Yes, part one. There’s no way I can wrap up the birthday extravaganza in one post, so I’ll share it with you throughout the week. I used to throw these over-the-top/this-is-too-stressful/what did I get myself into?parties for my kids, but I decided to take a couple of years off. Well, little one reminded me that this was a big year for her (double digits and all), so she wanted a big party.
So I we decided on a woodsy/woodland theme for her. I quickly thought about red, white, and green, but that seemed a little too juvenile for her. I went with cream, blue, green, and brown. Such beautiful colors together, eh?
The trick to pulling off a woodsy theme? LOTS of burlap, moss, and branches. Burlap and branches are easy enough, but moss is pricey! Eeks. I was able to cut some corners by finding some butterfly decorations at Salvation Army and painting them gold, and I placed our bowls for food into planter liners from Wal Mart (.77 cents!). 
The big food hit was probably the owl cupcakes. Such an easy recipe (found online) with such a cute outcome!
While we have a large forest behind our house, we didn’t really have any large trunks to cut. I asked my husband to put out an SOS to a friend, and he came through! He cut several of them about an inch and a half thick. I used some wood glue to put them on smaller branches that I found in our woods and cut with a miter saw.
Visions of making a tree trunk cake briefly swirled through my head, but I opted for a $7.00 chocolate one from Wal Mart. WAY easier and totally cute with some scrapbook paper cut into a little pennant decoration over it.
I wish you could see the detail on this paper better. It had a hint of glitter in the pattern and was so pretty. You don’t need a fancy template to make one of these. I literally sat down five minutes before the party and just freely cut some triangles into the paper. I hot glued the two sides together and stuck the sticks in the cake!
And in true blogger failure form, I didn’t get any pictures once the food filled in the gaps on the table. Shame on me, but I think you get the idea. We had a light meal of sandwiches and pasta, and it fit in very nicely with all the natural elements of the decor.
Next up? Where do you have 7 girls sleep, have a dance party, and watch movies? A DIY tent, of course. I’ll be back with that on Wednesday!
Part 2: DIY Party Tent
Part 3: Popcorn Bar
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lovin it so far! genius idea putting the bowl in the coco planter insert – genius! pinning that in my memory…or i guess i could just pin it? 😉
What a darling idea!! I’m putting these ideas in my back pocket, as two of mine have birthdays coming up in October and November!
Hi Chris –
It all looks so wonderful. I think the owl cupcakes are the cutest I have ever seen – adorable. Hoo Hoo – Cute!
Those owl cupcakes are a hoot! Happy birthday to the girl in double digits.
Love everything about this theme! Fantastic job! Some pinning is in order.
Looks adorable! I especially love that cake bunting.
I love that you bought the cake. There’s no need to stress out over things that aren’t your cup of tea. I’d rather cut, glue, and stencil for hours than try to decorate a cake so I do the same. 🙂
this is absolutely ADORABLE!!!! so so cute. you did a great job!
meg
megvcornwell.blogspot.com
Those cupcake stands are AWESOME!! Very fun and easy!! LOVE!!!
Totally too cute! I love it all! A friend of mine used the same idea in her shop several years ago and I now have one of those woodland cake stands! It hangs around just waiting to be used again! Great job and I can’t wait to see your tent!
Just love this, Chris! What a sweet Mama to put in all this work for her girl!!! I think my fave is the tree trunk plate stands. Are those reusable? Could be good for Thanksgiving too. I love that you hit a great balance of sophistication and whimsy -perfect for your young lady! ~Sarah
LOVE IT!!! I’m pinning all this bc I’m pretty sure my girl will insist (with some mom-coercion) on a Woodland theme next year. I’m still exhausted from her rainbow art party in march! My Jackson finally hit the age (11) where I’m no longer allowed to throw him a party. Relief or disappointment?
Hi Chris!!!
I bet you hear that all the time but I’m in love with your home!!!
Love the girly bedroom(I have been strugling for ages because I have 2 daughters…one loves pink the other one aqua marine ish colors). You’ve made my day with your baby(not so small but for us always will be) girls’ room….if you don’t mind me asking….the bedding you’ve made it or where did you buy it?
Now the tent….ahem…Wednesday is gone and no tutorial and since I’m stealing this idea too(what am I not taking from here) for a my 11 year old b-day(September 8 is the ideal date)…I’m really here all the time!!
Thank you so much for opening your door to us. Simple things that we can learn here…help us to transform our houses into homes.
Thank you Chris
Ohh gosh I love your home…the green…the everything…loveeeeeeeeeee it!!
Oops sorry for the journal… Xoxo
Wow what a great party. Hope your daughter had a great time with her gal pals. Those cupcakes are so darned cute and the cake with the banner too. Everything is so great. Makes me feel bad, don’t think I ever did that much for my kids birthdays. Seems like it would be pretty hard to top that party. Happy Week
Thank you for the cupcake idea! Just so happens my daughter is having an owl birthday themed party – what a sweet idea.