As we teased briefly in an earlier post, Clara chose the theme for her birthday this year. She loves monkeys, ice cream, firetrucks, and the mailman, but this year her obsession is worms.
The first order of business was setting the date (Saturday the 12th, two days before her birthday on the 14th) and deciding on a guest list: our closest family and friends, about 30 people total, including ten little ones under four. Then came the fun part—designing invitations. We made three versions before settling on a favorite. Our first draft used photos from her 22-month shoot. We loved the shapes, the fabric, and that smile, but it lacked worm spirit.
Next we created a much wormier option:
We kept refining and ended up with a graphic alternative that felt just as wormy:
Third time was the charm—chevron worms it is. All three designs were great in their own way, but we loved the final version with three little chevron worms inching across the number two, Clara’s smiling face in the center, and the promise that “there will be worms.”
We ordered just enough invitations for our group and saved $15.77 after searching for a Winkflash coupon. The final cost was $1.58 per invite including envelopes—$28.54 for eighteen 5 x 7″ matte card stock invitations. It wasn’t free, but it was a welcome discount from the original price of $2.19 each. We chose Winkflash because we’d used them for last year’s invite and were pleased with the results. Lots of services push folded card templates, but it’s hard to find postcard-style options that allow a completely custom, full-bleed upload without added frames or text.
When the invites arrived we loved them—no weird printing lines, no cheap feel. The larger 5 x 7″ size and thick matte stock were exactly what we wanted. Okay, that might be more detail than anyone needs about two-year-old party stationery, but we were excited.
Now on to party supplies. We’ll share a full recap after the celebration, but here’s a sneak peek of what we’ve gathered. Some items we already owned, like a yellow napkin dish (a thrift-store find) and a fabric banner I sewed for Clara’s first birthday. We’ll reuse a table runner I made previously and a paper banner from that party as well. We also grabbed some bird napkins from Ikea (birds like worms, right?). New items include plates, worm candles, balloons, streamers, and paper lanterns from Party City and Target.
See the pink arrow in the top-left corner above? It points to an ice tray we picked up at Ikea—we thought worm-shaped ice or mini jello worms would be cute.
We’ll also blow up polka-dot balloons and a few worm-shaped ones we found. There’s precious little worm-themed merchandise at mainstream stores, so spotting worm balloons felt like a win.
Here’s the brain dump of worm-related ideas we’re considering:
- Hide pipe-cleaner worms outside for a worm hunt
- Create a grass runner decorated with gummy or plastic worms
- Save paper towel rolls for a worm craft
- Tape streamers in swags to mimic worms across beams or on the patio
- Serve apple slices with a gummy worm peeking out and other worm-inspired snacks
- Cut peppers, cucumbers, and cheese into worm-like sticks with dip (worm crudité)
- Skewer grapes or sliced fruit onto straws to make kid-friendly fruit worms
- Make “worm pizza” for kids by adding cooked spaghetti to pizza slices (adults get plain pizza)
- Serve “worm dogs” (hot dogs) decorated with ketchup or mustard faces
- Frost cupcakes with white icing, sprinkle Oreo “dirt” on top, and add a gummy worm
- Stir gummy worms into jello for a wiggly dessert
We probably won’t do all of these, but it’s fun to list them and see which stick. I even assembled the party favors a week early. Nerd alert.
Clara loves playing with our watering can—filling it with leaves, rocks, or sticks—so when we found small green watering cans at Ikea for 99 cents each, we grabbed one for every child. In the toy aisle we found plush snakes for 49 cents, trimmed off the pointy red tongues, and suddenly they were worm pals. Each watering can also gets a bottle of bubbles and a small scoop from Target (50 cents each). Brown tissue paper acts as “dirt” and tucks the toys in nicely. We’ve hidden the favors so Clara’s big reveal should be a fun moment.
We also found some worm-themed candles at Target and picked up a couple of outdoor balls in Clara’s favorite colors—orange and pink—to match her invitations and streamers.
So that’s the plan. I’m secretly wishing we’d bought one more watering can and scoop so I could keep one for myself—30 going on 2, right?
Any party prep going on for you? Do you have tips for keeping things simple and fun? We typically order crowd-pleasing, inexpensive food like pizza so we aren’t stuck in the kitchen all day. My mom loves to cook and would rather handle the food and skip the DIY invites, so every family has their own approach. Can’t wait to share photos from Saturday. We’re also building Clara a big birthday project—drumroll: it’s a dollhouse!
We’ll share a full breakdown when it’s finished. And the inevitable, slightly sappy mom line: how is she already two? Didn’t she just turn one?
Psst — $herdog is into Eminem, Snoop, Dre, and Biggie, but the new Karmin album is amazing. Their songs are making me want to finish the dollhouse double-time, with the occasional dance break.