Green Eggs and Ham Party

Last year for SJ's first birthday we had a cupcake party and everything was pink. I didn't want to do something ultra girly again and feel like it was the same party so this year the theme was Green Egg's and Ham. Everything was green. Here are some of the ideas we implemented for this special occasion-

1. We kept the invitation simple by creating an Evite. I love how easy it is to keep track of your guest lists and that it sends out reminders.

2. The Green Eggs and Ham cake/cookies is what started this whole idea.

3. For the meal we had a tasty baked ham, with green deviled eggs, and many other sides.

4. I filled up green water balloons in various sizes to use in place of ice to keep the drinks cool.*

5. I also made this yummy green punch and garnished it with limes.

6. All 4 of us wore green to the party. Not coordinating, but green nonetheless.

7. The birthday girl sported this headband that gave her springy green pig tails, it was really a St. Patrick's day accessory, but it seemed very Suess-like and she loved it.

8. I wove dozens of balloons together and hung them from the chandelier to 4 opposite corners of the room.**

9. I also taped about 18 balloons in the formation of a 2 above the cake table.***

10. Other than that we just embellished here and there with more green! The theme was convenient considering her birthday party was a week before St. Patrick's day and her birtheday is 2 days before Dr. Suess's.

I had originally wanted a very intimate little party with a simple homemade cake, but one thing led to another (like Pinterest, and getting 200 balloons at a discount price) and even though it was a little bit more than I originally anticipated the party and the entire process was tons of fun.

* I found the idea for the ice balloons on Pinterest, but couldn't find a link to the tutorial anywhere! Obviously you fill the balloons with water. I chose to do different sizes. You also want to be aware of how they lay when you freeze them. I laid my balloons flat in a freestanding freezer and they were fairly round, but you wouldn't want them all squished together or bumped up against anything because they will come out looking like deformed balloons, which would not be as cute. Also, by the end of the night most of the latex had cracked, but it certainly didn't affect the practicality of keeping the drinks cool and the presentation looked great for the majority of the time.

** For the balloon garland I used thin nylon string and started off by tying it around the first balloon. Each balloon after that I just wrapped the string around the balloon 3 times (between the balloon and the balloon knot) and pulled it really tight. They stayed fine without having to actually tie them together which was good since the string was SO long. As far as how we blew up 200 balloons we used my husbands air compressor and it worked great! The balloons will stay inflated for days so you can prepare them ahead of time. It took a couple hours and there were 4 of us working on it, but having a few friends over along with a viewing of the movie Up to get you in the balloon mood makes for a wonderful pre party party.

*** Taping balloons to the wall was another Pinterest idea, but for me it was not that simple. I had to use PACKING tape, and lots of it, to get them to stick to the wall. Luckily my parents have yet to remodel their dining room so the walls weren't really a concern. I formed the number two on a bed and then moved it to the wall one balloon at a time. This way I didn't have to keep retaping the balloons to see how many I needed or to make it all even.

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