Celebrate Spring and Summer birthdays with our Snug as a Bug birthday theme. Resplendent with butterflies and dragonflies, there’s a lot of different colors to play with for tableware and décor, so you can pick your child’s favorite color to work with. There are some adorable things to do with this theme. 

- Bugs like flowers right? Decorate cupcakes with colorful faux flowers.

- Serve sugar cookies shaped like different bugs (craft stores offer a wide variety of shapes and sizes).

- Instead of cake serve one of these alternatives:  
          “Dirt”: Fill a large clean planter with chocolate pudding and gummy worms and bugs. Top with crushed Oreos and lay some more gummies on top. For more flair, “plant” some faux flowers in the pot too.
          Butterfly Cupcakes: I  learned these from my mother and make them all the time for bake sales and other events and they’re always a hit! See the recipe below*.

- For games try a Caterpillar Crawl or Bug Hunt. For an evening party, send the guests outside to catch lightning bugs!
          Caterpillar Crawl: Guests race around an obstacle course on their tummies in a sleeping bag. If the bag comes off, they have to start over. For larger guests lists, split kids  into teams  and do it as a relay.
          Bug Hunt: Place gummi or plastic bugs in a bowl mixed in with rice or orzo pasta. Guests have to “catch” bugs with a pair of tweezers or chopsticks within a time limit.

- Instead of goody bags, purchase some small inexpensive flowers pots and fill them with flower seeds (preferably ones that attract butterflies like honeysuckle or herbs), gummi or plastic bugs, magnifying glasses (for examining bugs in their own backyards), and, of course, personalized candy bars.

- Have kids “dress up” by handing out antennae headbands and wings. To go simple, use face paint and draw little creepy crawlies on their cheeks.            

There are many different ways use the bug theme. Go as creepy or cute as your child wants. Also check out local nature reserves and see if there is butterfly garden your guests can tour as a fun field trip. Many of these places are also willing to rent out rooms as a party venue.

Have a great time and tuck your birthday boy or girl into bed pleased with the knowledge that their day was special and they are as snug as a bug in rug!          

*Butterfly Cupcakes

1 Package of cake mix, any flavor

Ingredients needed for cake mix

Instant Pudding

Milk as called for for pudding

Confectioner’s sugar 

1. Prepare cake mix as directed for 24 cupcakes.
2. While cupcakes are cooling, prepare Instant Pudding as directed.
3. Insert knife at 45º angle and cut out a cone-shape. Fill hole with spoonful of pudding.
4. Cut cone in half and place on top of pudding-filled cupcake with top-sides facing each other (should look like wings).
5. Sift/sprinkle cupcakes with confectioner’s sugar.

Good Combinations (Cake: Pudding)

Chocolate/Devil’s Food: Chocolate, White Chocolate, Butterscotch

Yellow: Lemon, Vanilla

Strawberry: White Chocolate, Vanilla

Funfetti: White Chocolate

Red Velvet: Cheesecake

Lemon: Lemon

*You can use food coloring to dye vanilla or white chocolate pudding to your child’s favorite color.

Posted by Jillian, a Dot-arilla Blogger

Share on Facebook

What are your theme ideas?

Send your theme ideas to CreativeTeam@BigDotOfHappiness.com!

Share on Facebook

Picking a birthday party theme is easy when your kids are small. All you need to do is flip on Nick Jr. or PBS Kids and pick a character. You can easily find any party related item from napkins to candy to games featuring that character. Tweens? Not so much. In fact, pick the wrong theme and you are the worst parent ever, trying to ostracize your child and condemn them to a life relentless and perpetual dork-dom… or so they will treat you. So how can you pick a cool theme and actually have your tween enjoy themselves?

Do your research. Do not assume that you are tuned in to what is cool. Try scoping out your tween’s collection of magazines, or magazines targeted to their age group. (A magazine about kids will not be as helpful as a magazine or show for kids.) Now that you know what they might like or be interested in, talk to them. No one knows your tween better than your tween. If their ideas are not feasible because of budgetary constraints, try one the following ideas:

Tween Themes to Get You Started:
• All-night movie marathon: Allow your child and his/her friends to stay up all night watching movies*. Be sure to stock all of the movie theater amenities- popcorn, soda, nachos, etc. in moderation. Surely, most kids won’t make it all night, but they’ll have fun trying, and you’ll be cool for letting them try.
◦ Theme Within A Theme: High School Musical, Twilight, Harry Potter, Disney Movies

• Fashion & Make-over Party: Invite your daughter’s friends to bring over clothes they no longer fit into/want and let them exchange them amongst themselves. You can bring the leftovers to Goodwill as a charitable donation. Provide make-up for them to experiment with. You could even call a local hairdressing school and ask if you can hire a student or two to come over and do some styling. As favors, you can give manicure kits or personalized body butters, not to mention those “new” clothes!

• Charity Field Trip: If there is a cause your child is passionate about find out if there is a way to contribute to that cause. Do they love animals? Try walking dogs at the local animal shelter. Do they feel bad for kids with no books? Try Trick-or-Treating for children’s books and donate them to a literacy group or Boys & Girls Club. (Let neighbors know a few days in advance you will be doing this.) You can do cake and ice cream when you return home.

• Hotel Night: This one’s easy. Rent a room at a hotel with a pool. The kids can swim. You can order in pizza delivery for dinner and let them have a slumber party. Bonus points if the hotel has its own water-park.

• Vegas Night*: Have kids dress their best and teach them some games like roulette, Texas hold-em, and Blackjack. Use Monopoly money for kids to exchange for prizes like stickers, journals, candy, and card decks.

• Top Chef: Gather some recipes and let the kids take over the kitchen. They can even make the birthday cake! They will have a delicious time and have some some yummy favors to take home.

*Make sure that any movies or games you plan on having are okay with the parents of your child’s guests. The last thing you want is to get a child, or yourself, in trouble for compromising other families’ values or rules.

Run your theme ideas by your tween and get them involved in the party planning from the invitations to the location and decor. (The Trendy Flower theme from SimplyBirthdayStuff.com is especially popular for tween girls!) The more involved they are in the process, the more likely they are to enjoy the party. Remember, your tween is growing up and letting them make the decisions will help them feel that way, which may be the most important gift you can give your tween.

Posted by Jillian, a Dot-arilla Blogger

Pictures are courtesy of jo-anndilorenzo.com and amaterialworld.net.

Share on Facebook

Shop our best selling themes…
You’ll love them as much as we do!

Planning a Bridal Shower? You will love our Bridal Silhouette Purple theme! The theme features a beautiful bridal silhouette with a dark rich purple that will leave an lasting impression on your guests.

Throwing a Birthday Bash? Check out the hottest theme of the year, Modern Ladybug. This cute little ladybug will crawl her way into your heart. What little “ladybug” wouldn’t love to have this themed birthday party?

Celebrating the arrival of a new baby? Be a party planning hero with our Mommy Silhouette baby shower theme. The Mommy Silhouette theme is an elegant yet modern way to welcome a new baby! Your baby shower will be sleek and stylish with our fun whimsical silhouette design.

Share on Facebook

A little birdie told us that it’s somebody’s birthday! Celebrate in style with our personalized birthday banners. SimplyBirthdayStuff.com’s personalized birthday banners make a great keepsake from the birthday party and a beautiful decoration for your children’s rooms. SimplyBirthdayStuff.com offers a variety of birthday banners for all ages from a 1st birthday celebration to a 60th birthday party! Check out a great selection of banners at: http://www.simplybirthdaystuff.com/pebiba.html.

Share on Facebook