Name: Wylie (2)
Location: Oakland, CA
It all started off as a party at Little Farm in Tilden Park. Wylie, turning two, was so into farm animals that we thought the adjacent picnic grounds and barnyard animal farm where kids could feed animals would be perfect. Then he started talking about dinosaurs, and trains and lions. The invitations were already sent out so I decided to tweek it a little and we arrived at a "Favorite Things" party.
I covered picnic tables in kraft paper and used only natural and wooden serving pieces. The colors were a riff on red and white picnic, but kept very neutral. The kids' table featured a hand drawn track with wooden trains, large dinosaurs and a bag of costumes (Wylie's favorite thing is his cape).
I decorated vanilla cupcakes with plastic figurines (dinosaurs, farm and zoo animals). The adults were treated to a picnic lunch of fried chicken, potato salad, coleslaw and biscuits, while the kids ate prepacked lunches in "W" paper bags featuring a peanut butter-honey sandwich with the crusts cut off, wrapped in wax paper and hand decorated masking tape. The favors were animal crackers (a weekly treat for Wylie) in hand stamped mill cloth sacks.
Kids played in the meadow and then filled hand-stamped paper bags with lettuce and celery to feed the animals which included cows, chickens, goats and sheep.
Thanks Heather! Readers, see more of Wylie's party at Poppy Haus.
(Images: Poppy Haus)
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Love your "theme" !! That must have been wild fun for the kids ! A caped child feeding animals with his friends... that's the most fun my own 2-years old could ever dream of !!
I have a question for you Americans. I'm French, living in the northern France, and I have some American friends with kids about the same age as mine. I wonder: are parents automatically invited to birthday parties ? Here we "drop" the kids at the party and leave, but am I supposed to stay at an American birthday party (I'd love that !) ? If I stay, I'd like to bring something to the birthday boy's mother, who had so much trouble organizing it all for kids and adults: would a nice hostess gift be ok ? Any idea ?
Thank you for helping me figuring out the etiquette of an American birthday ! I love my friends and don't want to offend them just because I'm ignorant of their ways.
Most birthday parties here include parents unless specifically noted. I've never heard of a drop off party for a 2 year old. I have a 7 year old and I just hosted his first drop off party because our house is too small for kids plus parents. It was chaotic but fun.
A hostess gift would be nice, but not customary at all for birthday parties.
Since they're Americans living in France though it might be a bit different
Love the above party. I have a 1 year old and 7 year old and am looking forward to all the cute birthdays again with my younger one.
Thanks for the lovely feedback Loora!
In America we usually ask that parents to attend parties until the kids are school aged.
I agree that a hostess gift is not necessary, however it would surely be appreciated!
Thank you all for your answers ! I can't come to a party empty-handed, so I'll think of a small gift and prepare for lots of fun. I can't help thinking how much work such a party requires from the child's parents, to entertain both parents and children, AND make it look so pretty with so much diy. It's you guys who should put the super-heroe capes on !
Oh, I forgot to say so on my first comment, but the photo with the two children is amazing. They have fun, it shows, and the colors are gorgeous.
That first picture makes me so happy!