Connor’s World – Elmo Themed 2nd Birthday

Description

"Connor's World": An Elmo themed party for one of Elmo's biggest little fans

Design Inspiration

I was inspired to do the Elmo theme by my son who at the age of 2 was a complete Elmo fanatic. I wanted to take elements from Elmo's World, so I started with the crayon based title page. From there, I began using the orange and red to tie everything together and make a cohesive theme.

Decorating Style

For kid's parties, I think anything goes. In this case, it was Elmo, Elmo, Elmo. I also try to remember my audience and select elements that are most likely to have an impact on the little guests. I can't afford a professional party planner and don't care for the prepackaged decorations, so most of my projects were DIY. I like to make it look like we spent a lot without really doing so.

Project Details

Elmo footprints: Free printable found here 

Elmo wreath: DIY based on this monster tutorial 

"Connor's World Sign": DIY designed by my father

Elmo Decal: Amazon

Edible Crayons: Tutorial Here

Crayon Box: Designed by my father

Magnetic Fishing Game: Pond is simply a blue table cloth cut to a pond shape. For the fish, I printed a shape I liked and traced into on foam (found in the craft section of Joann Fabric) and cut it out. Then I sewed a small washer to the mouth. For the rods, I tied twine to the end of a dowel rod and secured it with hot glue. On the other end, I glued a small magnet. There are many tutorials for different ways of approaching this type of craft. It was a hit with the kids!

Favors: The above edible crayons and magnetic fishing game. I wanted to do something with "Elmo loves his goldfish, his crayons too", but wanted something different than a pack of Crayolas and cheddar goldfish.

Goldfish Marshmallows: Tutorial Here

Elmo Oreos: Dipped the front of the Oreos in red Wilton candy melts. While still wet, placed the eyes, nose and mouth. The eyes were monster eyes from Michaels, nose an orange Jelly Belly and mouth is half a chocolate wafer. I initially attempted these as lollipops, but found even with doublestuff placing the stick inside caused the cookies to separate.

Elmo fruit face: There are many images of this on interest. I used strawberries, clementine slices and blueberries for the fruit. For the whites of the eyes, I simply whipped some cream, but you could also use angel dip.

Cake: Designed by me, baked by our local bakery

Tags, signs, banners: Created by me using a crayon font to replicate the opening of "Elmo's World"

Elmo Costume: Rented via ebay seller and Connor's uncle acted as Elmo

For the other Elmo items such as cups and faces, I simply freehanded them and used "googly eyes" and card stock to create Elmo

Mylar Balloons: $1 each from the Dollar Store. Far cheaper than a party store.

Red and orange ceiling decor: I was inspired by this blog's birthday circus tent party. We were in the process of redoing our dining room, so I felt like it needed something extra to make the room interesting and fun for a party. Like Ashlee, I cut the tablecloths in half and tied one end to our chandelier. For the ceiling ends, I attempted sticky tack, but the weight of the tablecloth kept pulling it down, so I resorted to heavy duty tape. I was concerned it would damage our freshly painted ceilings, but had no issues with that. I also used some balloons to help cover our badly in need of replacing chandelier.

 

Favorite Items

This party was a labor of love, so it's hard to pick one item. I was particularly pleased with the way my homemade baked goods came out and I received a lot of compliments on them. I also loved the Elmo footprints as my son was so excited Elmo was on his way. And of course, having Elmo visit made the party!

Advice

There are so many Sesame Street and Elmo ideas to be found via Pinterest, it can be hard to pare them down. Try not to get overwhelmed with all the options and just pick your favorites. Don't be afraid to try any of these! I love party planning, but do not consider myself hugely crafty, so most of what you see here is actually very easy.