We spend our summers RV camping at Jellystone parks. As a result Austin, my middle son, is a huge fan of Yogi Bear. So I was not surprised when Austin asked for a Yogi Bear birthday party. But creating the Yogi Bear party of his dreams would be a challenge, because party supply stores do not carry a stock of Yogi Bear products and probably have not since the ‘70s.
To add to this challenge, my work schedule was crazy busy lately and was busy raising three kids. Needless to say I did not have a ton of time available to dedicate to party planning.
But thanks to Google, Pinterest, EBay, and Amazon I was able to create the Yogi Bear Picnic Party that Austin had in his dreams. And it did not even cost me an arm and a leg.
The Cake
I did not want to spend a hundred dollars on a artistic sculptured birthday cake but the local bakeries did not have any Yogi Bear designs. I was able to find this edible film on Amazon, so I ordered a plain white cake (I may be crafty but I do not bake) and applied the film myself.
I added some camping toy cake decorations as well. My kids get so excited when they get the toys off the birthday cakes. These toys were extra exciting because the tent lights up to show the silhouette of a camper inside. My son was convinced it was Yogi Bear hiding inside the tent.
The Shirt
I always make the kids cute t-shirts for their birthday, but I was unable to find embroidery designs to fit the yogi bear theme. And honestly, I just did not have the time to make one. Luckily I found this yogi bear t-short on Ebay. And Austin was very pleased to wear it.
Balloons
I found a set of 21 Yogi Bear balloons on Amazon. We took them to our local florist the morning of the party to fill with helium.
The Picnic
For the picnic we threw a blanket down on the kitchen floor and served a traditional camping meal: hot dogs and potatoe chips with the kids sitting around the blanket.
To add to the festivities we put a campfire (purchased from Amazon) in the center of the picnic blanket.
The kids really seems to love the picnic, especially the fire in the middle. Their imaginations took over and they warmed they hands over the fire and talked camping talk while sitting around the blanket. I underestimated how much fun the kids would have pretending to be at a picnic.
We even put the cake right in the middle of the blanket when it was time to sing happy birthday.
The Entertainment
Entertainment for the yogi bear picnic consisted of two things: Yogi Bear books and Yogi Bear cartoon episodes.
There is an entire series of Yogi Bear Guide books. I surprised Austin with two of these books at his party. The kids passed these around and the big kids read to the little kids.
During the picnic dinner we had Yogi Bear cartoons playing. I purchased these for $1 an episode off Amazon. These were the original cartoons from the ‘70’s. For most of the kids it was the first time seeing these cartoons and they were a hit.
The Snack: S’mores
For the snacks I made individually wrapped s’mores with a marshmallow, chocolate bar, and graham crackers. They could be eaten as is or popped in the microwave for 10 seconds to melt the chocolate and the marshmallow. These went over big with both the parents and the adults.
The Party Favors
I had to get a little creative with the party favors. I bought mini gift bags from Hobby Lobby and attached Yogi Bear cut outs that I printed off myself. Each party favor bag had a mini coloring book, Yogi Bear stickers, and a s’more. The birthday boy got a few extra Yogi Bear toys in his that I found on EBay.
I made the mini coloring book using half sheets of paper with craft paper for the cover. I googled “Yogi Bear coloring pages” to print the images. I was even lucky enough to find a coloring image with Yogi holding the number 5.
Yogi Bear Wrapping Paper
The one thing I could not find was Yogi bear wrapping paper. So I improvised by using this yogi bear fabric. I used the fabric to make pillows for our camper after the party was over.
Austin’s Approval
All in all, the party went great and earned Austin’s seal of approval as “the best birthday party ever”. So I guess that means it lived up to the Yogi Bear picnic party that he had in his dreams.
And that’s a wrap on Austin’s 5th birthday.
No comments:
Post a Comment