Turning Two: Curious George Style!

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A couple weeks ago, my baby turned two years old. I can hardly believe what a big boy he is becoming! In the midst of my husband’s deployment homecoming and our vacation I wasn’t sure I could pull together a party for my son. Homecoming being first and foremost in my mind, I hadn’t even thought about party themes yet.

Last year it was easy. My son LOVED Veggie Tales (and still does) and so a Veggie Tales party was the perfect fit for his first birthday party. This year, nothing really stood out in my mind as something he loved more than everything else so I decided to ask my friends on Facebook. Someone suggested Curious George, and I knew it was perfect, because he LOVES Curious George books. The one Curious George book we had got so torn  up because we read it so much and took it everywhere.

From there, I decided to go on Pinterest and see what ideas I could find for a Curious George birthday party. I was shocked to find tons. I also enlisted the help of my friend and babysitter Emily who loves to plan parties and is very good at it. Here are all the ideas we came up with together!

Invitations:
This is what the invitations looked like. Emily made them on the computer using Curious George pictures from online and using the “paint” program on her computer. I uploaded it to Walmart.com and had them printed out at the photo center on card stock. I put them in the envelopes and sent them off!

Decorations:
I got an idea from Pinterest as to the sign for the door. I didn’t have a chalkboard, but bought some poster board at Walmart and Emily decorated it with our theme colors: red and yellow.

For decorations, I decided to make paper chains instead of using streamers. I just used red and yellow construction paper and tape and hung one chain from the lamp in the middle of the room to each corner of the dining room. I also hung red and yellow balloons from the light and my brother helped to blow up a bunch more balloons for the kids to play with.

For the table, I got a red tablecloth at the dollar store, Emily punched out red and yellow stars with her star hole-puncher and they were sprinkled on the table. For the plates and cups for each child, we made them into “Man in the Yellow Hat” hats. We colored the cups with a strip of black marker then just placed them on top of the plates. At each plate we set out name cards printed out from pbskids.org. Click on the photos to see a larger version of each picture.

 We also made a “picture wall” – a place for guests to take pictures with their Curious George monkey masks, party hats and more! We used another red tablecloth from the dollar store, a Curious George banner and thumb-tacked balloons into the wall.

We also got my son Adam all spiffed up for the party with his own shirt! It was a little big on him, but it was super cute! I ordered it online from Monkey Doodle Thread’s shop on etsy. It was a little hard to get a picture, but it says, “Birthday Boy,” the number “2” and “Adam.”

Food:

For food I had a lot of ideas and so did Emily. I searched on Pinterest and she had plenty of ideas as well. It took some time, but here is what we narrowed it down to:

• Peanut Butter Sandwich Buffet (bread, peanut butter, jelly, jam, bananas, & honey)
• Ham & Turkey Cold Cuts Buffet (bread, ham, turkey, mustard, & mayo)
• Chips
• Vegetables and Sour Cream & Onion Dip
• Cheese & Crackers

We also served:

• Banana Runts
• Fruit & Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip
• Chocolate Dipped Bananas

Cake:

I had the cake made at the commissary, they make good cake and are actually pretty cheap. I found a picture that I wanted represented on it, and took it in when I ordered the cake and they had it put on top. It didn’t come out as good as last year’s Bob & Larry cake, but it looked good.

Adam wasn’t sure why we were all singing at him. In fact  he was a bit concerned, but he did try some cake after! He loves Chocolate!

After cake, we tried to take some family pictures. Adam doesn’t like anything touching his face or head, but we were determined to see if we could get a picture with him in the monkey mask! Below is what transpired.

Soon after we opened presents. Adam still isn’t sure about opening presents, but he did have fun throwing the tissue paper everywhere!

Games:
For games I put on some kid’s music and had them dance. I had bought some monkey party blowers at the dollar store so I gave one to each of them. After that we tried to play a version of hot potato with the Stuffed Curious George monkey, but the kids weren’t really interested in sitting and playing. For prizes, I bought little monkey trinkets from the dollar store. The kids were also able to take home their monkey masks and party blowers.

All in all it was a great party and we had a lot of fun. It wasn’t as stressful as last year’s and I was glad we had it at our house instead of bringing the party somewhere else. We had four little ones and their family come and as they left we gave them their party favors: a small bag of banana runts and a Curious George book: Curious George and the Birthday Surprise. It was perfect for a birthday party favor since it was about a birthday party!

To see more of the Curious George party ideas I compiled, check out my Party Ideas Pinterest Board.