Cue the confetti for 2nd birthday party ideas!

My daughter's birthday is the day after Christmas.  Last year we tried to have a party ON her actual birthday, but we were all very sick and had to postpone it.  Even if we hadn't been sick, we discovered that throwing a party on the day after Christmas is difficult and stressful.

So this year, we waited until February, and I'm so glad we did.  I didn't really have a theme, but we used confetti and flowers for decorating.  The invitation had a chalkboard look to it.  It's one of my favorites!

I used a photo of Claire on the back.  Yes, she is putting a gummy bear into her mouth . . . they really are the best bribe for getting kids to look at the camera.

I included confetti that I punched out of gold and pink tissue paper in each envelope, and then used the rest of it on the tables. 

 

We catered the dinner through Qdoba and I kept the party decorations super simple because it's been a somewhat stressful winter for us and I'm pregnant with my fourth child . . . I just wasn't up to anything spectacular! I used pink carnations in glass lanterns with the confetti scattered around each bouquet.  Super simple and easy.  It would have been super cheap, too, had I not ordered them for delivery on Valentine's Day!

Side note: Carnations are so underrated.  I worked at a florist for two years in high school, and no one every wanted to give or send carnations because they were considered the "cheap" flower.  But I LOVE them.  There are no thorns to deal with, they last for weeks and weeks, they have a pleasant scent, they come in really vibrant colors and they're inexpensive.  What's not to love?  They make beautiful round boquets and they're tied with tulips for my favorite flower.  Anyway . . . 

I didn't set the table like I usually do, because the pink plates I bought kind of clashed so I thought they'd do better on the buffet table.  Oh, well.  I liked the clean look of the tables, anyway.

The dessert table just had cake, ice cream and cotton candy party favors with printable thank you tags.

I think my favorite part of the party decor was this sign, hand drawn by my friend Julie at Blue Heaven Signworks. I sent her details on Claire at 2 years old and she turned it into this masterpiece:

Overall, it was a very simple party, but one of my favorites because of how relaxed it was.


Oh, and here's one of the birthday girl!

Side note: she received those sandals as a gift that day . . . we don't normally let her out of the house in sandals WITH socks on 10 degree days.  Or ever.


OH!  And water bottle labels.  I didn't take a single picture of the water bottles, but matching printable labels are available here.  Click here!