All this and so much more!

I've been contemplating Josiah's upcoming birthday for months. Some time around March, I settled on a Dr. Seuss theme and started mulling over ideas in my head, but had nothing concrete yet. In the past months, I've created quite a collection of Dr. Seuss books and a couple of stuffed animals.

Last weekend, my mom volunteered to pay for some custom Dr. Seuss dinner/dessert plates. We picked out these plates online:

We also ordered some party favor bags:

The other day, I made the "Happy Birthday" banner. It's not strung together, but is otherwise finished.

 

And, today, I finished the invitation, as much as I can right now. This is the computer view of it. I printed it out, though, and mounted it on red scrapbooking paper: 

 

So, for the party, here are my ideas:

Colors:

I'm sticking to red, teal, white, and black.

Books/Movie:

I want to have my books spread around the room as decorations. Some of them will be in a reading center with pillows and a couch. I have 2-3 of many of the books (some borrowed, some bought duplicates) so I could cut out some pictures or print out copies of it or use the books in various areas. I also want to have a movie playing on the TV, probably without volume; just as a visual effect.

Decorations:

I plan on having paper lanterns all around the room, use tulle or mesh as an accent, lots of balloons on the floor and floating around the room, maybe streamers, perhaps even pinwheels, and plush characters, or scenes hanging from the ceiling or displayed as cutouts around the room, feather boas, and polka dots. I've been browsing all of my books to find scenes as inspiration or famous lines to quote. (All of these pictures came from various websites online. I could find the source if I needed to.):

 

Pictures:

I do want pictures of Josiah throughout the year displayed around the room. I may do it as a banner, like this (not Josiah in the pic):

Since I am already using his official monthly pics in the invite, I want to use others of my favorite pictures around the room. However, I have so many that I love, so I may use them in various ways, such as the banner above and also incorporated in the centerpieces.

Centerpieces:

I came across this online and love it:

(The picture came out small- it's a paper lantern decorated like the ball in "Cat in the Hat", topped with the Cat balancing all of his items.)

I also was inspired by a party where they reused formula cans as part of their centerpiece. I think they used it as a pot for flowers. I decided to wrap it in paper and put Josiah's picture on one side and a Seuss quote on the other. This is what I made tonight- not perfect- but similar to what I had in mind. I wanted to fill it with crinkled raffia paper and have a balloon bouquet coming from it.

  

Cake:

As far as the cake, I'm kinda undecided right now. At first, I wanted a really elaborate cake plus a smash cake for Josiah. Then I thought that maybe I would just have cupcakes and a smash cake. I did find another cake I like, though, and maybe I could do something similar for the big cake. I know what I want for the smash cake, for sure. The other is still in question...

(I particularly like the fish in the teapot on the right side, which is what I was thinking for my main cake...????)

(This is the smash cake I'm pretty set on since it is made after the cake that is actually in the story "Cat in the Hat". My little cousin, Zoe, had a set of Dr. Seuss toys that she let me borrow which included a toy boat. The boat, in the story was sunk in the cake. I think I'd like to have Josiah's cake with the boat in it as well.)

Food/Beverages:

Here are a few samples of snacks I'm considering:

   

 

 

   

Activities:

Next, there are some games and activities I am considering, but will have to narrow down, including:

• A book for everyone to sign "Happy Birthday To You!"

• A Green Egg Hunt- using green plastic easter eggs
• Story Time
• A Cake Walk- using footprints (from "The Foot Book"), where the kids walk around and whoever lands on a certain foot wins a prize
• One Fish Two Fish, Fishing Game- the kids would have a pole and string and try to fish out of a kiddie pool
• Pin the ________ on the __________- could be Wocket and Pocket, Cat and Hat, or Star and Sneetch
• Photo Props- 

 

• Ring the Gack-

• Guessing Game-

• Coloring Pages-

Favors:

Finally, I haven't yet figured out what to do about party favors. I have the loot bags I mentioned earlier, but I don't know if I should fill them with candy or toys or let the kids use them for the egg hunt or what? I had an idea to use recycled baby food jars and make them into goldfish bowls by painting the lids and punching a few holes in it and then filling with water and a goldfish ("The Cat in the Hat"). 

I know that's a lot!!! I AM going to narrow things down. These are just the ideas I liked after doing research on the theme. If you have any more suggestions, let me know! And, if you want help planning your party, I LOVE doing this kind of stuff!!!