Owl Moon 2nd birthday party

I scoured the web for inspiration and of course, a bargain. I bought several things off etsy - I love supporting small businesses. I made almost everything myself and for not a lot of money.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/happyfamily  - owl tee for Jory

I saw owl crayons on etsy but wanted to give both owls & moons, so she made me a set: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ScribblemeMine  (recycled crayons, a bonus)

I found the idea for owl lanterns here: http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/owl-lantern/  and the owl tree idea: http://karaspartyideas.com/2010/09/real-party-hoot-owl-birthday.html Got my paper lanterns here: http://www.paperlanternstore.com. I used branches from my backyard & some old aquarium rocks I found in a bag in the basement.

The cake I was determined to make look awesome since baking is my specialty. I loved how it looks. I did chocolate & vanilla layers inside as well as a blue layer. People love colored cake, do a layer next time for a nice surprise when you cut in. Also, I am not a fondant fan so I only used buttercream. I used this idea for owl nest sticks (brown sugar cookies): http://iambaker.net/edible-birds-nest-tutorial

I decided to do the chalk owl prints walking up to the door & people loved it.

My #2 cutout I had my husband make - people have commented on it & want to use it for their own. I love using numbers for parties, it's a big impactful visual. He also did the big moon and the night sky backdrop - that used a thrift store sheet and a tie dye kit I got on clearance at Michaels for $3.99. He added silver galaxies to the backdrop too. I bought silver paint, and the cardboard I got for free at work. I love upcycling items or reusing when I can. You definitely can do a special party on a budget.

I made the invites myself and used the leftover paper for the owl lanterns. The birthday banner I bought different fabrics, cut them out in pennant shapes and glued on scrapbooking letters. I used that owl fabric as my inspiration for colors. I plan on making a pillow out of the fabric as a memento from this fun time!

For the candy favors I found molds at my local store & made them 2 weeks in advance. I then wrapped & added my thank you stickers. For the kid favors I took a pic of Jory’s moonlike silly face & cut out in a circle and put it on the bubbles. I sewed quick little fabric bags and put the bubbles, owl stickers, crayons & kazoo in it.

For the food I made little moon cheddar cheese crackers using a 1970s canape cutter of my Mom’s. I  also made a cheese & pineapple hedgehog with owl cutouts on toothpicks. This hedgehog is an English kid’s birthday staple and seeing as my husband in English we had to do it. I also made owl & moon cookies that I frosted in the party colors and little pizza rollups for the kids.

The party was a lot of fun to plan & I enjoyed every second!