Joshua's Second Birthday - Early Sunday Mornings

I can’t believe it’s already been two years since our little boy arrived. We had so much fun celebrating Joshua this weekend and I wanted to share some links and ideas from our party with you!

Since Joshua was able to pick his own theme this year we went with a neutral dinosaur party (enough dinosaurs for him to be so happy and enough neutral to match our home and aesthetic).

Since the beginning I knew that we didn’t want to have a big party. Last year Joshua was so frightened by all the people so this year we wanted to keep it under 12 kids and adults including us. We invited four toddlers who all just turned two and their parents, and this way the children weren’t overwhelmed by strangers or too much noise and commotion.

Our floor table was a big hit. I cushioned the table with a blanket underneath and a wipeable tablecloth on top (no baby’s were going to get hurt on my watch!) The table on the floor helped the kiddos eat, play, and be independent instead of climbing in and out of chairs. I loved that we did this and it turned out better than I even expected with 2 year olds.

I got the table decorations all from Meri Meri and Etsy (the BEST place to shop for party decor in my opinion). What I did because we live in Canada is click the “Shop Location- Canada” button. That way I wouldn’t pay duties or waste time with long shipping. I got the Gold Palm Leaf Plates and Brown Scallop Plates from a local shop that sells Meri Meri products. I had the Noisemakers custom made with the Garland above the cake table from Pomtree. And I ordered the Meri Meri Wooden Spoons and Forks from Etsy.

Another thing I wanted to do was create different spaces. We laid out some of Joshua’s favorite toys in his play room, had the floor table in a different area, and then turned our dinning table to an activity table. I had a feeling that all the kids would be a little shy at first so I wanted to make sure that they could each have their own spaces and enjoy themselves while keeping an eye on the other kids (we all know how curious they are at this age). On the activity table there was a dinosaur paint project for each child, bubbles, puzzles, dinosaur play-doh, and coloring books. I got the Meri Meri plates and cups for their individual projects to keep things mess free. It was a great distraction when a child got a little overwhelmed- they just went to the activity table and were easily distracted. Happy to say the first tears only started after the 2.5 hour mark which was pretty impressive for toddlers who don’t typically like to share.

For food we did dinosaur shaped PB&J sandwiches (you can find the cutout here), fruits, and veggies for the kids. For the adults we went to our local pastry shop and grabbed some goodies like croissants, danishes, breads, jams, etc., and also got a big coffee box from Starbucks. I wanted to keep this as stress free and simple as possible so I did the snacks accordingly.

For dessert I got than the amount of people that came but I always like to make sure we have enough to send home with each guest. When adults come to children parties they’re pretty much always all hands on deck with their toddler and hardly have time to snack or eat themselves so being able to send home pastries and desserts for them to enjoy later was important to me. We ordered all of our vegan donuts from Glory Hole in Toronto (the most delicious donuts you will EVER have). And then custom ordered our cakes from Bake Sale (also a favorite in our home).

The pom pom “two” garland cake topper I made myself. I bought some poms poms from Michales (or any craft store), string with a small needle, and cut out pieces of paper to put stickers on for the T-W-O letters. I pulled the needle through of them and then just tied it around 2 wooden sticks I already had at home (you can find these in the grilling or utensil area of your grocery store or even a craft store). It was so easy- less than 10 mins, and I loved being able to customize it to our decoration colors.

I had the dinosaur cake topper, which turned out perfect, custom made from Behold Co. She was so incredibly sweet and designed it exactly the way I wanted + made sure my shipping would get here on time. The glitter cupcake toppers were custom made as well from SocialBash&Co. I love doing custom touches because they’re unique, exactly what you’re looking for, and very affordable. The “2” balloon I really wanted in white and couldn’t find anywhere so I grabbed that from Etsy as well. The pretty and modern candles were by Meri Meri from Etsy.

I’m so incredibly happy with the way this party turned out. It looks like it took so much more time than it actually did and being able to just custom make decorations and cater in food saved so much time that I could actually enjoy this day with him.