The Donut Party

When I was pregnant with SJ (Sedona) we told her brother, who was two at the time, that his baby sister's name was Sedona. I don't know if he misheard us or if he couldn't pronounce it, but for the longest time he called her "donut". Throughout the pregnancy he actually told people that there was a donut in my belly. In honor of this nickname I decided to give her the ultimate donut party!

Here are the top 10 special touches from the big day.

1. The Donut Invitations


The real invite had all the information on it, but I didn't think my brother would appreciate me broadcasting his home address on the internet. 

I just put together a simple design using her school photo along with this free donut stock image, and this free font. I had them printed on 4x6 photos from Costco. Very affordable!

2. The Menu

We had "brunch" food items including breakfast casserole, frittata, sausage crescents and some other sides.  I did my research to try and come up with the tastiest recipes so feel free to check out the links.

3. The Birthday Cake 



I just used strawberry cake mix, baked in a bunt pan, and topped with icing the way a donut would be. I figured if you are going to make a cake look like a giant donut then the sprinkles need to look giant too. So I used "Mike and Ike" candy as sprinkles. Tasty!

4. Tent Cards 



 I labeled everything using a really simple printable template that I found online. This site has tons of themes to choose from including the one I used for Ezie's One Happy Camper party. The design I used this time was actually intended for easter.



The thing I love about party tent cards is that they are SO easy and I feel like they make any occasion more festive. However, if you ever come over and I have tent cards labeling everything in my home then someone arrange an intervention, okay?

5. The Book



 For SJ's 1st birthday (cupcake theme) we gave her "If You Give A Cat a Cupcake" and her 2nd birthday (Green Eggs and Ham theme) we gave her "Green Eggs and Ham". This year we gave her "If You Give a Dog a Donut" and I had all the guest sign it inside.




6. The Donut Balloons  



Okay, so maybe there weren't any balloons that actually made it to the donut party. I did decorate the balloon shown above using this tutorial, but if you haven't already heard about my pinstorsity you can read all the devastating details on "When Your Pinterest Idea Flies Out The Window (literally)".

7. The Donut Piñata



This was my FAVORITE craft for this party and I put a lot of work into it. After having so much success with the Bob tomato piñata, and batman piñata, I decided why not try a donut? And it was a hit!



I took things up a notch this year by introducing the matching piñata stick.



If you read the story about my donut balloon fail then you know that I had a bunch of left over paper sprinkles. I had already designated a poster mailing tube for the piñata stick (not so hard that it's dangerous, but not too flimsy). Then at the last minute I went ahead and covered it with tissue paper and glued sprinkles to it making my first ever coordinating stick. It's the little things that get me excited.

8. Punch with mason jars

Mason jars with paper straws are so popular right now and if you already own some it's cheaper than buying disposable cups. So I went with that idea and made sparkling pink punch using frozen lemonade, white cranberry juice, and club soda. Yum!



9. Party Favors



The party favors were the bags of candy that the kids filled up from the piñata, and Dunkin Donut bags to fill with donuts. I also always like to have a current wallet sized photo of the guest of honer so we did that too.

10. DONUTS! 

What would a donut party be without donuts? We had an assortment from Dunkin Donuts. Sprinkled ones for the kids and a little more variety for the grown ups.

We also had fruit kabobs with powdered donut holes. I ended up using all berries (strawberry, blueberry, and raspberry). By the way this would make a lovely addition to a 4th of July party with the red, white, and blue.



All birthdays are worth celebrating, but this one in particular was special because SJ turned 4 on March 4th of 2014. The party planning was a bit of a roller coaster as far fun versus stress, but all in all it was a huge success and I am so happy for my little donut.




For more donut ideas you may want to take a peak at my donut party Pinterest board.