Leyna’s 3 Year & 1 Month Birthday Party

We did this when she turned one. We celebrated when she was 1 year and 1 month old because her birthday is December 28th.

And a party that time of year (for anyone other than the people who are already waking up in our house) is just not going to happen. Although, we certainly don’t ignore her birthday that day. There is a bit of a fuss, some special breakfast and even a small cake.

For her 2nd birthday, there really wasn’t much of a celebration beyond that bit of a fuss. Though I blame that largely on the first trimester of my last pregnancy, and not so much on the timing of her birthday.

People made me so mad when I was pregnant with her with all their comments of pity. “Poor thing. A Christmas birthday. She’ll get forgotten.” ::cue pregnant rage::

The truth is, while she doesn’t get “forgotten” and  we don’t do combo gifts, it is super hard to get excited to plan a party for her around her actual birthday.

But a month after the holiday madness has passed, I’m in just the right mood. I’ve found plenty of great after-Christmas deals, and most people’s social calendars are vacant.

So until she can voice a different idea, she will get parties 1 year and 1 month after her last birthday.

She seems to be okay with the idea so far.

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Details:

This was a lazy-Pinterest party, in my book. I ordered Hello Kitty invitations from Etsy, but didn’t actually print them. Instead I emailed them to the handful of families we invited. 

I did go out of my way to order a Hello Kitty shirt and matching hair bow for her, though. And I got Hello Kitty stickers that matched the invitations to put on treat bags.

I also ordered custom Hello Kitty frosted sugar cookies from the same shop who did cookies for her first birthday.

We made a Hello Kitty cake for her, but used box cake mix and canned frosting. The rest of the snacks were simple, with the biggest hits being the jumbo marshmallows and pretzel sticks. 

The activities were mainly running amok in the house and through the backyard, BUT my sister also brought a legit photo booth where we all got to take turns taking pictures with Hello Kitty. It’s called the Socialite Studio, and it’s her new business!

The company is called On The Flipside, and is based out of Austin, TX. This photo booth is just one of the stellar technologies they offer. If you’re looking for a cool party experience, or a great way to market your business, you should look them up. 

Here are all the Etsy vendors I used:

Hello Kitty bow

Hello Kitty invitations and matching stickers

Hello Kitty shirt

Custom Hello Kitty cookies

The rest of the stuff I ordered off of Amazon, mostly. These are affiliate links.

Polkadot balloons (I brought them to my local Kroger to be inflated, where they also had hot pink polkadot balloons and a large mylar Hello Kitty.)

Pink Polkadot wrapping paper (I used this to cover our table.)

Hello Kitty cake pan (This was the easiest ever. We made a box cake, and frosted with canned frosting.)

Hello Kitty cupcake tower (I bought cupcakes topped with Hello Kitty rings at Kroger.)

Hello Kitty napkins (I paired these with simple pink plates from Target.)

Pink Polkadot leg warmers

White paper bags for goodie bags (I shopped Target’s Dollar Spot for Hello Kitty goodies for the girls and Skylanders goodies for the boys, plus each kid took home a Hello Kitty cookie, and pictures from the photo booth.)

White paper hot cups (For hot white chocolate, which we made “special” for the grown ups with the addition of a little rum.)