bugs…bugs…bugs

are you ready for the details of the Bug Party??

here come lots of pics:

our Birthday Bug was so excited for her party!

i used many of the same ideas from previous parties we’ve had. why reinvent the wheel when i’ve already got all this stuff lying around??

the Bug themed food:

Roly Poly Pinwheels: Mix softened cream cheese with a package of dry ranch dressing mix. spread on flour tortillas. pile on ham, turkey, swiss and provolone cheese, and lettuce. roll up and cut into bite sized pieces.

Bug Bites: PB&J’s that were supposed to be cut out with a butterfly cookie cutter that we happened to have, but we resorted to a flower shape cause the butterfly cutter was too small and detailed. (i knew i should’ve bought that larger one i saw at Walmart for .99 cents!)

Creepy Crawlers: PB Ritz Crackers with pretzel stick legs and raisin eyes.

Bugs and Slugs: gummies shaped as bugs

Bugs in a Rug: small hot dogs wrapped in crescent roll dough, pig in a blanket style

Little Stingers: Bugles (i forgot how good those things are!!)

i used small Ball mason jars as glasses, as it was an inexpensive way to have matching, reuseable glasses. (i suppose now i need to make lots of jam this summer to get more use out of all my jars!)

i found the idea for this cupcake here, and just modified it a bit to make to our liking! and of course, they had to be pink ladybugs to suite my Bug’s taste in color!

the ladybug is made out of a frosted Mallomar.

the head is a Junior mint with icing piped on for eyes and the mouth. the antenna are toothpicks, and obviously had to be taken out prior to eating. had i thought ahead, i should’ve used brown sprinkles.

(i used my favorite-tasting cake recipe that yields a super moist cake, but the weight of the decorations kinda made them lopsided. so i suggest using a denser cake recipe, such as this one, which is excellent and one that i think will hold up better!)

FAVORS:

thankfully, the target dollar bin just so happened to have all kinds of bug themed items this month, so i snagged these cute bug catchers in our party colors, and personalized them with tags that read, “Catch me if you can!”

for the adults, we gave out bags of gummy worms:

i think these were my favorite part of the party! we made bug antennas for all our guests to wear. i bought packages of 7 headbands for a $1.00 at the Dollar Store, wrapped a pipe cleaner around a pencil to give it the spiral shape, and hot glued pom poms to the top of the antenna. you can see more details here.

i found this bug facts quiz online (for the life of me, i cannot remember where!) and printed it up as a little activity for the party guests. the prize for the winner, the Master Entomologist, was “bug antenna” (pretzel sticks).

however, we were having such a buggy good time that we never got to the quiz!

our little party bug all ready to go!

Canaan enjoyed stinging people with the Little Stingers:

i love that all our guests got into the bug spirit and sported their antenna for the duration of the party!

the happy Mimi and Nana:

we let the littlest critters loose on the beach for a bit (with parental supervision!), and the crew returned with this handful of shark’s teeth!
stopping to get some Sweet Nectar:
i think the Bug thoroughly enjoyed herself! i love this pic! pure happiness!

but just cause it was her birthday didn’t mean that she still wasn’t a sassy critter!

Papa sang her a special song that he wrote for her:
studying her new toys:
loving her new Princess Rapunzel dress. (this is the Disney Princess that we think Bella most resembles!)
and she even got the doll to match! i’m sure this doll will spark hours of hairstyling creativity!
saying goodbye to her fellow Bugs!
it was a fun day of celebrating our little Bug with our family and few friends who love her so well!

now onto the Boy’s Birthday party planning…i’m thinking a Beach Bash?? please pass along any ideas you might have for me along the lines of that theme!!

Happy Spring Break,