last stop: Max's "Where The Wild Things Are" 2nd Birthday Celebration (Part I)

Hi Friends,

How was your weekend?  What did you do?

First, Happy 2nd Birthday to ME today (and Happy 11 Week Birthday to Sissy)!  Mommy wanted me to share a look back ...

Image Credit: Erin Carlyle Photography

Super Mad Max nearly two years ago today (newborn photos by Erin Carlyle Photography).

Image Credit: Erin Carlyle Photography

And here I am over a year ago (photos taken before my birthday).  Photos by the wonderful Erin Carlyle Photography.

So how are we celebrating today?  Well, I'm having a fun-filled day with Mommy, Sissy, and Gramby today.  We'll share more soon!

But we also celebrated this Saturday - my WILD RUMPUS "Where The Wild Things Are" 2nd Birthday Party!  In this blog post, I'll share some on the decor, and in a separate post I'll share more photos on the actual party and guests.  Too many photos to share! 

All Images Below: Mad Max and Family 

Where The Wild Things Are is one of our favorite books so Mommy and I picked this theme for my 2nd Birthday Celebration - plus the main character's name is MAX.  Is this one of your favorites too?

First, I should note ... that there was a HUGE last minute change in plans because of the weather.  My party was suppose to be in Hermann Park near the playground area under a pavilion.  We were really hoping for nice weather (but just in case we built a boat ... no, joking), but it was very cold and rainy.  Even though the pavilion was covered, it just would not have worked out at the park.  With that said, Mommy wasn't really prepared to host it at our house (a small townhome - not fit for a party of almost 50 with kids especially!) .. not prepared as far as prep, decorations for the home, or entertaining us WILD children.

BUT ... with that said, the party turned out really great!  We hosted it in the garage (with the cars out of course) - art making activities and on the main living floor.

Photo above: Me (cranky after my nap with my paci and Caillou) in my Where the Wild Things Are Max costume (Pottery Barn Kids), Daddy, Mommy, and Sissy.  Sissy also had a Wild Thing "I love you so ..." onesie (Etsy), but you can't really see it in this photo.

And what was one of my favorite parts of my party?  MY MAX BOAT!!!  Can you believe it?  Gramby and Pops made it all on their own.  Impressed, no?

It was made out of a cardboard box we received at Christmas, and the other supplies are from (mostly) Hobby Lobby and Lowes (and supplies we already had).  What do you think?

A special thanks also goes out to Gramby, Pops, Mimi, Daddy, Viola, Mandy, and Jessicana for helping Mommy and making sure the party was a great success!

Food table!  So of course if we knew the party would be inside we would have thought of wall decorations instead of wedding photos and such ... but that's okay, Mommy.

We bought printables from by Sonny and Co from Etsy.  We loved them!  So we used the colors on the printables as our main party colors (although we didn't really use the green / blue too much it is hard to match).  For the food Mommy picked WILD green, yellow, and brown snack food (fruit, veggies, and crunchies - chips, crackers, etc.) since our party wasn't during a meal time.  My Gramby also made (brown!) coffee cake, and Mimi made (yellow) crown cookies.  Thank you!

Closer image ... 

Credit: Table Cloth from Party City and other paper products from Arnes Warehouse.  Other decor is mostly from Hobby Lobby, and Gramby helped paint the boat and add a sail.  The Max doll is from Amazon, and the monster mask is from Oriental Trading (we included the monster mask in the gift bags!).

The food is mostly from HEB.  The amazing cake (every loved it!) is from Whole Foods Market.  We bought my cakes from Whole Foods last year too.

Mommy was in a desperate hurry with the last minute prep at home and taking photos before people arrived so we might not have the best photos (see the apples are still in the bag!).  But we did our best!

The yummy Whole Foods cake was vanilla icing and chocolate cake.  I actually ate it and didn't cry this year!  So if you are thinking about buying a cake ... and want it to be affordable too (and delicious) with good ingredients, consider Whole Foods!  Mommy made her own cake decorations - printed on cardstock.

Gramby made my small Max boat to be a table centerpiece.  And she made it to be like the large one.  Isn't it great?

You can also see a photo of me in my Max costume with Daddy.

We have some leftover gift bags so we should take some photos of the gifts to share with you.  But what types of items did we pass out to our WILD guests?

Where The Wild Things Are coloring sheets (you can easily find them on Google), Monster Plate Max (Craft Kit), Drawing / Writing Booklets (so guests can create their own Wild adventure), colors, and small guests (under 3) also received a monster bath toy.  We found the booklets and colors on Oriental Trading and the bath toys on Amazon.

Our Wild party guests signed my Where The Wild Things Are book, and this table also featured our delicious marshmallow pops.  Have you made those before?  They were fairly easy to make (with the help of Elizabeth, Viola, Mandy, and Mimi!).  All supplies were bought at Hobby Lobby.  We are looking forward to trying more adventurous pops in the future.

This crown goes to my Pottery Barn Kids costume (I refuse to wear it... doesn't go well with my Scotch), but don't worry - Mommy put it to good use.  Wait until you see those photos.  I also had a change of outfits (of course)... My 2nd Birthday personalized shirt and bib are by Little One Boutique.  Mommy found them last year on Etsy!  Sissy will have to get a birthday set from them sometime later this year.  We highly recommend!

There wasn't a whole lot of decor downstairs and at the art table because we were prepared only to have food tables, but that's okay.  The kids really enjoyed making their art!  Gramby made this centerpiece with items we already had at home.  It fits well with the theme, of course!

Stay tuned for Part II of my 2nd Birthday Celebration!

Did you celebrate anything this weekend?

-Mad Max

PS: Be sure to find us on Mad About Town.