Shrek-Tacular Swamp Hop -2yr- Pin Tale on Donkey

Invitations:  I made invitations on my computer.  They said:  Wanted All Fairytale Creatures!  Lane is turning 2 and he requests your presence at his Birthday Shrek-Tacular which will take place in the Land of Far Far Away entered address date and time.  Ogre or Princess costumes optional.  RSVP to the Queen.. Entered my contact number.  I used Old English green font and copied a picture of Shrek and Donkey and pasted it to the bottom of the invite and printed them out at home.  Very cute (I got lots of compliments!)and inexpensive! 

I made Lane a shirt to wear for the party.  I used wonder under and line green fabric and made a big number 2 on his shirt with Shrek ears on the number 2 (just like the writing in Shrek 2).  I outlined the number two with orange puff paint and he wore shrek ears.  It was cute!

Party Activities:  Because most of the guests would be toddlers I wanted to do activites that were age appropriate.  I bought about 100 plastic bugs worms catapillars frogs etc from the Dollar Tree ($10.00).  I also bought a dozen lime green pails from Oriental Trading ($6.99) and decorated them with Shrek stickers.  I scattered the bugs all over the back yard and let the kids carry their pails and have a bug hunt.  Toddlers love this!! 

I also had a pin the tail on Donkey game ($1.00 from wal-mart) for the older kids while the younger ones did the bug hunt.  I also ordered a Discover Kids cardboard castle and house ($20 each JCPenney) and set them up outside for the little kids to play in.  I made print-outs on my computer that said Land of Far Far Away and put it on the Castle and a print-out of Shrek that said Welcome to my Swamp on the house.  I bought washable markers and let the kids color Shrek's house and the castle.  

I also got a castle fun jump for the kids to play in ($75). I played Shrek 1 and 2 sound tracks throughout the party.  I got a disco ball pull string pinata (walgreens $13) and hung it from our pergula and strung christmas lights through the pergula to make it look like a dance floor.  My son LOVES to dance!  We did the bug hunt first then cake and ice cream then I let the kids start coloring the castle and house while Lane opened presents to keep them entertained.  After the presents were opened we turned the music up and had a dance party under the pinata.  Then the kids got to pull the strings to the pinata and get candy for their goody bags.  I wanted to get all of the activites done early and just let the kids enjoy themselves and play.

Decorations:  I made lots of print-outs on my computer of Shrek Characters and made little signs that said "Beware of Ogres" etc and hung them up inside and outside.  I got lots of green and orange balloons and streamers and decorated the house and tables and patio.  I used lime green table cloths($1 walmart) and I ordered Shrek plates/napkins online.

Food:  Of course we had a Shrek cake and ice cream.  Because the party was from 2-4 I didn't want to do a lot of food so we just had hot dogs with all of the fixings (including green katsup) and green doritos.  I filled my punch dispenser with green hawaiian punch and put a little sign on it that said "Happily Ever After Potion"  with a picture of Shrek and Fiona on it.  I also had little dishes on the tables with sour gummy worms for the kids to snack on.  My goal was easy and cheap for the food… and the kids couldn't have been happier! :)  "