Party prep. Last minute style.

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Y’all, I’m kind of having a moment. My child is turning TWO YEARS OLD. In FOUR DAYS. I got an email from Babycenter today that said “Your PRESCHOOLER” and I almost vommed. Or cried. Or something that was not exactly like happy but was not exactly like sad either.

I am so incredibly freaked out and saddened by this. He’s certainly not a little baby anymore. He’s getting so big, so fast. SO FAST.

::sigh::

I love him.

And because I love him, I want to throw him an awesome party he won’t remember. Because I think birthdays should be special days for those celebrating.

So? Here’s what I’ve got planned so far.

We’re doing a Zoo-themed party because Joshua loves animals. Giraffes, monkeys, “hoppos.” You name it. He loves it.

The lovely Brooke at Graham Cracker Designs designed his invites  for us and then designed some cupcake toppers too. I just have to print and cut them out and put the cute-y things on some sticks for his cupcakes!

They are totally adorable.  Here’s a (blurry, screen-capped) sneak peak!

I’ll just print them on some card stock, use a 2″ circle punch to punch them out, Elmer’s tape them to some sticks and top some cupcakes. Bam!

And then there’s this awesome banner I want to make. Only I’m thinking I’ll be making mine with paper. Because it’ll be cheaper than fabric (unless someone wants to tackle this for me out of fabric. I’m looking at you, MAMA ^_^).

I really love this one from BlueMoon Studios on Etsy.

Isn’t this adorable? It would add such a nice touch to the mantle, I think! Or the food table. Or both! Ahh! I love it. Blair just did something like this in her playroom/loft area and put the idea in my head!

I’ve also been wanting to try my hand at the tissue poms on the Martha Stewart Wedding website. I think they’re fantastic. And they look cheap and easy to make. I have most of the stuff I’d need at home already and tissue paper isn’t terribly expensive.

I also want to make a cupcake stand using the tutorial Jill at Baby Rabies put up a while ago.

So that’s what I’ve got as far as decor goes.

For food, I’m planning on doing assorted animal shaped cookies and crackers, some sweet and some savory. (The child lives on Goldfish crackers. How can I not have those at his party?) And probably some chicken nuggets or fruits and veggies. Though PB&J sammies were suggested, which sounds fantastic.

And, of course, cupcakes.

Drinks are my issue. I have an assorted age of children attending. Do I do juice boxes? Joshua only sort of knows how to drink from them. He’d much rather play with the straw, which means the juice spills all over the floor and someone gets stabbed in the eyeball.

I”d like to have (reusable, eco-friendly! WOOT!) cups the kids can take home as part of their favors but that gets pricey (not woot) and sometimes Mamas forget the sippies. It happens. So I want to be prepared.

Is it weird that my biggest dilemma is how to get beverages into toddlers and not on my floor? Does that just scream “Mama” or what? (Considering party fouls used to consist of hoping the hunch punch didn’t make it to the carpet? Yeah, we’ve come a long way, baby…or maybe we haven’t since the worry is still the same but the contents of the cup are different. 0_0 )

What do y’all think so far? Cute? Ridiculous? Over-thinking things? All of the above?