Polka Dot Birthday Party

When my daughter turned 3 years old, I went all out with her party. There were polka dots as far as the eye could see. Even I have to admit that I went too far with the details, so much so that I vowed to not go quite as crazy in the future. But, to be fair, I was pregnant with my second child and was not quite right in the head.

Theme
Inspired yet again by Martha, we threw a “Polka Dot” themed birthday party – and it just goes to show, that you can really make a party to be about anything you like. Have a “purple” party, or a “square” one. Does your child flip out when the mail carrier comes? Then have a “mail” party.

Invitation
The invitation was really born out of an idea for the envelope. I am so tired of paying for specialty envelopes! Even a box of 250 A4 envelopes that you think can use for any invitation might go to waste over time, mostly because they may not be the right style or color for every party. My mom was telling me about an envelope she used when I was young, and I guess I wasn’t listening very closely because when I showed her my invitation and how she inspired me to do it, she laughed. I thought she told me to use a cellophane party favor bag as the envelope, so I did. And guess what? It worked! I used the clear and plain version, about 3.75x8.5 (approx.). Don’t use too small of a bag, because you may face extra postage for special handling.

The invitation itself was very simple. I used orange paper for the backing, and, to print the invitation information. I chose a polka dotted scrapbooking paper, cut slightly smaller than the orange and taped it at an angle on the orange. I cut crookedly around each grouping of invitation words and taped them to the dotted scrapbooking paper. Use a clear sticker to close the bag and a white mailing label to address it.

When using a crazy size envelope or thicker mail then normal I always take it to the post office for accurate postage – and sometimes I mail a sample one to myself just to be sure it works.

Decorations


The easiest decorations ever! Circles! I just cut plain circles in 3 different sizes out of pink and orange construction paper, you can also use a scrapbooking punch or even your three hole punch for confetti. Tape your dots to windows and walls, and lay them on the tables. You can make polka dot “garland” over doors or hanging from the ceiling (use double sided tape and a long piece of curling ribbon).


I also used balloons at this party, in the same colors as the construction paper circles. Balloons can be a bit of a hazard and I don’t always recommend them for parties with little ones, so, at this party I covered the ceiling with them and made the strings really short so the kids couldn’t grab them. You can also use balloon bouquets as centerpieces on the tables, just weight the strings (I used cans of tuna) and drop them into anything from gift bags to vases to toys.


As I did with the “Jungle” themed birthday party, I used the party favor bags as part of the decorations. Clear plastic cellophane bags tied with polka dot ribbon and a round name tag really added to the table scape.

Activity
For this party, I ordered star shaped foam frame craft kits from an online birthday party supplier. I took a digital photo of each child, with the birthday girl, as they walked in the door, and quickly printed them. By the time they sat down to do the craft project, they had a photo to insert into the frame and take home as part of their party favor.

Cake


One word, CUPCAKES! This “cake” was more about the set up than the cake itself. As you can see in the photo, I set up a group of 25 cupcakes on a background of some construction paper polka dots and confetti. I wrote out “Happy Birthday Autumn” and the number “3” in pink and orange frosting, inserted candles and voila! Cake is finished!

This party went off without a hitch! And of course the kids had a blast! This is a simple party, that looks spectacular.
Just use an original theme, creative thinking, spend as little as
possible and make it look homemade - even if it isn't!