Jolea Dru is Turning Two...In October

I cannot believe how close we are getting to Jolea's 2nd birthday. I am just watching her grow and develop day by day...hour by hour...minute by minute. She is getting so big so fast...before we know it she will be going to Kindergarten. I have decided to do her birthday in zebra, black and hot pink...so adorable. I got my inspiration from another blogger who also did this theme for her daughter's 1st birthday. I have been scouring the Internet collecting images of things I am going to "re-create" on a modest budget. So far here are a few things I have come up with! I welcome all the advice or creative juices that you wish to send my way :) I found these outfits @ Overstock.com and they are very reasonably priced...so I will have to make the tuff decision of which one I like the best...I mean which one Jolea likes the best! Since her birthday is in October, you never know what kind of weather you are going to get, so I better pick out one for the cool and one for the warm just to be on the safe side. I plan on making a birthday hat similar to this one...because I know I can make it cheaper than the 35 dollars they are asking for it :)

This is the precious tutu and zebra leggings that I plan to have her pictures made in this year. I don't know what to do in terms of a top. I was thinking I might get a white tank and some zebra fabric, then I can cut out the number 2 and iron it-on with transfer paper. I could use some hot pink ribbon or sequins to bling it up a little bit! Ideas are welcome!

These were some of my favorite cake designs. I was so disappointed with Jolea's cake last year, so I will be prepared to show the bakery "exactly" what I want this year, instead of giving them a napkin to try and re-create...blah! I was thinking about doing some cupcakes on a stand, with lots of hot pink tulle and hot pink Gerber daisies or maybe even cookies but I haven’t decided yet. I want her to have her very own round cake...that way she doesn’t get all her sweet baby slobber on everybody else's piece of the pie...or cake technically. I love the look of the fondant icing on a cake (the smooth stuff), however I am not big on the pasty-like taste. The cake in the bottom left picture is traditional butter cream...I bet it will be cheaper and it will taste better too.

I hit Hobby Lobby the other day and scored the dessert plates and matching napkins. They were a little pricey, but if I didn't buy them when I saw them they would be gone when I needed them...you know how it goes. I have already checked on the balloon situation at the Card and Party Factory and we will just do a collage of hot pink, black and zebra striped balloons for the party. I thought I would never be able to find a mini-mannequin that I would be willing to pay the price for, but on our LBK shopping trip, I scored one at TJ Maxx and the beautiful thing was it was only 11.99...I saw some at Hobby Lobby just this week and they were 29.99...so I would say I got myself a bargain. I love the idea of having the clear candy containers sitting on her table filled with hot pink, white and black M&M's, but if you have ever looked into custom coloring M&M's you know it’s outrageous...so I am currently working on a back-up plan...got ideas?...shoot them my way.

Here is my version of the mannequin and tutu...I just need to switch the polka dot ribbon with some zebra ribbon...and presto...I will be done. I am thinking about mounting hot pink Gerber daisies around the neck like you see in the picture above, but I haven't quite gotten that far yet. When Andy and I got married, the flowers we used in our wedding were multi-colored Gerber's so I have a ton of them in the attic I can use...and I wont have to spend any money on them...WooHoo!

This next picture is where the idea came to make Jolea's name in zebra and hot pink on wooden letters from Hobby Lobby (that I already had from her nursery, that she is not using anymore). I am trying to come up with a clever way to display her name somewhere on her cake table. Any ideas? I am finished with the letters, but they need some ribbon or tulle to spice them up a little bit and I would prefer that they are stuck into some kind of container on dowel rods when I display them....hmmm....we will have to wait and see what I come up with on this project.

Inspiration picture:

The next thing on the list is the invitation. I found this one, and I really like it. The trick will be finding someone who can re-create it...adding a little personal flair, but I think I have just the right person in mind. I would like to change the wording to..."A piece of cake is waiting for you because Jolea Dru is turning two!" What do you think? How does that sound?

Well I think that's it...I covered the outfits, the cake, the decorations and the invite. Did I forget anything? I am sure I did, but this is a good start and I still have plenty of time to come up with new ideas. It's so fun planning this for her, and hoping she will feel like a special little princess on her special day. She is only going to be 2 so she probably wont remember a thing about this birthday, but you can bet your bottom I will have lots of pictures for her to look at.

~Toodles~