How to Throw a Ladybug Party

I've been anxiously waiting for the day that we had enough friends in Utah that we could throw a party. When we lived in Denver, I'd have themed dinner parties all the time and loved the planning and executing of my plans.

There's that little Martha Stewart part of me that loves to put all kinds of fabulous touches on things but of course I don't have her budget so I have to do things the Connie Way which is also...A Good Thing. 

And as if that pressure isn't enough, I have Miss Tori Spelling throwing fabulous parties for her kids that will soon be on the pages of People Magazine.  I have a little friendly competition going with her since her son's birthday is always the same weekend as Mallory's.   This year Liam had a Superhero Theme.....Lucky Kid! (OH MY HECK...Tori & Dean is coming back on April 5th!)

It was a last minute decision to make the wreath for the front door.  I had seen the roses on The House of Smith's blog and I had this extra foam wreath form laying around from my failed attempt to make a Marshmallow Wreath at Christmas.  I had a ton of crepe paper and too much to do so I went for it.   On Thursday, I was sitting watching my favorite show...Studio 5 and Shelly from the House of Smith was on the show making the roses!  I couldn't believe it!  I discovered from watching her on the show...that I was doing it wrong but I was almost done so I kept making them my way.

I also made a bunch of ladybugs in different sizes out of construction paper and had them crawling up the front door.  These are now climbing up the french doors in our dining room that I just turned into a playroom.

I bought the little red buckets that served as our gift bags for our guests at the dollar spot at Target around Valentine's Day.  I used my Martha Stewart Ladybug punch to make a bunch of little black ladybugs to mod podge to the buckets.  They contained jewelry, bubbles, a top, a ball, sunglasses, candy and handmade bracelet's from Bobbi.  The boys got slinky's, bubbles, a ball, paddle balls and candy.

The cake came from The Parson's Bakery in Bountiful Utah and it was fabulous!  It was so much more than the picture can show.  I loved it and Mallory thought it was the coolest thing ever.  She kept asking us to lift her up so she could smell it.

When I started planning this party and figuring out who all we wanted to invite (everyone) I started to panic because I didn't know where the children would sit. I wanted to get a new table and little stools from IKEA....but I checked my budget and knew I was going to have to figure something else out.  I decided that the kids' train table would work perfectly as a table but I didn't have any chairs.  I came up with the idea to use 3 gallon paint buckets from Sears ($2.99 each) and make covers for them from my felt stash.

Then I realized the the table was too short so I bought small clay pots from Michael's, painted them red, embellished them with some black and white ribbon and hot glued them to the table legs.  It worked perfectly!

This would be a good time for me to talk about my other chair remodel. On Wednesday, while I was in the middle of several unfinished projects, I decided that my chairs needed help.  I received a lot of comments from friends on facebook that said they have these same chairs and that they are in the same condition as mine because they have kids too.  They are so easy to re-cover!  They are just attached with 4 screws that come off really easily.  I had this cute dark blue fabric with little cream colored stars in my stash and it was very easy to cover, staple them (tried hot glue...it no work) and attach them back on the chair frame.  Each chair only took about 20 minutes and I completed this during nap time.

I needed a game appropriate for 2-5 year olds and I thought pin tape the dot on the ladybug would be perfect.  I made this little guy from construction paper and poster board.  Mallory informed me that he needed teeth and she was right!  I put each child's name on the dots so we'd know who won by getting the closest to the drawn on dot.  Alex won this game and I DID NOT coach him.  :)

Do you believe in fate?  I do!  Back in January when Mallory decided on a theme, I had some Gymbucks to use and this adorable little dress was available in her size!  It was on sale and I basically got it for free because I had $25 in free Gymboree money to use.  Then I got the barely used shoes on ebay for $7 and they have little silver ladybugs on them!  I tried to talk her into the black tights but my little fashionista wanted red....

Ladybug Party Playlist

It's Your Birthday.......Justin Roberts

Lucky Lady Bug........Mikey's Band

You Are My Flower........Elizabeth Michell

Butterfly's Day Out....Edgar Meyer

Ladybug Picnic.................Elizabeth Mitchell

3 is the Magic Number.......Elizabeth Mitchell 

Who's My Pretty Baby.......Elizabeth Mitchell

My Girl..........................The Temptations

I hope you enjoyed our party and got some ideas for your own Ladybug Party!  Its a great theme and one that I'll remember with fondness for many years to come. 

The Invitaitons
The Party

All songs available on iTunes