Party-time, excellent!

This past weekend my little one turned 2. We hosted a party at the house and invited lots of family and friends to celebrate with us. Since he’s still little, I get to choose and curate his birthday party plans. When deciding on a theme, I went down the list of things he loves. “A book themed party? Nope, we did ‘Once upon a time’/fairytales for his first birthday.” "Animals/zoo? No, his cousin just had that theme back in November” “Hmm… well he does really love his ‘Elmo time"‘ on Monday mornings.

So, I decided to throw him a Sesame Street birthday bash. Would you believe me if I told you that this theme is shockingly hard to find decor for? I checked 3 different craft related stores, looked online at places like Etsy, and even scrolled Amazon, Temu, and Facebook Marketplace and the only options I could find were like $60 for a few balloons and tablecloths. Quite lacking.

I’m so aggressively creative that I couldn't stand by and let my baby have a “boring” party. The weeks leading up to the party, I spent my downtime making decorations. We ended up with several rainbow garlands throughout the living room and basment. The kitchen had a large sign saying “This party is brought to you by the letter A and the number 2” plus hand drawn cutouts of the character’s faces. Plus some abstract character faces throughout the rest of the house. To top off the theme-ing for the party, I made honestly adorable cupcakes the looked like Elmo and Cookie Monster. They were a hit.

All in all the party went off without a hitch. The little kids pointing at the walls and getting so excited to see “ELMO!” or “COOKIE MONSTER!!!” filled my heart with so much joy and pride. My little one’s favorite is Abby Cadabby right now and he was so jazzed to see “Ahee” on the wall.

I will forever think handmade decorations are the best and the key to making a party fully realized. I am aware that most people don’t have the time, resources, patience, and/or creative drive to make decorations by hand. It’s like Ina Garten says “If you can't make it, store-bought is fine”. I would never judge anyone for store bought decorations just as I hope no one would judge me for my homemade ones.