Cheetah/Safari Party (and a surprise)

a few weekends ago, i organized a birthday party for my friend’s daughter. she was turning 7, and her favorite animal is the Cheetah, so it was a Cheetah Party…

with a little Safari thrown in!
my friend found everything she possibly could in cheetah print, so we had plenty of great items to work with!
i began making tissue balls to go on the back of the chairs (like how we did it here for Bella’s Tea Party) but i loved the way it looked before fluffing it out, so i just taped the ends together and make a little flower:

the water bottle labels had “O”‘s and “7”‘s on them, in honor of the birthday girl, Olivia:

the food spread was simple…some fruit skewers, cut up veggies, animal crackers placed in cupcake liners, veggie straws…

and a few flavors of popcorn…

however, the snacks basically went untouched because the candy table very quickly took center stage!!

i wish i could take credit for this amazing cake, but that was the creation of a professional! isn’t it adorable?

the kiddos had a blast, riding ponies, taking carriage rides, getting their faces painted to look like any animal they desired, and learning all about the animals that were brought in from the local zoo.

too bad the Bug isn’t wanting a Cheetah party this year…most of the work would already be done!! instead, she’s been asking for a daytime pajama party…we’ll have to see if we can pull that one off!