Instead, I decided to invite 24 of our closest friends and family over, along with their 9 children and 5 babies to our
I wanted to take more pictures to post, but in all the hoopla I plumb forgot(bad wanna-be blogger!).
So, here's a little glimpse at Lilah's third birthday fiesta.
The Invitation:
I made the invitation using PicMonkey and e-mailed it to our friends and family. I often do this vs. snail mail because a) I normally leave things so last minute that I don't have time and 2)It's free and I'm cheap. 
The Food:
We had a make-your-own-taco bar with all the fixings, nachos and cheese sauce, and sweet pepper slices.
The Dessert:
Frost your own cupcakes (I ran out of time and didn't frost the cupcakes. FAIL you would think, but I let the kids do it themselves and it was seriously the hit of the party…and a huge mess, don't say I didn't warn you.) and birthday cake with ice cream. I also had a jar full of Halloween candy that I was trying to pawn off on our lovely guests.
The Dessert:
Frost your own cupcakes (I ran out of time and didn't frost the cupcakes. FAIL you would think, but I let the kids do it themselves and it was seriously the hit of the party…and a huge mess, don't say I didn't warn you.) and birthday cake with ice cream. I also had a jar full of Halloween candy that I was trying to pawn off on our lovely guests.
The Drinks:
Margarita's (BIG hit!), Corona, and Pop for the adults, and apple juice boxes for the kiddos.
The Decor:
I used a floral sheet as a table cloth (a go-to for me) and lined the table with craft paper as a table runner. The centre pieces were cacti and succulents that I picked up at Ikea.
I did the same for the food table (using a plain white table cloth) and wrapped the top of the drinks table in craft wrapping paper featuring big yellow dots. The buffet got wrapped in yellow and white polka dot wrapping paper. I love doing this, it makes clean up a breeze.
I made tissue paper garland using this tutorial and hung it on the food table. I also used it to decorate the kids table(I blatently copied this idea).
I had these chalkboard hearts from an engagement party I decorated a few years ago. I just strung them with jute and taped them to the wall with scotch tape. It says "Lilah is 3".
I also made garland by cutting up pieces of coloured card stock into strips and sewing them together. I strung it from the ceiling in the living room. I didn't get a photo of this in action but here is a pic of it being sewn. I thought it was piñata-ish.
The Favours:
We had a couple different age groups attend the party so I made various favours. The babies got wood ring teethers, the pre-schoolers got travel felt boards (under the sea, outer space, mr. potato head or princess), one older boy got "wings" for his kicks (these are Lilah's disgusting sneaks in the pic. Please don't judge.) and an older girl got a fabric necklace. Check out my Pinterest board for more inspiration for this party!
I made them all little tags with their names stamped on it which I attached to the favour with twine.
I put the necklace, shoe wings, teethers, and felt pieces in cellophane bags that I folded over and kept closed with a piece of Washi tape. I put all the favours in a basket in the front hall with a banner that said "thank you for coming" which I stamped onto more brown paper.
The Fails:
I really wanted to attach fringe to the string of helium filled balloons like this. It was a complete fail. a) I sent the hubs to pick up the balloons the night before the party and the store employee kept busting the balloons and replacing them with pearlescent versions of similar colours (NOT OK!) and then the fringe was too heavy and would pull the balloon down…Not at all what I was picturing and a huge waste of time and money (Helium ain't cheap, yo)
I had made some ruffle streamers that ended up in the garbage.
I made one Spanish tissue flower. It sucked.
Oh, well. You win some, you lose some.
All in all, I think it was a good day. Although I'm not going to lie, it was a little overwhelming at times.
Every time I throw a party I say "I'm never doing that again" about some aspect, but each time I feel like I'm better prepared then the last. Hopefully, someday I'll get it down pat.
Vaughn's birthday is coming up in March so I'm in full on planning mode for that (I'll be back at work so it's got to be planned out before the end of February and any crafting should be well underway by then, too). So stay tuned.
Do you have any tried and true tips for party planning you'd like to share?