finley's second birthday: a ladybug garden party!

Finley is obsessed with ladybugs. She talks about them all the time. She has a beloved Skiphop ladybug backpack. And a few months ago a small wooden craft ladybug fell on the floor in my bedroom beside my desk. I didn't have the heart to pick it up, because it became Finley's muse. She would visit it every day before her nap, just to say hi. So a ladybug party for her was inevitable.

The party was pretty low-budget, which meant I had to get creative. I decided to not go crazy with ladybug motifs, but to decorate mainly with polka dots in red, black and white, and kraft paper for that gardeny feel.

I designed the invitations and had them printed at Staples (note they are available as a DIY printable in my Etsy shop). I love the look of the clean, stark polkadots with the rough brown kraft envelope.

 Our porch decor just happened to match!

 

I crafted antennae for each little guest out of cheap headbands from Walmart, black pipe cleaners and electrical tape.

Jumbo flowers were made out of tissue paper. Easy decor and very effective! The picket fence was cut out of white card stock, and some inexpensive letters from Michael's were spray painted gold.

 

Grass cupcake liners held chocolate cuppies, topped with 'dirt' (cookie crumbs) and cute edible ladybug toppers from Sweet Sarah's Boutique.

 

One more look at the paper flowers because they are just so pretty!

This large 'Finley at 2' poster was printed in black and white at Staples for $8! You just have to ask for an 'engineer print'.

Instead of flowers, I opted for cat grass in dollar store pots. Vinyl (wipeable!) polkadot tablecloth fabric is from IKEA.

I was able to reuse a lot of decor items from Sage's first Picnic Party. I love being able to reuse! And I of course love paper straws.

Washi tape purties up some plain old cups.

Polkadots on the wall.

Kate Spade polkadot puffs found at Chapters! They went perfectly with the red puffs I ordered for the Picnic Party (that arrived a week after the Picnic Party due to a mail strike at the time).

Remember the little wooden craft ladybugs that Finley fell in love with? I had a bunch of them, and some mini terracotta pots hanging around too. I wasn't sure what to do with them so I made some of these weird wee things.

Favourite photos from the year posted on our chalkboard door.

Lootbags, the best part! I love putting these together. This is the girl's version - the boy's version swapped out the hair clips for a creepy crawly bug toy.

I had plans for the kids to make a ladybug craft, and to play pin the dot on the ladybug. But they were all having such a blast just playing with toys in our basement. We just went with the flow, and didn't push any of the activities. Still we all had tons of fun!

Thanks for checking out Finley's Ladybug Garden Party! Up next - Sage's 4th freezing cold Frozen Party next month, in what is usually the hottest week of the year. Stay tuned.