddler Birthday Party Ideas: 3rd Birthday

Theme: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

My boy's third birthday just recently passed and he enjoyed it so much he kept talking about it for days.  I think the best thing you can do as a parent is to wear your heart on your sleeve for your kids.  Never be afraid of showing them your love and excitement.  They'll know without a doubt that you love them and it won't matter how much you spend to make them happy if in the end you don't give them the time and attention they deserve.

For birthdays, I suggest asking the BIRTHDAY BOY/GIRL what they want.  Show them 3-5 options for themes and let them narrow it down.  My kid actually wanted Star Wars as his #1 pick and Caterpillar as his 2nd.  I thought of how unpredictable toddlers are and so the idea of having light sabers being gashed in people's faces wasn't very appealing.  I read him his fave book (The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle) to really convince him otherwise.  He agreed to having both, which didn't work out for me, so I surprised him with the Caterpillar theme, which he adored and helped out with too.

Here are some samples of what we did.

 The invitations were simple and just showed the birthday boy from the most recent photoshoot he went through 3 weeks before his birthday.

 The number 3 was mosiac in his favorite style too and the caterpillar was holepunched and then hand-drawn.

 The leaf inside had 3 holes to represent his 3rd birthday.

 These centerpieces were made by my mother.

 The cake was provided by my dad.

 The party favors were labeled with "Caterpillar Food", tied with bright green ribbon, and inside were  colorful M&Ms.

 My family made balloon caterpillars to hand from trees.

The craft project was finger caterpillars with washable paint and then bubbles that floated like butterlies since we did all this at a nearby park.









THE BEST PART: All the kids had fun!

Fashion Friday #5: FUN Friday

I haven't been able to fit into any clothes much lately and I was feeling kinda sad because of it.  I understand I'm only going to get bigger and it's natural, but it just made me sad to be so limited... so I needed something to pick me up... MUSIC!  I LOVE music and you know what?  It really helps!  It picks you up, makes you forget about stress, and just makes you feel better all around at any time of day.  So, this Fashion Friday will be more of a FUN Friday featuring MUSIC.  These are some little fun, pick-me-up songs I ran across while just reading some posts.  Mind you, they are not common songs, but they are SUPER sweet and true, not to mention, catchy.  So, feel free to click on the links attached to each image and soak up some fun:

Brandon and Leah - "LIFE HAPPENS"

Carly Rae Jepsen - "CALL ME MAYBE"

Stephen Jerzak - "TOGETHER WITH THE SUN DOWN"

Paolo Nutini - "CANDY"

Simple Plan - "WHEN I'M GONE"

Kate Voegele - "SANDCASTLES"

Which is which?

Did you guess right?

Which side is cool-toned and which side is warm-toned?

Here's the right answer....

Left side is COOL and right side is WARM.