Back in September—in a rare eye of the quarantine storm—I threw a combined birthday party for the kids.
Even though 1-year-olds aren’t super impressed by birthdays, it feels like a big milestone to celebrate (in the future, I plan to only do a non-family party for one of the kids each year; whoever is turning an even-number), and I knew Gwendolyn would really appreciate celebrating her 4th birthday in a big way, especially after not seeing people for so long. My parents even flew in! Originally, I was a bit nervous that Gwendolyn wouldn’t want a shared party—but their birthdays are only a couple of weeks apart, and my pitch convinced her.
The theme: fairy + garden party. After a very eventful and fun summer camp, Gwendolyn was on a fairy kick, and I knew Harry would be as impressed as he could be if he could just be outside and/or eating dirt.
With several larger unexpected monetary events the month before, I tried to make a big impact, with as little as possible (huge thank you to my mom who helped me figure out exactly how to do that). it was so much planning and effort to decided what exactly to do, but, in the end, it ended up gorgeous, and being such a fun gathering!
We ended up making ribbon chandeliers as the only real decor—and they really packed a punch. Just some embroidery hoops and streamers (do streamers! I was set on ribbon, but that would have been so pricey. Streamers looked great.). On the table, I had a faux moss table runner, some flowers we had pressed dry, and a little fairy garden that Gwendolyn had put together.
Since we had several kids at this party, I wanted to have some activities for them, but I didn’t wanna go crazy.
DIY plant sun catchers – the idea was to just have the kids go around and find things in nature that they liked, and stick them between two sheets of self-laminating paper. Simple, easy. Most kids, including my own, were too excited for the next activity to really bother with the first.
flower crowns – we provided pre-looped wire, then set out a variety of flowers, stems, and floral tape for everyone to make their own. This was a big hit with everyone, and it was fun to see their unique creations.
potting a plant – this was the more garden-y part of the party. The child-guests could choose from a small selection of plants, grab a pot, and add some soil, and water before leaving.
For food, we did a bunch of garden-themed foods. I love appetizers, and a good selection of delicious foods, but, again, I wanted to not go totally nuts.
Here was my menu:
Pinwheel ‘snails’
(ham, cheddar, and mustard cream cheese)
finger sandwiches
(ham and gouda on whole wheat; bbq turkey with smoked cheddar; and a vegetarian option, goat cheese, strawberry, arugula and pepper jelly)
veggie cups
(sliced peppers + carrots with ranch)
strawberry ‘toadstools’
(literally just strawberries on lollipop sticks)
colorful deviled eggs
(I wanted to pipe them to look like flowers, but it didn’t work, and the colors were…questionable. Tasted amazing; looked scary)
grape ‘caterpillars’
(just grapes skewered)
cupcakes
(I managed to miss getting a picture of them—hubby was on camera duty—but we did a chocolate one, just box mixes beefed up, with crushed pistachios on top; and a funfetti with rainbow icing)
Truly, it was so special to have so many people who love our kids come out. Old friends, new friends, new kid friends, and family members from both sides. Gwendolyn had the best time (Harry was, of course, pretty ambivalent; but I think he enjoyed hanging out with so many familiar faces). So, thank you, again, to everyone who made that day so special for our kids.
