A Practically Perfect Party

How embarrassing... I never posted this LAST YEAR!!! Oops!
I guess it's better late (really late) than never!
Back in January of 2018, we celebrated our sweet daughter's second birthday with a little party.

We were all pretty excited, since this would actually be her first birthday party... Two years ago, we had a fun "One-derland" themed party prepared and hubby and I both started throwing up the night before the party. Yuck! So when she turned two, we were determined to celebrate! We loved our "One-derland" theme, but wanted something different for her second birthday. I still managed to re-purpose quite a bit from the party that never was...

Being the crazy Disney fanatic that I am, we chose Mary Poppins as our theme. Hubby and I like to choose a theme that is meaningful to us, but has a bit of Disney whimsy. Every evening at our house, we read a little bit of classic children's literature and the story by P.L. Travers was one that we read last year. We love combining Disney and the original classic (which is what sparked the theme for the first birthday as well). 

This easel was a birthday gift from my parents. I decided to add a bit of chalk art and a nod to Bert's chalk paintings.

We served a spread of tasty desserts for her "Spoonful of Sugar" celebration:

Admiral Boom's Cannon Balls - melon balls

Mrs. Brill's Vegetables - veggie tray

Spoonfuls of Sugar - chocolate spoons dipped in sprinkles

Bert's Chimney Sweeps - chocolate dipped marshmallows on sticks

Mrs. Cory's Stars - shortbread cookies

Michael's Strawberry Ice - Italian ice

East Wind Jell-o - blue Jell-o with whipped topping, topped with an umbrella

Jolly Holiday Penguins - penguin shaped gummies

Mary Poppins Corn - kettle corn

Cheese Umbrellas - Babybel Cheese with straw umbrella handles

Uncle Albert's Cherry Cheesecakes - mini cheesecakes

Jane's Lemon-Lime Tarts - mini lemon and lime desserts

The funny thing is that our daughter didn't even eat sweets at the time! But we sure enjoyed sugaring up all the other kids! Hahaha!

Above the drink station were some adorable paper kites, but I completely forgot to get a photo of them! The fun labels say "Something is Brewing," "Rum Punch (but without the rum, so just plain punch)" and "Barley Water". The glass bottles and straws are from my dedication to Starbucks coffee, and recycled from the first party. My mom tied a different red bow to each bottle so people could keep track of their drinks. We also brought out an assortment of beautiful and dainty tea cups that my grandmother passed down to our daughter.

For dessert, my hubby made Merry-Go-Round cupcakes and a special cake for the Birthday Girl.

I re-purposed some of the giant flowers from the "One-derland" party and added some daisies in the spirit of Mary Poppins.

This cake stand belongs to my dear friend. It's actually one of those three-tiered cupcake stands. I took it apart, and configured it to use just the bottom and top tiers, then added some paper and ribbon embellishments. 

I'm not sure what we were thinking when we decided to have black icing for our daughter's first bite of cake, but she did really well with it - she's a very neat little eater! Also, are we evil parents for depriving her of sugar for so long?! It wasn't even a real cake - it's banana bread under there. My hubby added chocolate covered blueberries and a candy daisy in the fashion of the famous hat.

Other decorations included a giant silhouette of our daughter in our entryway. It sat above the present table alongside framed silhouettes from our trips to Disneyland at 8 months old and Tokyo Disneyland when she was 18 months old. We may be crazy for taking an 18 month old on a 24 hour trip to Japan, but that's a story for another day...

We set out a little mailbox where guests could write a birthday wish for our little girl. These adorable cards were from a time capsule gift from a sweet friend of mine for her first birthday. We didn't make much use of it for the original intention, but the bird cards were perfect for this theme! 

Also, I am so terrible about taking photos and forgot to take a photo of our hallway lined with a city skyline to resemble the rooftops of London. Or the frame on the bathroom mirror to resemble Mary constantly checking out her reflection. I love adding little details in unexpected places!

I made this mini hat headband for the birthday girl, with some random supplies I had in my craft room. She was pretty excited when I let her wear it! It was so fun to make... I secretly wish I could make tiny hats for tons of other occasions too!

I also re-created the famous parrot umbrella! I used a dowel rod, handkerchief, felt, ribbon, paint, and hot glue. It sat in our window with the cardboard carpet bag that I saved from my first trip to New York when I went to see Mary Poppins on Broadway many years ago (scroll to the top to see)!

For favors, I had these berry baskets, leftover from the first party, and added some tuppence (chocolate coins), a handmade bird feeder ornament, since our daughter loves birds, some sidewalk chalk, and a giant balloon, all references to either the original story or the Disney version. Of course I forgot to photograph the final product... (this is the lame, late night photo I took when I was asking my friend, Naki what else I should add to the baskets!)

I hope you enjoyed this very belated post and the very haphazard photos. I never claimed to be a photographer! Haha. I'm hoping to be back soon with details from this year's party! 

TTFN (ta ta for now!)