For my daughter’s 2nd birthday, I went for a Wild theme to match her wild personality! I wanted to keep things simple since I was DIYing the majority of the decor and food. I also opted for a “crazing table” since the guest list included adult family members. I do think at this age, an adult-only party allows the birthday kid to enjoy the festivities without being overwhelmed by other children trying to jump in and “help” with blowing out the candles, etc. That’s not to say that other young family members or close family friends kids are discouraged from being there, just that we didn’t invite “friends” she was starting to make at dance class, daycare, etc.
Here are the details from the day, many of which was created using my Cricut Maker and some imagination.
We have a small black A-Frame I attached removable vinyl on that said, “Welcome Party Animals”. I decided it needed a little extra pizzaz so I also cut out small animals in white vinyl, mini party hats from card stock and attached mini Pom Poms to finish it off. It sat at the front door to welcome the guests and was a cute photo prop for our little Wild Child.
Decor: I ordered the Happy Birthday banner and balloons for the arch from Amazon and was happy with the results. I can’t find them in my order history but these are similar styles; banner and balloons. I use this balloon inflation machine whenever I have a balloon arch to put up. The animal figurines are from Dollar Tree and Hobby Lobby. The quality at Hobby Lobby was a lot better than the Dollar Tree finds but they also cost about $8 each so I had to pick and choose what looked presentable in the cheaper options. Dollar Tree also had unfinished, wooden animal figures. I ended up with a giraffe, elephant and rhino that I spray painted gold (you can spot them in the bottom left of the 2nd picture below). The “Live Brave and Stay Wild” wall decor was also a Hobby Lobby find that is now in my daughters bedroom.
My daughter already had a big white polar bear and white pouf that were originally purchased from Ikea that were perfect additions to the decor.
The biggest DIY items in the below photos are the leaves that I attached to the balloon arch, the flowers and the palm trees. The leaves are different shades of green card stock I cut using a generic template on my Cricut, they are attached to the arch with tape. The flowers are also generic tropical flowers I found in my Cricut templates and cut out for a little extra fun. I’m sure you could find some fake versions at a craft store if you don’t have the Cricut option.
The palm trees and stand took me some time and creativity to put together but I love how it turned out. The base is an Amazon box covered in brown craft paper with empty paper towel rolls attached and wrapped in more craft paper. I crinkled the craft paper to give the look of tree bark and attached it using A LOT of hot glue and some specifically placed tape. I ended up using small dowels to make the leaves push away from the base of the trees, otherwise, they just fell flat. I also spray painted them with the gold spray paint I already had to make them blend in a little more to the trees. I finished it off with 3 small styrofoam balls spray painted in the gold paint that looked like coconuts resting at the bottom of one of the trees.
Food: I opted for a crazing table to continue the animal theme! I laid out craft paper on my kitchen island, placed some wooden rounds, white plates and serving containers around on it and just started placing food items in places I thought it looked good at. I did try to place like items on the board at one time so they were spaced well. For instance, I started with crackers and bread, moved on to meats and cheeses, then filled in with the fruits, veggies and treats. The “Grazing Table” sign was made using a cookbook stand I believe I got at Hobby Lobby years ago, white vinyl for the lettering cut on my Cricut and the tropical flowers were also found on my Cricut design space and cut from different shades of purple card stock.
I served ice water and lemonade with these cute flamingo straws I have had in my party supplies and never had a chance to use before. I added more of my Cricut cut leaves and cut the “watering hole” from white removable vinyl (can you tell I love this material?!).
Cake: I decided not to spend the money on a cake from a bakery and opted to ask my sister to make a simple two-tier white cake. She did a great job, it looked and tasted delicious. I added my own small animal figurines and the Two topper. I used my Cricut to cut heavy green glitter card stock into the “TWO” and even reversed it to cut an additional “TWO” that was backwards so I could glue them together for extra strength. I attached it to the cake using small dowels glued between the layers. I added another pink tropical flower and placed it on a wooden round I borrowed from my sister. I also served regular and sugar coated animal crackers for some extra fun.
We had a blast celebrating our two year old and enjoyed spending the time with our close family. Our little princess was the star of the party and her beautiful dress from Amazon lived up to the task. I ordered it in a 2T and had to safety pin the back to keep it from falling off her shoulders. If I had more time, I would have ordered a 12 month size and I think it would have fit better but this one did the job.
Whole Health Momma 
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