Elani’s Flamingo Birthday Party
Decorating and planning for Elani’s second birthday party was so much fun. We had originally planned to have her party through a Zoom meeting (pandemic life), but our state has been slowly opening up. I had purchased all of the decor and planned to still make it extra special even if we didn’t have any guests. Luckily, we were able to invite a few family members and just required masked to be worn when not eating.
Last year, her birthday colors were pink and gold so I wanted to do something that was not the exact same. Elani loves Moana, but I figured I would save the character themed parties for when she is old enough to request them. Instead, I chose a flamingo theme and used the pink and green color scheme. Since I was already in the tropical realm, I also included touches of yellow and gold, like a pineapple. Elani’s dress and my dress (sorry, no longer available) were the first things that I purchased for the party and I carried the colors from there.
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I don’t know about you, but I am a HUGE list person. I have lists on paper and lists on my phone. I feel like I always have so many things going on in my head and the moment that I think of or see something unrelated…I’ve forgotten something. I had a list on my phone for all of the things that I needed for the party and then I created this list on the Canva website for the day of the party.
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I have used the Canva website and app for many projects. For Elani’s birthday, I also used it for her invitations and her “chalk” sign. I made a chalk sign for her first birthday party as well and it is so nice to see how she has grown in so many ways. I simply print the sign and place it in a frame to be displayed. I think it’s such a nice, personal touch.
Other than the big leaves on either side of her name, I made all of the decorations with my Cricut. If you enjoy crafting (or even just customizing on occasion) then I highly suggest the one that I have or the newer version. I used pink and gold cardstock paper that I already had and an assorted pack of beautiful green cardstock to make two name banners, the happy birthday banner, palm leaves, flamingos, and confetti. Evan (my husband) asked me why I didn’t just buy confetti, but it was fun to make little flamingos and palm leaves! Again, I love the personal touches.
The buffet area is where I knew I wanted to take photos so we put the balloons and cupcakes in this space. The cupcakes were made from scratch and though I do not care for cupcakes, everyone said they were delicious and some people requested to take an extra cupcake home. I’ll go over the cupcakes more later in the blog.
We created a balloon arch for Elani’s birthday last year and my husband was thrilled (lol) when I told him that we would be doing it again this year. I searched high and low for the exact balloons that I wanted and these ones were perfect! They even came with the big palm leaves. We blew them up two days before her party and they are still up now (two weeks later). They are coming down this weekend! I had leftover balloons from the shoot I did for my pregnancy announcement so I also added those into the arch. There are plenty of balloons without it though. We scattered extra balloons around the house.
The giant number 2 balloon almost didn’t happen, but I love how that accents the arch. My original plan was to have the number 2 balloon within the arch, but I accidentally ordered a much larger balloon than I realized. We tried it out in different spots all over the house and almost gave up on using it, but it ended up working great underneath the arch.
I pinned so many ideas for food, but I did have to be realistic. I lost a day of preparation (we moved the date of the party due to weather) and we were not going to have many people, We made the guacamole, burgers (not pictured), and pineapple chicken from scratch. We also had a refreshing lemon and lime water. The rest of the items we purchased from the store to make life a little easier. Don’t get me wrong, we were still running around trying to be the best hosts to everyone, but we tried not to overextend ourselves too much. The skewers and guac were everyone’s favorites. I pinned the recipes on a board for Elani’s birthday on Pinterest. Make sure to take a look!
The plates, cups, and napkins with the designs all came together in a party kit. I had extras, just in case, but the flamingo party pack was all we really needed. The company has so many other cute designs and products. The quality was great and I highly recommend exploring what else they have.
The two desserts that we offered at the party were cupcakes and Dole Whip. I had only ever had Dole Whip in Disney and was eager to incorporate it into her party. It was very easy and super delicious. Last year we offered ice cream, but this was so much better! My mom made the cupcakes to help me out and then brought them to my house from New Jersey. Moms are the best! I found a great recipe on Pinterest (again, check it out) for whipped buttercream frosting and it did not disappoint. I do not like cake/cupcakes or frosting (I know, I’m strange), but everyone else loved them. The sprinkles on the top of the cupcakes, the pineapple toppers, and the cupcake stand were all last minute Michaels finds. Last year, I made the toppers with my Cricut and that is also a great option!
This was Elani’s last birthday party as our one and only and that really meant a lot to me. I wanted to make sure she was happy and felt incredibly loved. We were so blessed to be able to see some of our family members after being apart for a few months.
Thank you so much for checking out my sweet little girl’s second birthday party. I hope that I have inspired you or given you ideas for a future party that you are planning. Make sure you check out some of my other blogs and stay tuned for all of the future plans that I have for this massive teepee (tipi)!
