We love birthday’s in our home and try to make them special for each child. This usually includes their favorite dinner, a birthday cake, and an outing to a local park with some friends. Once a year, though, we like to throw a birthday party for one of the four children, alternating between each child to make it fair. We came up with this idea a few years ago to make sure each child was able to experience the fun of having a birthday party without throwing four birthday parties a year (and three within one month of each other – oy). A few years ago was Elijah’s turn with an ice cream party, the year after was Eliana’s zebra party, last year we decided against one (because babies), and this year’s was Isabelle’s. It was only fitting that our pink princess flamingo loving gal have a proper flamingo birthday party.
The goal for the theme was plenty of flowers, pink, balloons, and flamingos (obvs) without being overly cheesy, meaning I wanted to avoid those big-eyed cartoon flamingos to the best of my best ability.
For the birthday cake, I made my go-to recipe, very vanilla cake by thefauxmartha, with an italian meringue buttercream and topped it with an array of flowers and a Schleich flamingo. It took me two days of hopping from florist to florist to find just the right carnations for her cake. It’s actually pretty humorous how finicky I can be, especially when I set my mind around something. I’m glad I persisted in the flower finding search because I love how her cake came out.
I like to serve snacks for children’s birthday parties instead of full-fledged meals. That allows things to be relatively easygoing while still providing something for everyone to nibble on. I kept it simple by serving things that could be made in advance and brought out right before the party. Things like fruit skewers and vegetables with hummus or dip can be prepped, covered, and refrigerated the day before. Crackers, cheese, and simple snacks like yogurt covered raisins and goldfish can be thrown on the table an hour before go time. (We served pink goldfish to keep with the party’s theme.) I used freeze dried strawberry powder to make pink chocolate covered pretzels and strawberry popcorn. I also skewered homemade miniature marshmallows on cute flamingo food picks which were the biggest hit (as usual).
Hiding tiny plastic flamingos around our backyard for the kids to seek and find was a perfect activity for the party. And by me hiding them, I really mean my son and his friends continuously hid them as they were being found by the younger crowd. This little game kept the kids entertained for the majority of the time, so much so that we ended up playing Pin the Party Hat on the Flamingo after the party since we didn’t find time during it. I’m still finding tiny flamingos around our home and have heard stories of handfuls of them being found in friends’ clothes dryers the weeks following the party. Another activity I like to utilize during birthday parties is coloring. For this theme, I printed out a few dozen flamingo pictures and placed crayons (washable!) next to them on our dining table. It was such a beautiful day outside so not many kids spent time inside coloring.
Overall it turned out really well. Isabelle had a blast, although you’ll have to take my word for it as I don’t have many pictures from during the party. For me, setting up is the easy part, coordinating (and documenting) during the event is the part I still need to work on.
Sources: Pink Banner | 27″ Balloons | 36″ Balloons | Miniature Flamingos | Flamingo Food Picks | Cake Stand | Flamingo Cake Topper | Serving Bowls | Rectangle Serving Dishes
Such a cute theme! I love the pink popcorn!
Thank you, Wendie. It was super tasty, too!
I love the simple yet meaningful party theme. Many parents (including myself) lose sight of what the child really wants and goes way over board…in size, theme and budget. Nice job!
It’s hard not to lose sight of that, isn’t it?
Simple but effective! Everything looks so well organized and edible lol. Those strawberry popcorn looks so good. (I love popcorn). Seems as though those kids had a time of their life. It totally made sense to keep 1 big party instead of 4. Such lucky kids!
http://www.travelbeautyblog.com
I love the thought and purpose filled theme that has gone into this party. It simple yet really sweet. I also love how you celebrate each child’s Birthday but you alternate in throwing a parties. That’s so good I think that cultivates a good heart in a child. They learn patience and appreciation. Thanks for sharing.
I completely agree.
This is a great idea for my mom´s birthday party! I was thinking about the theme for a while but this is original! thanks!
Wow.. such a cute theme! Those popcorn looks so good.
The cake looks beautiful and delicious! I love flamingoes, your theme was awesome! The pink popcorn and dipped pretzels are such great attention to detail. Great inspiration!