Ladybug Party 2yr - Our Little Lady-Bug

We did a ladybug theme for my daughter's 2nd birthday. It was a HUGE success.  I will admit that this site gave me a lot of useful ideas in the beginning of my party planning.  Thank you birthdaypartyideas.com!

First, I made the invitations.  I used black cardstock and made 5" circles (for the body) and smaller circles for the head, then made 4" red circles from cardstock, cutting them in half for the "wings".  On a 4" white circle, I printed in red graphics, "Our sweet baby is becoming a little lady..Bug on over for Emma's second birthday party!  Sunday, July 27..Infestation time:11:30 to 1:30..Fly on over to (address)Buzz us at: (our phone number)Password for guard gate: "A bug's life"  We hope to "spot" you there! And our names at the bottom.  I glued the white circle with party info onto the large black circle and attached the wings with paper fasteners.  I added black dots to the "wings" by tracing a penny with a black marker.  I also glued on wiggly eyes. When the card was completed, the wings lifted up and the party info was visible.  I made my own labels on the computer using ladybug graphics.   I made home made plates using a similar idea for the invitation. I used solid black dinner paper plates for the body and cut the small red dessert plates in half for "wings" using fasteners to secure.  I glued black pom poms for the "spots" and used black pipe cleaner for the antennae.

For the decorations, I made a computer banner saying," Happy 2nd Birthday Emma!" with laybugs and attached this to my garage (where people would see it when they drove up).  My husband decorated the courtyard and driveway with sidewalk chalk saying, "Happy Birthday, Emma"  "Emma is turning 2" with arrows leading up to the front door.  We decorated the front trees with black and red streamers along with the front gate.  Inside, we put up the red and black streamers along the stair cases, on the chairs, chandeliers, mantles, even the bathroom.  I  also used a ladybug plate on one of the chandeliers as a decoration.

The food was the most exciting part!!  I bought a plastic ladybug mold and painted it chocolate colored red and brown(black). This was VERY time consuming as I could only make two ladybugs in one hour but they turned out so cute and they were delicious!  Then I made Oreo ladybugs.  I split an Oreo in half, leaving filling on one side.  Then I cut the other half for the "wings."  Then I frosted the wings with red frosting.  I added minichocolate chips into the red frosting for the "spots."  Then I placed the "wings" frosted side up with the rounded edges out, with frosting to the top of the plain half, separating the "wings" slightly.  Then I sliced a red gumdrop horizontally and poked red shoestring licorice as the antennae (I couldn't find black)and attached the "head" to the body.

Next, I made ladybugs on a stick.  Slice a strawberry length wise and I added mini chocolate chips for the "spots"  I cut a grape in half and used this for the "head" attaching it to the strawberry body using a toothpick.  Then I cut a honeydew melon in half, and cut the rind off.  I placed the "ladybugs" on top and down the sides of the honeydew.  It was really cute!  We had watermelon (with seeds), a green salad with raspberries and blackberries, candied walnuts, feta cheese, and poppy seed dressing on the side in a black bowl. I used plastic shovels for the tongs.  I also made pasta salad with red and green bell peppers in a red bowl. Hot dogs.We had gummy worms,red twizzlers, junior mints and the usual chips and salsa. 

I also made a homemade ladybug cake using a round domed shaped bowl to bake the cake and a small ramekin (or cupcake size) for the head.  I made the cake neopolitan and when you cut into it it showed the red, black and white colors.  I frosted the outside of the cake with red frosting and used green gumdrops for the eyes and shoestringlicorice for the antennae, junior mints for the "spots" and we drew a black line down the center with black tube frosting. 

My daughter wore a ladybug dress with ladybug barrettes in her hair and red shoes.   After the cake, the children played ladybug pinata.  I figured my daughter was still too young for magicians and games but the pinata was a big hit, literally!  All the children got to take a swing at the "lady" and finally when it was over the children were screaming for candy.

Each child received a party favor bag to take home.  I purchased the pre preprinted ladybug bags but I did some fun things to make it extra special.  I gave each child a bottle of bubbles and I made my own labels which read," Emma's 2nd (ladybug) Birthday…A year full of sweet memories that we will treasure forever…Thank you for sharing my special day!..Made by Emma's mommy..July 2003."  I tore off the original labels on the bottles and used my own instead.  Then, I gave each child a ladybug pencil, eraser, stickers, notepad and ofcourse a bottle of my special bubbles.  Then I printed labels with each child's name and put them on each bag.  I made paper leaves by using green paper.  I found a leaf graphic and inserted a ladybug on the "leaf" then printed, "Thank you for coming to my party..Love, Emma" I used a hole punch and threaded some ribbon and attached it to the opening at the top of the favor bag.

The best part of the party was when my husband made an announcement and praised me for all my hard work. He made a point to tell everyone what I had done.  All our friend couldn't believe that I had done it all.  Everyone gave RAVE reviews!  I was even called "Supermom"  I am such a lucky wife and mommy that this is the least I can do to show them how much I love them.   As I said, the party was a HUGE success and one of the best that I've ever been to(let alone put on).  All the decorating and baking/frosting took some time.  I gave myself three days before the party.  As a stay at home mom, i can say that wasn't enough.  next year I will begin the party deatails earlier but one thing will remain the same, I will visit this site for more great theme ideas!  Thank you for letting me share..