Teddy Bear Party

This week I'm featuring my nephew's 1st birthday party we had for him 5 years ago. Keep in mind I had an original digital camera, so the pictures are not the greatest quality! We chose teddy bears using chocolate brown and teal because who doesn't love that color combination?! Again, we used many budget-friendly ideas in keeping with our theme.

Many of the decorations were inspired by Martha Stewart. I used many of Martha's ideas from her monkey party and translated them into a teddy bear theme. Instead of having all plain helium balloons, I made some into bears by gluing ears and a face onto the balloons using very thin paper. I remember thinking I should have used something more sturdy like cardstock for the ears since they kept flopping over. However, you don't want to use paper too heavy or it might weigh down the balloon. I made paper chain bears decorating the welcome gate. For each table, I placed large candle in a glass vase surrounded by coffee beans-great scent, coordinating colors, and inexpensive! You may remember my love for Chinese lanterns, which all started with this party. For the cups, I made them into bears as well by gluing ears and a face onto each plain cup.

Many of the food items also kept with the teddy bear theme. I used the blue muffin liners (from the grocery store) and filled them with Teddy Grahams-great for little hands. I made a blue punch which sat next to my teddy bear cups. I had silver galvanized tubs filled with ice for the drinks. I used a teddy bear cookie cutter for peanut butter sandwiches and for the iced cookies. I wrapped the silverware in teal napkins tied with brown polka bows for dinner and placed the cake forks and napkins in a glass vase next to the bear cake. I labeled the food using teddy bear clips which I made with cut-out teddy bears glued onto clothes pins. I decorated these bears with teal ears, paws, and a bow.

You could also make this into a baby shower party. This was definitely a fun party to plan and host for my special nephew. I love parties, especially when you can find ways to save money and still make it just as you envision!

I'll be linking up with these parties this week, so check out their great ideas! Thanks for visiting us!