Young House Love

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Planning A Worm Themed Birthday Party

As we mentioned for a hot minute back in this post, Clara picked her party theme this year. What does she love more than monkeys, ice cream, firetrucks, and the mailman? Worms.

So the first thing on the party agenda was settling on a date (this Saturday the 12th, two days before her actual b-day on the 14th) and figuring out the guest list (our closest family and friends totaling about 30 people, ten who are kiddos under the age of four). Then it was the fun part. Invitations! We made three versions of them before picking our favorite (yes, making invitations is our idea of a good time). For the first one we used some shots from her 22 month photoshoot and although we loved the shapes and the fabric and that cute smile, it just didn’t have any worminess.

Clara Invite Alternative 1

So we played around some more and came up with this guy, who runneth over with worminess:

Clara Invite Alternative 2

As cute (and worm-ish) as we thought it was, we just kept playing around (yes, we’re nerds, and we only get to do it once a year) and came up with this more graphic – and just as wormy – alternative:

Clara Invite Final

Third time was the charm. Yes, we made chevron worms (maybe worms are the new chevron?). Of course we thought any of the options above would be great (and some folks might prefer #1 or #2 more), but we just loved those three little worms inching their way onto the number two with our smily girl in the middle of the number and the promise that “there will be worms.”

So we ordered just enough to send out to our crew, and even saved $15.77 thanks to googling around for a Winkflash coupon code:

Invite Coupon Code

It ended up being $1.58 per invite including an envelope ($28.54 for eighteen 5 x 7″ invites on matte card stock – not photo paper). Which isn’t  pennies, but definitely was a nice discount from the original price of $2.19 per invite. As for why we went with Winkflash, we used them for last year’s invite and were really happy with them. A lot of services offer templates for folded cards but it’s hard to find postcard-ish offerings that are completely blank (so you can upload your entire design without them putting a frame or some type around it).

And when they arrived? Love! They do such a good job- no weird printing lines or cheap-o feeling – we liked going with the larger size (5 x 7″) and the thick matte card stock paper. So that’s probably more than you’ve ever wanted to know about a two year old’s party invitation, huh? Haha.

Invite Here

But now for the party deets. Of course we’ll be back with a post after this weekend’s festivities, but just like last year, we thought a little sneak peek of our supplies might be fun (here’s last year’s). This is our table o’ stuff, some of which we had around already, like the yellow napkin dish ($2 from a thrift store a few years back!) and the fabric banner I sewed for Clara’s first birthday (we’ll re-use the runner I sewed too) along with a paper one I made for that party as well and some cute bird napkins we grabbed from Ikea about a month ago (birds like worms, right?). Some of the stuff is new of course, like the plates, worm-ish candles, some balloons and streamers, some paper lanterns, etc (all hailing from Party City or Target).

Invite All Stuff

Oh and see that pink arrow in the top left corner of the picture above? It’s pointing to this ice tray that we picked up at Ikea last month, because we thought we could even make some worm-ish ice. Or fill it with jello and make little jello worms.

Invite Ice Cube

So that’s on the agenda along with blowing up some polka dot balloons and some worm ones too (there is close to zero actual worm paraphernalia at Target and Party City, so when we saw worm balloons we couldn’t believe it).

As for all of the worm-related ideas, here’s what’s on our crazy brain dump list:

  • Make pipe cleaner worms to hide outside for a worm hunt
  • Make a grass runner with gummy worms (or plastic worms) on it
  • Collect paper towel rolls for some sort of worm craft…
  • Use streamers taped in little swags to look like worms (maybe across the beams in the living room and out on the patio somehow)
  • Serve apples with a gummy worm coming out and other worm-ish snacks
  • Cut peppers, cucumbers, and cheese into worm-like sticks and serve with dressing (worm crudité? how fancy)
  • Skewer grapes or other sliced fruit onto straws (less pokey for the kiddos than skewers)
  • Worm pizza (we’ll serve regular pizza for adults but put some cooked spaghetti on the slices for the kids)
  • Worm dogs (these are just hot dogs, haha, but we could make ketchup or mustard eyes and a smile)
  • Make white frosted cupcakes with oreo “dirt” sprinkled on top with a gummy worm (we thought about “dirt cake” or “dirt pudding” in a mason jar but it’s just too messy and hard to eat for all the 2-3 year olds)
  • Worm jello (we could just toss some gummy worms into jello sort of like a jello mold but instead of fruit it’s worms…)

Who knows what we’ll end up doing (definitely not everything!) but it’s fun to write down a bunch of things to see which ones stick. Oh and check out the favors I love so much that I assembled them a full week before the party. Nerd alert.

Invites Favors1

One of Clara’s favorite things to play with outside is our watering can (filling it with leaves, rocks, sticks, you name it) so when we saw cute green ones at Ikea for 99 cents we grabbed one for each kid (hoping they’ll like them just as much as our girl does). Then in the toy aisle we came across tiny stuffed worms for 49 cents each! Just kidding, they were snakes, but we cut off the pointy red tongues and voila: happy little worms. We also tossed a bottle of bubbles in each watering can along with an orange or pink scoop from Target (50 cents each). Brown tissue paper (aka: dirt) finished things off and gave us a spot to stick our scoops full of worms. We’re so excited for Clara to see hers. We’ve been hiding them all (I made them during a nap and stashed them all in the guest room) so it should be a pretty good time when she realizes that everyone gets a watering can, bubbles, a scoop, and a worm of their own at her party.

Oh and look at these candles we found at Tar-jay. Wormy, right?

Invite Napkins

This = a typical trip to Target. We thought grabbing two outside balls for kids to play with on the patio might be a good idea. And of course Clara picked her two favorite colors (orange and pink – which are one of the reasons we picked those colors for things like her invitations and her streamers).

Invite Target Balls

So that’s the deal with party planning. The basic gist is that I’m wishing we bought one more watering can, scoop, and stuffed snake worm so I’d get one of my own. I’m totally 30 going on 2.

Invites Favors2

Any party prep going on for you guys? Do you have any tips for keeping it simple and fun? We generally like to order food (something inexpensive but crowd-pleaser-ish, like pizza) so we’re not slaving over the stove all day. But cooking is my mom’s favorite thing, so she’d rather cook for thirty people and just grab ready-made invites. So there’s definitely more than one way to get your par-tay on. Can’t wait to share pics from this Saturday! And we’re building Clara something for her b-day. Something big. Ok, I’ll just tell you – it’s a dollhouse!!!!!!

Dollhouse Started

So excited to share the breakdown with you guys when it’s done (as expected, we’re just getting started so we’ll be working overtime!). And now for the general trite mom statement (but it’s painfully true). Oh my gosh,  how is my baby two already??? Dude, she was just turning one like three months ago.

Psst – You know $herdog loves her some Eminem, Snoop, Dre, and Biggie, but the new Karmin CD is uh.mazing. Seriously. Anyone else in love? I’ve been “YouTube in love with them” for a while (since this) and adored when they were on Ellen. Their new songs make me want to finish that dollhouse double-time (while pausing for a few obligatory dance breaks).

Comments

  1. Julie says

    You guys did a great job designing Clara’s worm-themed invitations!

    And, thanks for the information about Winkflash. I’m in the midst of planning a surprise anniversary part for my parents and would like to DIY the invitations.

    However, I read on the Winkflash site that “all flat stationary and folded cards will have the Winkflash logo and a barcode on the back. Cards printed on photo paper will not.” Does that mean that Clara’s invites from both last year and this year came with the company logo and barcode on them since you opted to go with the matte paper?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, they have a really small logo and bar code on the very bottom of the back (which is otherwise white and blank) but it doesn’t bother us since it’s the back which isn’t designed at all. I think you might be able to pay extra to remove them but we didn’t do that. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

    • Laura says

      That was my concern too — any chance you’d be willing to show us a photo of the back?

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Not sure if we’ll have a moment to do that today (we have a book call in 4 minutes) but picture it about a centimeter high on the bottom centimeter of an all-white card. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  3. Mary-Beth says

    Cute! I love the colors. Hot pink, orange and yellow were my wedding colors 5 years ago. You guys make me feel like a bum cause my son’s 1st birthday party is on the 19th but we aren’t treating it like a birthday party. It will be more like a normal get together with our friends but there will be cake smashing and a few homemade decorations. Have fun!

    Reply

  4. Becky says

    Oh my gosh, you really should make ‘dirt n worms’ for dessert! I’m from England but they used to serve this at the summer camp I went to in America, so apologies if this is an America-wide thing and not just a camp thing and I am preaching to the converted, but we used to get served this on special days and it was so awesome. It’s just chocolate pudding with gummy worms hidden inside, and then crushed oreo biscuits slopped on top. It looks disgusting…like a flowerpot, but that’s part of the fun. And the cute worm surprises are so much fun! I know you were concerned that pudding might be too messy, but if you assembled this in a big glass bowl so you could see the gummy worms through the side and then a big layer of dirt on top it could look really effective! Ok, I’m getting carried away, but it sounds like it will be a great party and I hope you all have a lot of fun!

    Reply

  6. Martha says

    I totally understand the invitation thing! I don’t have the graphic design skills, so I offered to pay a friend. Of course she did them for free. Then we sent them to a local printer, who printed them for free! (My work does a ton of business with them.)

    So, we got custom birthday invites for our kid’s first birthday for zero dollars. I feel lucky and guilty.

    But when I’m having a blue day, I go pull up the file and think about how much I love them.

    Seriously. I understand the invitation thing.

    Reply

  8. Anjuli says

    Candy tends to disintegrate when left in jello. I don’t know if it would be the same with gummy candy, so you might want to give it a trial run through.

    Reply

  9. Jessica says

    HA! My daughter turned 3 today, and her party is on the 12th as well! Although we’re not doing anything as cool as worms (kid FREAKS out with worms, but is cool with daddy long legs. Go figure.) We’re having a Hello Kitty themed party for the 2nd year in a row. I don’t know why she’s quite so obsessed with Hello Kitty, but OMG. It’s lasted well over a year now… Although she does tend to put her own spin on it. Halloween was a Jedi Hello Kitty. The party is Rainbow Hello Kitty!

    And then in less than a month my other daughter turns 5! Spidergirl/spiderman princess party is the theme for that one… Kid loves her some spidergirl comics!! ^_^ Can’t wait!

    Reply

  11. Jane in Nevada says

    Oh, what fun! How clever!!! Clara’s love of worms is so precious.. . a budding scientist for sure. Does she have any Lowly Worm books by Richard Scarry? Lowly has his own books and appears in all of Scarry’s books somewhere on the page. You can even purchase a Lowly Worm plush toy. Have a great wormy time!!!

    Reply

  13. Whitney Dupuis says

    I can’t wait to see how this party goes. It is going to be so cute! I love how different it is – way to go, Clara, for being an individual!

    So excited for the doll house. One day when I have a little girl, I want to make one for her. My sweet son would just destroy it. Haha.

    Oh and THANK YOU for the intro to Karmin. I have heard them before on youtube, but I apparently didn’t see just how talented they are. Ridiculous. I mean, they are stupid good!

    Reply

  14. Becky says

    Whoops sorry I also just saw someone mentioned dirt n worms in a comment above. I got overexcited and wanted to comment right away!

    Reply

  15. Sarah says

    I was the same way as a kid and my parents and sisters laugh but now I have a worm compost on the back deck of my townhouse. That may be a fun project to start with her.
    This theme kind of reminds me of the old camp song Hermin the Worm. Love that song! If you don’t know that song, look it up because it is always fun to dance with kids etc.
    Have you thought about just making some sugar or ginger bread cookies and making them in worm shapes or having the kids roll out dough “worms” that they get to cook and take home as their cookies? Ginger bread would work perfectly for that.

    Reply

  16. Nicole says

    What did you use to design the invitation? I always make my son’s invitations but I struggle so much with what program to use. I usually end up with Word and I’m never happy with the end result.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We used Photoshop. We’ve just had that since our days in advertising. It’s not cheap and definitely has a learning curve but it’s so much fun once you get into it!

      xo,
      s

  17. Georgia says

    All so very cute. I love how you are thinking outside the box. And I have to say my fav invite was the one with “yay worms!” on it because that was just too cute.
    I used to be like you. I would go crazy doing themed birthday parties, but keeping it all really low cost. Lots of fun crafts and games Made my own pinatas, pin the tail on the ..s, cakes for school, cakes for home. I did whale themes, snake themes, dinosaur and train themes. I outdid myself on my youngest’s 4th birthday which was supposed to be an outside fairy party and it poured with rain and we brought everything in and made our lounge room into a fairy kingdom. But after 4 kids, I got to the point where I just couldn’t be face it any more. Last few years my kids have got a cake and that’s about it. And yes, I feel really, really bad about it. I think I burned myself out.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw, I bet they love any way you choose to spend the day with them! I think Clara’s happy with cake or a cupcake, the rest is just details. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  18. Donna Jean says

    Your ideas and decorations are super cute! Clara will have such a great time at her worm party. Have you thought about having some oreo truffles? super yummy and they would look like balls of dirt w/o all the mess of dirt pudding! My mom makes these at Christmas and they are delicious! You cold only half dip them or not at all so they look like dirt & mud or just dirt.
    http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-oreo-truffles/
    My son turns 2 June 15th, so I’m slowly starting to get things together for his party, which won’t be until early July since I’m due with his little sister also on June 15th (although I am hoping that she misses the 15th so that they will each have their own special days). We are doing a monster theme – I found some really cute monster scrapbook paper at Michael’s and I’m using it to make cupcake toppers and other various decorations and maybe a banner (we’ll see how these last few weeks of pregnancy treat me!). And I’m very thankful for family that lives near by who are willing to host the party at their house so I don’t have to worry about trying to get my house ready for a party while recovering from birth and getting used to life with a toddler AND a newborn! But like you, I totally can’t believe that my baby is about to turn 2!! Where has the time gone?!

    Reply

  19. Charli says

    If you rubberband a bunch of straws together, then poor jello over all of them…let them harden and they slide right out of the straws and look just like worms!!

    Reply

  21. emilymarion says

    Pipe cleaners are really easy to lace, if you wanted to have a worm craft for the kiddos. I’m a preschool teacher & love using the foam “beads.”

    You could also throw down a blanket outside with a some worm/garden books or outside durable books.

    Actually dig for worms : ) Maybe too messy! Depending on the ages of the kids, buy a packet of seeds and let them plant “a garden” for worms to live in at their house,

    Maybe a fun sensory bowl with cold spaghetti. If you didn’t want it to get too messy, they stick one hand in without looking.

    Absolutely LOVE the doll house! Can’t wait to see how it turns out!

    Reply

  23. Jenn says

    You could even freeze gummi worms (or the smaller neon Trolli gummi worms) into those long skinny ice cubes

    Reply

  24. Melissa M says

    This entire post is adorable – and I can’t wait to see pictures of Clara’s party – but right now I’m scraping my jaw off the floor after watching that Karmin video!

    HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS!? They’re amazing!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      SO GOOD RIGHT? Seriously, they’re so cute. I want to be online friends with them, but they might be slightly out of $herdog’s league. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  25. Janette@The2Seasons says

    I hope you have the recipe for dirt cake that has gummy worms in it. The dirt is crushed Oreos. It’s full of good stuff like pudding and whipped cream. You serve it in a flower pot. It would be the perfect b’day cake for her.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes we thought it might be too messy for all the two years olds, so we’re doing our spin on it with cupcakes with oreo dirt and a worm on top!

      xo,
      s

  26. KellyA says

    haha, I just heard a comedy act yesterday that mentioned “I don’t know why any parent with photoshop would throw a bday party for a 2 year old…” and then I see your post!

    And yeah, as others have said I’ve seen those “worm” balloons before and they’re definitely not worm like.

    Reply

  27. abby says

    I saw a thing on pinterest where you follow the jello recipe and put it in a shallow pan then submerge regular straws (the kind that bend at the top), then after the jello sets you take the straws out and roll them out. You’re left with jello worms with the ridges that separate the heads and bodies.

    Reply

  28. Leigh says

    We are in full party planning mode in our house too. Our little man turns 1 in June. We are planning an elephant theme since he has a stuffed elephant that he loves and takes everywhere. You guys are braver than me holding the party at lunch time. I planning on starting his party around 2 since it will be mostly adults. That way we can serve snacks!

    That’s for the info about invitation printing. We’ve designed our own invitation as well (so fun!) and I was thinking about printing at home but may have them printed through that site.

    Reply

  29. Terry D says

    Cut the hot dogs into segments and poke a few pieces of uncooked spaghetti into them, throw them in boiling water until the pasta cooks. When they are done it looks like worms coming out of the hot dog pieces. Bonus, they can eat it with their fingers.

    Reply

  31. Tanya says

    LOVE how you have worked her favorite animal–insect, whatever as the party theme! It’s very Clara. She is a total doll and is going to be in HEAVEN at her party!!!

    Reply

  32. Kristi says

    I don’t know if you ever heard of the desser called “dirt” but you NEED to have it at her party. In a pail put in vanilla pudding with mooshed up oreos and gummy worms. Its so good!!! It’s a big thing in PA but I don’t know about elsewhere. If you need the recipe (I think it’s basically what I told you) let me know! Good luck with the party and doll house! Yay!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, we thought about that but worried it was too messy for two year olds so we’re doing oreo dirt sprinkled over cupcakes with a worm on top instead!

      xo,
      s

  33. India says

    I’m studying teaching, and we actually randomly had a box of earthworms in one of our classes today! I bet Clara would have loved it! You can put coloured water onto a worm (it doesn’t harm them) and then put it onto paper and it makes a really cool pattern as it moves around. Fun! x

    Reply

  34. Heather L says

    My daughter is also having her second birthday party this Saturday and she picked the theme of… Worms!! She just loves them. I did opt to do dirt pie in little tiny pots with worms and topped with plastic flowers, I was worried about the mess as well but almost all of the guests are adults so I am hoping it won’t be too much of a disaster :)

    Reply

  35. Bethany says

    I love that my son’s birthday is so close Clara’s (minus 1 year)!!! Our parties are the same day and time! Our theme (if a 1-year old can have a theme) is balloons since Calvin is absolutely in love with them. So great that you let Clara pick the theme and she picked worms. That girl is completely awesome.

    Reply

  39. Paige says

    $herdog- I don’t know if anyone mentioned this already, but I think you can cut hotdogs in fourths lengthwise and they look a lot like worms when you stack a trio of them on a bun! It can also make the dogs go a little further. But you’d definitely have to boil or grill them in a grill basket because they’d be likely to fall through the slats of your grill at such a small size.

    Reply

  40. Kelly says

    I didn’t see this in the comments yet but if you’re planning to serve worm shaped fruits & vegetables, wavy slicers are fun for adding a wiggly line similar to your chevron worm invitations. Kids seem to like the “wiggle sticks” I make out out of carrots & apples, so do adults. I have seen the slicers in various forms in housewares departments & specialty stores- http://www.thekitchenoutlet.com/product.php?productid=331

    Reply

  41. Ginny @ goofymonkeys says

    I totally love that Clara is on board for her b-day party theme! Our little guy’s birthday is in a month and I haven’t started thinking much about it yet. I suppose now is a good time to start.

    Reply

  42. leslie says

    First, my daughter talks about worms ALL the time. Actually she calls them “lerms”, there was one outside and she was so excited that kept saying “That lerm is lerming around!” For sure need to remember to write that one down on our funny things Kate says list. Also, don’t even get me started about party planning. People think I’m nuts, but I love planning parties. I usually get a good 10 month start. Just finished celebrating K’s 3rd birthday vintage school party complete with brown bag school lunches, class pictures, and recess! Party on and enjoy the day!

    Reply

  44. Kim Weigand says

    I had a worm party for my daughter when she turned 3….we made worm rolls out of crescent rolls instead of pizza. Just add your favorite pizza ingredients to the sheet of dough, roll up, make it curvy, add olive eyes and bake. Comes out sooo cute. Just slice and eat. She will be 17 in June, my baby of 3 girls.

    Reply

  45. Lauren@FilingJointly says

    I just watched the video and it made me remember something.

    I worked at a preschool in college and during nap time we played a cd of Sesame Street soothing songs to help the kids sleep.

    One of the songs was “Inchworm”. I wonder if it made any of those kids dream about worms.

    Reply

  46. Gina @ Temporary Nest says

    THis is so funny. Worms are my BIGGEST fear in life. I am paralyzed with fear if i see a worm on the sidewalk. In fact, I was filling my waterbottle at work yesterday, when my coworker said “oh hang on you have an inch worm on you” and he plucked it off. And i ran screaming in the other direction and I was almost in tears and I had to explain to him how terrified i was and not to bring it anywhere near me or I’d probably faint. And he kept asking “are you serious? are you serious, its an inch worm!?”

    I was very serious. And couldnt help but feel like things were crawling on me for the rest of the day. In fact, just typing this, I’m starting to feel creepy-crawly. EEK!

    But ahem for Clara who likes those things. It will be an easier life for her ;)

    Reply

  48. Lauren C. says

    Just wanted to say thank you for posting about Winkflash! I have been looking for a place to print my daughter’s party invites that could handle one entire card sized image on cardstock. Your timing was perfect :) FYI…they have an awesome coupon code right now too! I placed my order this morning and got all 30 of my invites for FREE (just pay $3.99 shipping). They have the coupon code listed in the Photo Card section of the site!

    Reply

  50. Mindy Gallagher says

    Hi there,
    Your invitations are so cute! I am a graphic designer and I had to share a great site with you for printing invitations in small batches, with good thick quality paper and fast printing. And they even print double-sided postcard invitations…exciting to a design nerd like myself. It is a local company (in Minneapolis), but they print and ship wherever, called Printz. The web address is: http://www.printz.com
    They do a great job, show you a proof and have been great to work with on many projects! Wanted to pass it on to you in case you wanted to check it out for future projects!
    Thanks, Mindy

    Reply

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