Yogi Bear Picnic Birthday Party

 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.  

Trains, Helicopter, Trucks, and Planes Baby Blanket Using Random Rectangle Pattern for New Baby Austin

I am so excited to finally be able to show off my two latest projects.

First -- the most important project -- we welcomed our new baby boy last week.  Austin Ryder was born on March 25 at a healthy 7 lbs 14 oz and 18 3/4 in long.  We are so blessed to have this new addition in our family!

Second -- here is the project I've slowly been working on over the last several weeks that I finished just in time for baby Austin's arrival.

The fabric is all cozy flannel from the Starlight Flannel collection by Blank Quilting.  I actually got the fabric as a Christmas present from my husband.  Didn't he do a great job picking it out!  To make the blanket extra cozy, I used a plush border.  For a personalized touch, I embroidered Austin's name in the upper right hand corner.

I got the random rectangle pattern idea from this blog:  Cluck Cluck Sew Blog 

Here is a view of the entire blanket.  It's finished size is about 43" x 50", which is just about crib sized.

And here is a view that shows the airplanes and helicopter fabric I used on the backing.

I still have enough fabric left to make a crib sheet, bibs, burp clothes, and pillow case.  So I better get working!

Look Who Turned 2 -- Landon's Mickey Mouse Birthday Party

I haven't had much time for crafting lately since I'm in the middle of a major painting project (pictures to come later) so I decided to share the Mickey Mouse themed birthday party that I put on for Landon back in February.

At the time of the party, Landon's favorite TV show was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, (actually that was pretty much the only thing Landon would watch) and since there were endless craft possibilities, I decided Mickey Mouse would be the theme -- and I challenged myself to do it without buying Mickey Mouse party supplies.  I spent a lot of time on Pinterest and google searches getting ideas, and even more time with my Cricut, to put on this party -- but I really just had a ball putting the party together.  Here is what I ended up coming up with:

Invitations:  I made the invitations using the Disney Mickey & Friends and the Disney Mickey Font Cricut cartridges and printed out out the inside of the card on my computer.

Front of invitation

Inside of invitation

The Cake:  I had just gotten my Cricut Cake and was so excited to use it.  I used cookie cutters ofr the stars and Mickey heads, the cricut to cut out the words.  This was my first time using fondant,  but I was happy with my first attempt.  Erica (my sister-in-law) was a very dedicated assistant for this project.  I think our hands were stained blue for weeks from the food coloring used to die the fondant :)   One tip I learned for next time -- freezing the cakes before adding the frosting helps keep the edges more square instead of rounded mounds like this ended up.

Happy Birthday Banner:  Again, I used the cricut to make the Happy Birthday banner.  I used a 12"x24" cutting mat for the Pluto and Mickey characters.  I also had the other disney characters scattered about the area.

Party Drinks:  I wanted to make festive, cheap, and spill proof glasses for the kids to drink from.  I came across the idea in a craft magazine to decorate mason jars.  So I pulled out my left over jam jars, poked a hole in the lid, and added some Mickey themed paper.  To make sure the kids wouldn't get mixed up, I wrote there names in white marker on a Mickey cut outs, and then added some fun plastic straws.  To finish it off I painted a wooden tray that some of Landon's toys came in, and then slapped a "Clarabell Cow's Moo Milk" label on the tray.  These went over real well with all the kids.  

Party Shirt:  I saw all these cute shirts on Etsy shops and Pinterest that were just basic white T-Shirts with a Mickey head appliquéd on.  I've never done this before, but I decided to give it a try and went easier then I thought it would.   And as a bonus -- Landon was super excited to get dressed the morning of his party.  He just couldn't wait to wear his Mickey shirt.   The shirt got dirty pretty fast, but I guess getting dirty is just party of a 2 year old.

Goodie Bags & Mickey Head Decoration:  I saw several versions of tissue paper Mickey heads on Pinterest, and thought this would make a great decoration for the goodie bag table. I started with 1 large styrofoam ball and 2 smaller balls, then used wire to attach tissue paper flowers, and attached a wooden dowel for the stem.  For the base I lined a 1 quart mason jar with red tissue paper and then filled with marbles to keep the wooden dowel in place.  I added 2 white buttons to the jar to simulate the red iconic shorts that Mickey always wears.

For the party favor bags, I purchase som red bags from Hobby Lobby and then added Mickey Mouse cut outs with each child's name.  Inside I had Mickey stickers, a hand made Mickey necklace, Oreo Mickey pops, and hand made baby food jar snow globe.  (I really wish I would have remembered to take pictures of the snow globes because they really turned out cool)

Mickey Orea Pops:  For a festive extra treat, I made these Orio Pops using regular Oreos, mini Oreos, melted chocolate, and a sucker stick, I made this Mickey Mouse Oreo Pops.

Mickey Mouse Food Table:  To keep with the Mickey theme, I used gave all the food Mickey Mouse names.  The menu included Mouseker jello, Mickey Mouse-mellow fruit salad, Goofy's gold fish, Pluto's pretzels, Minnie's mushroms, Daisy's delicious dip, Donald's chips & salsa, Pete's potato salad, Oh Toodle's Oreo pops, Clarabelle Cows moo-milk, Hot-Dog-Hot-Dog-Hot-Diggity-Dogs (a.k.a. pigs in a blanket), and Chip & Dale's Veggie Tray.

And a Few Random Pics From the Party:

We got a quick family shot before the party began.

Landon tried feeding his Jello to Mickey

Enjoying his chocolate milk from his special glass. 

We almost lost the cake before the party started :(

The nice blanket Gramma made with a kit from Hobby Lobby.

Opening presents!

Well I hoped you enjoyed our Mickey Mouse themed birthday party!  Thats all for now, and until next time have a Sew Scrappy Day!