Come Join the Swarm

Whew! What a weekend! We celebrated Cohen's first birthday this past Saturday and it went so well! I went through a couple of themes before deciding on Bugs and I really enjoyed what we landed on. We absolutely couldn't have pulled it off without my parents, sister, and cousins help. THANK YOU GUYS!

Before I forget every detail, I plan to document them here. My theme came upon me when I found some adorable bug catcher nets at the dollar store. they also had really cute sand shovels with bug handles and gummy bug animals. This is where I started with the favors. I also had stickers made that stated, "I joined the Swarm" August 8, 2009 because the bottom of the invitation said, "Come join the Swarm." I then added some sidewalk chalk and pop up bugs. I put everything into a bag, sealed it with a sticker and put a bag in each bug catcher net. Isn't that fun!

Then when it came to food, I had a lot of fun with it. We had Ants on a log, a cheese/cracker/grape tray, 7 layer dip, bug bark (puppy chow snack), and planned to have Fly traps. Fly traps were to replicate the red sticky tape you hang outside and all the bugs get stuck to. We used strawberry fruit by the foot and stuck raisins to it to make flys. I used a piece of turf that I bought from lowes as a table runner and added large bugs I found at the dollar store. The main cake we served was a dirt cake recipe that was so yummy! It was made in a flower pot with oreo dirt, gummy worms and fake flowers. It made a great centerpiece. I also found a super cute bug cake at a Kroger downtown. We used that one for Cohen's smash cake. For the entrance table I really wanted the look of some colored m&ms, but something different. So I went with colored Jelly beans and got the exact look I was looking for. Then threw in some fake flowers to make a colorful arrangement.

Now for decorations! My favorite part! My mom and I really wanted to try and create a "Bugs Life" or "Honey I shrunk the kids" atmosphere. But how do we seat 20 children at one table when they range in age from 3 months to 8 years old? My mother is amazing and created a 9 foot baby einstein catapillar table. It. Was. Amazing! She then went on to create a wood cut out sign where we could get a picture of each kid "joining the swarm" It turned out perfectly and captured exactly what we were trying to accomplish. I also came across a fabulous mom that creates banners on one of my favorite sites, Tip Junkie. She has a link to Mompreneurs there and I ordered this adorable banner from Emmie Cakes.

Once we were all decorated, the kids started to arrive. We used a Dr Suess book called the Bug that went Ka-Choooo as a guest book. We had everyone sign the inside of the book and plan to door this for every Birthday party he has. That way we will have a nice collection of signed birthday books in his library. We also gave a sticker and a pair of bee antennas to wear. The kids were so cute!

In the days before the party, it quickly became clear that our "swarm" was growing to a number that would no longer fit in our house. Luckily we were able to secure a room at our church quickly and what a blessing that was! It was the perfect amount of room and included access to the indoor play gym that the older kids really enjoyed!

Then it was time for cake and presents!

I truly enjoyed creating this party and Cohen was in such a great mood and had such a fun time. Steven was very gracious throughout all of the planning process and went along with all of my crazy ideas. I appreciate him so much for that and did not protest when he suggested that I be banned from party planning for at least a year.....that is just fine with me...I'm pooped!