peace sign "second" birthday party

Today is my daughter Aubrey's second birthday. (Remember her first birthday party here?) We celebrated this past weekend with lots of friends and family.  I'm still exhausted from all the hours spent in my kitchen making everything.

Since the party was during Labor Day weekend, I picked a red, white and blue color scheme. A perfect time to incorporate our patriotic pride along side her "two" birthday. The hand peace sign is also how you show the number "two" so that is the theme we went with. The hand peace sign logo was found throughout the party.

You might remember her invitations. You can find out more about them here.

I found these shirts around the 4th of July holiday at Target for $2.50!!! This is a good example of why I pick a theme really early, so I can keep my eyes peeled for perfect details. I cut the sleeves off and tied them up at the shoulder to make them a little more "girly".

The dessert table. Yum-O! For the backdrop, we covered our garage door with tissue banners, a red/white/blue flag bunting, and a large "two" logo found throughout the party.

See the table runners? I made those with cheap fabric and put on a red grosgrain ribbon with binding tape. They were a simple project made special by the ribbon stars I made and attached to the points. It helped break up all the blue from the table cloth. (Thanks Michelle for letting me borrow those!)

Tie-dyed cupcakes. This was a new technique for me. I piped the three colors into a new bag one right on top of the other, then swirled around for a tri-color tie-dye look.

I put together a simple candy bar in a red wagon. Not only was the wagon a perfect nostalgic detail that fit the theme, as well as the color scheme, but it also allowed the children easy access to fill their bags since it was at their height.

The favor bags included dress-up items for the kids to wear in the "VW Bus Photo Booth". Peace glasses, tie-dyed bandannas, peace necklaces, stickers, and tattoos.

One of the highlights of the party had to be the "VW Bus Photo Booth". The kids dressed up with their favors and then put up their "peace / two" hand signs. What priceless pictures! After I told my husband what I wanted he made the bus. Didn't he do a great job!? Being married to an architect comes in handy sometimes. After plotting the picture, he mounted it to heavy duty foam core board (1/2" thick). He created a system for it to stand up using plumbing tube and rebar hammered into the ground.

Even though the party was in the backyard, we decorated the front of the house with little American flags. From the front door where a sign told guests to "join us in the backyard" to all the way down the driveway, the flags lead guests to lots of fun. We also made a huge (4') two logo and laid it in the center of the driveway.

The beverage station offered guests several options. Two different punch options, water and beer. Notice the cups, too. I bought simple white cups for a $1 per dozen. I printed the logos small on my printer, cut them out, ran them through my sticker machine and then stuck them on. A very cheap (albeit time consuming project) that looks totally custom. The color coordinating straws added a festive touch. Those were another great find around the Independence Day holiday - $1 from the Target.

For the bottle opener for the beer, I tied on a coordinating ribbon to the drink bucket. I love this idea - the opener stays where it's suppose to. I saw this idea years ago from none other than the amazing Martha!

You might remember I always stamp my plates to coordinate with the theme using gel food color (edible ink!). I used a hand peace sign stamp this year. I documented my process so I can show you a tutorial soon.

Since we had the party at 3:00 we didn't need much food. Besides, there was LOTS of desserts and that's what people really want, right!? The little food we did offer, I tried to keep in the color scheme. Blue chips and salsa, Tomato / Mozzarella skewers, and chicken salad sandwiches. The sandwiches were with white bread topped with a tomato half and a blue frill toothpick. Too bad I didn't take a close up - sorry!

Look at this little birthday girl and her lollipop! Too cute! (Yes, I realize I'm bias.)

I can't believe my baby is two! Happy Birthday Bree!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Now, what should I do next year!?