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Planning A Dragon Birthday Party

In keeping with our annual tradition, we thought we’d give you a peek at Clara’s invitation and a few of our party supplies like we did last year and the year before. And since a lot of you are trying to guess the theme that she picked this year (after choosing worms last year)… well… say hello to our little dragon.

Invite Final

The dragon theme came about a bit more gradually than last year’s theme, which was born from her worm-laden dreams. Somewhere between declaring that the book Dragons Love Tacos is her favorite (we even read it to her preschool class last month) and frequently requesting to wear her dragon cape around the house – it dawned on us that everybody’s favorite fire-breathing creatures would be a fun muse.

Invite Dragon Cape2

And just in case we didn’t get the hint, Clara started telling us that dragons were coming to her party. So we figured working them in where we could was the least we could do.

The invites went out last week, so that’s one party to-do checked off the list. As a recap, here was her first birthday party invite – which played off of her weekly photo project theme.

Inivte Clara Final

And last year we cooked up some chevron-y worms that helped set the color scheme.

Clara Invite Final

For this year’s invite we wanted to do dragons, but friendly Clara-ish ones. Which led us to the idea of Clara actually becoming the dragon. Oh man, that would make her year. In order to turn our little lady into a winged fire breather herself, we had to capture a cute open-mouth portrait of Clara. It was harder than we expected…

Invite Grid

As soon as we saw this photo we knew it was the one, just because she looks so coy, like “oops, am I breathing fire?”

Invite Final Pick

Although we were almost tempted to select this one and change the theme to Julius Caesar. “Friends, Romans, Preschoolers – lend me your play doh.”

Invite Arm Out

We added all of the graphics and text in Photoshop, trying to simulate the look of 3D paper cut outs where we could. As for the how we did it details, we just scanned some construction paper to get pulp-y paper texture (it’s a little hard to see here, though) and cut things out and made different layers of them for that flame-like look.

Invite Final

In previous years we’ve printed using Winkflash, since they offered postcards that were entirely of your own design (no words or graphics over them). But this year we had a Shutterfly coupon for 15 free 5 x 7″ stationery postcards. We had trouble finding blank ones at first, but then stumbled upon these in the holiday section. Fifteen of them would’ve been $34 originally, but they were already marked down to $24 based on some other promotion. And thanks to our coupon, all we had to pay was the shipping (so we upgraded slightly to get them sent faster by a couple of days). Total cost: ten bucks!

Invite Total Checkout

Of course we’ll be back with a post after the festivities, but here’s a sneak peek of some of the party stuff.

Dragon Party Supplies

It’ll all make more sense in context, but those dragon socks were 99 cents a pop from Target (Clara loves novelty socks so we thought they’d be fun favors) and that big ikat serving plate was on clearance for $6. We’re also going to have a dragon egg hunt, hence those plastic eggs on the right. It should be really low key and fun (around 8 kids and 15 adults). Clara actually helped me paint those $4 wooden castles from Michael’s while they installed our alarm system at the new house last Monday (I thought those would be cute on the table with all the food – and she loves to paint so that was a sweet me&C project).

Clara Painting Castles

Oh and the party will be at our current house because we thought it would be nice for Clara to have spent three Christmases and her three first birthdays here. Plus the new house is hardly in the shape to entertain just yet… although the errant centipedes might add a vaguely medieval vibe.

Psst- Tonight at 7pm we’ll be chatting with Kate Hall (aka: Richmond Mom) about parenting, decorating with your family in mind, and Mother’s Day gift ideas at the Barnes & Noble in Glen Allen (near Virginia Center Commons). It’ll be followed by a Q&A and a book signing, so we’d love to hang with anyone who can make it.

Comments

  1. Rachel says

    So fun! I just did a requested peacock birthday for my 5 year old and bought so many of the same decorations (yay, Target!) and even had a peacock egg hunt, ha ha. Clara is going to have a blast!

    Reply

  2. tara vb says

    A book/gift recommendation for your little dragon-girl: My Father’s Dragon (and the follow-ups) by Ruth Stiles Gannett. A classic and all-time favorite chapter book. You’ll all love it.

    Reply

  4. Sheila says

    Is it wrong that I’m in my twenties and CRAZY JEALOUS of your 3 year old’s dragon cape? I smell a DIY project in my near future…

    Happy Birthday little one!

    Reply

  5. Ally says

    EEEEK!!! Sooo sweet!!! I love the series of photo’s! :)

    Looking back at the other 2 invitations, it’s hard to believe how much your sweet little Clara has grown! :)

    xox

    Reply

  6. Jessica says

    I love the idea of a dragon party. I had wished my daughter was a little more creative this year with what she wanted, but alas! We are doing Hello Kitty. Last year we did Gnomeo and Juliet, and had a blast! Hope you have a wonderfully, dragon-y birthday, Clara! :)

    Reply

  8. Theresa says

    Rarely am I able to see how a child looks like their parent (they always look like THEMSELVES to me) but Holy cow does Clara look like Sherry in the top row of the little Brady-Bunch thing you got there. ;) She’s beautiful!

    Reply

  9. Bryony says

    That looks adorable! Speaking of dragon-themed books, our son’s current favourite is one called ‘Again!’ by Emily Gravett. It’s absolutely adorable…Clara would probably enjoy it!

    Reply

  10. Kat says

    Oooh for a split second I thought Clara was born in the year of the dragon (circa the Chinese zodiac placemat animal diagrams). But dragons were last year so it seems she was born in the year of the tiger (2010?). Still cool, I’m a tiger! Anyways, happy birthday to Clara! The invite looks so fun :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, the year of the tiger fits because she likes them too! And they were John’s favorite animal for years as a child (he tells me stories about how he used to check a book out of the library about tigers and renew it every time it ran out so he could always have it, haha!).

      xo
      s

  11. Susan says

    I became the coolest-mom-ever when my kids turned 12 and we did a Hanson( MMMMBop indeed)party complete with pin the kiss on Zac and a cake that replicated their logo for our daughter; son got a rock -n-roll fantasy camp guitar thingy w/a guitar cake- they tinkered with real instruments; he could play a bit by then so he taught them Smoke on the Water-hilarious but LOUD.

    They are twins, and we always did them back to back on the same day; one got the 11-1 slot, one 2-4.Heaps of work but worth it-the memories are priceless.

    My hubby turns 50 on May 21, and I am a planning fool right now…enjoy your lil miss number three!

    Reply

  12. Katie Rose says

    All I could concentrate on after reaching the end of this post was the centipedes shout-out. Are they those big “house centipedes”? We get them in our house (although I’ve only ever seen them in the basement and upstairs bathroom). I know now that the summer is coming they will be more prevalent (haven’t seen any of them in the past few wintery months) and they scare the beejesus out of me! I would much rather deal with spiders or bees. Something that will not die after I stomp on it several times does not belong in a house!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha! I probably shouldn’t tell you because it’s crazy, but inside the house are those little ones that look like inch worms with a million legs but in the sunroom we found a giant one. The thing looked prehistoric. It was hand sized.

      xo
      s

  13. Amy says

    That’s AWESOME! A few years ago I threw a St. George’s Day party (think St. Pat’s Day, only British and with dragons and not snakes) and we made all sorts of “dragon food” like dragon-smoked-dragon (smokey BBQ chicken), dragon eggs (dyed deviled eggs) and a bunch of other tasty things that I can’t remember. Some grocery stores (like Wegman’s) have dragon fruit now which is REALLY tasty and it’s gorgeous to look at (bright pink “scales” with lime green tips). I’m super excited to see what you come up with! I might steal some ideas for next year’s St. George’s Day party!

    Reply

  16. Jeanine says

    I really like the dragon theme! Sounds like fun. Clara looks like such a big girl in that picture where she is painting the castles. How is she just 3??!!

    Reply

  17. Leah says

    If you can find party blowers that are plastic (because little ones decimate the cardboard ones and then cry), you can paint the “tongues” red and have fire breathing dragons. Then, tape the party blowers onto a picture of a dragon head. I do this with frogs, and then we “catch” flies by popping bubbles. Super fun!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It’s just a big box of water-based paint from Target – I think Crayola makes them? Target sells it in the aisle with the paints and crafts :)

      xo
      s

  20. Roxanne M says

    CUTE! Someday it would be really cute to have all the invitations framed :) You guys have mad graphic design abilities.

    Reply

  22. Joseph says

    I can’t wait until my son wants a dragon birthday! …and by that I mean I can’t wait until my wife and son allow me to throw him a dragon birthday.

    Reply

  23. Jen says

    She’s gotten so big!! Loved seeing the past invitations too. Hope she has a wonderful birthday!

    Reply

  24. Erin J. says

    I love your posts on Clara’s party deets! I think it’s awesome that you guys let her pick her quirky themes, and that you come up with the most creative ways to execute them – much more unique and refreshing than typical store-bought party supplies/decorations/favors. Her worm party was so creative, so I can’t wait to see the final details of the dragon party!

    Reply

  25. Juliet says

    Only been a reader for a year, but look at Miss Clara, she has really grown! The friends, romans, picture has me rolling….

    Reply

  28. Amanda says

    Clara comes up with the BEST birthday party ideas! My 12-year old niece was just telling me yesterday that she wants a Doctor Who themed party next year…I was so proud of her! :) Of course, her birthday isn’t until February so she has plenty of time to change her mind. But, I love it when kids get creative with their party ideas!

    Reply

  30. Carmen says

    Love the dragons idea!!
    Maybe Clara would like to see this animation I did about a sweet little dragon. It doesn’t breathe fire, but it makes people fall in love ;)

    Love,
    Carmen.

    Reply

  31. Janna says

    It’s funny- our Clara, also 3, went through a big dragon phase too…(and pirates…and ponies…and now we’re onto puppies.) They were always yellow or pink and always had pink fire. I love their imaginations at this age!!

    Reply

  32. Trela Rottinghaus says

    YES! I knew it!!! That’s totally the Target platter I spied and KNEW you’d like a few weeks ago! Maybe that means I read you too much? :)

    Reply

  35. amyks says

    How fun!I did a princess and knight party one year for my daughter and we played pin the tail on the dragon…I drew it on poster board and laminated it and then cut out construction paper tails, I laminated, also! It was so cute. You could also pin the fire on to the dragon, keeping with your fire breathing theme!!

    Reply

  36. Jenn says

    Bottom middle is hilarious. I sort of love it.

    Do you plan on using baby gates in your new house? I asked Katie Bower this before and she said Will listens. I’m shocked cause we have one at the top and bottom of our stairs due to our crazy 2.5 yr old who wants to kill himself daily.

    Have you thought about stair gates or is Clara a listener?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think gates might be a necessary thing, just because Clara’s not used to stairs and we don’t want her to walk down with her arm full of toys or dragging a blanket or something… so we’ll have to see how it goes…

      xo
      s

    • Aoife says

      Oh please please please get stair gates. My friends toddler fell down the stairs before they had a chance to install them. She was ok in the end but was very stressful taking her to the hospital to be checked out. Save yourselves the worry. You can’t be too careful with stairs.

  38. Alissa says

    Has Clara read the book Zog by Julia Donaldson? It’s about a bunch of dragons at dragon school – my older daughter (just a few months older than Clara) adores it, we ended up buying a copy since we got it from the library so many times! I bet it’d be right up Clara’s alley.

    (It’s the same author as the Gruffalo books, which are also awesome!)

    Reply

  39. Robyn in Chicago says

    Are you sure you have her birthday right? I really think her worm party was like, last month. Holy Moly wheredoesthetimego?

    Love the dragon theme and your supplies! So cute!

    Reply

  42. Skye says

    This gives me hope my nearly bald 2.5 year old will have hair in her head by her 3rd birthday. LOL She has a little more hair than 2 year old Clara does.

    Love the theme, sounds like it will be a blast! Happy almost Birthday to Clara! (Can’t believe how fast she’s grown!)

    Reply

  43. Kate says

    How funny! My daughter turned 3 a couple weeks ago and she is also obsessed with dragons. And princesses, and kings, and knights, and anything else castle related. She likes to flap around the house and roar at me, while simultaneously fussing at her imaginary dragons for being rude.

    Reply

  45. Justine says

    So cute (as always)!
    We had a ‘knights & dragons’ themed party for my little boy’s 4th birthday back in March; as well as a dragon egg hunt, we also had a dragon-shaped pinata and played ‘pin the fire on the dragon’ (in lieu of pin the tail on the donkey.)
    I hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating Clara’s 3rd birthday.

    Reply

  46. Diana says

    I knew that platter had to be from Target because I just bought the matching placemats to turn into a valance for our kitchen. Although now I want to check to see if they are on clearance too…

    Reply

  47. Karen F says

    my goodness, she looks like a mini, blonde Sherry in that picture! As Clara gets older, she resembles you more and more!

    Hope Clara has a great party! Are you going to play “pin the fire on the dragon”? lol (“pin the ____ on the ____” can pretty much be adapted to any party theme, I suppose!)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha! It’s definitely on the maybe list! Will have to see if the egg hunt and the food and treats keep the kiddos busy enough or if we want to add more activities. We try to keep things pretty low key for the most part :)

      xo
      s

  48. Marcella says

    If clara loves dragons and you do not already have the cildrens book “The Paper Bag Princess” it is a MUST BUY!!!! It is the greatest princess book ever for girls!!!

    Reply

  49. Aoife says

    Cuteness! Looks like a fun party. Love the invite. I could never decide who Clara looked like but lately I think she’s looking more and more like Sherry, especially in these pictures. Adorable! Enjoy the party.

    Reply

  50. Nicole says

    What a FUN theme! I LOVE planning my boys birthday parties, I am currently in planning mode for my son’s 3rd birthday-we are doing a Penguin/pajama party :-)

    Reply

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