Shrek Party -2yr- Foam Shrek Ears

For my daughter's 2nd birthday we decided to have a Shrek theme since she absolutely loves him. We sent out home-made invitations that said "Wanted All Fairytale Creatures!" and then it gave details for "Princess Nevaeh's" birthday party. At the time I was unsure of the weather and so I put in the invitation that "it will be a Swamp party if the weather permits so don't forget a swim suit!" I also added a black and white picture of Shrek, Fiona and Donkey. At the bottom of the invititation I wrote please feel free to color the characters of Shrek.

After the invitations were sent I set out to the party stores to find decorations. I kept with the theme and bought green and dark green streamers. I also wanted to include Princess Fiona so I got pink, purple and white streamers as well. I bought Shrek plates, cups and Shrek streamers. Then I went to Michaels to find a project for our guests to make. I like my guests to have something to take home with them after the party. So I searched and searched and finally I settled on a "foam" project. And I was lucky that they were on sale! I bought foam tiaras for the girls and green visors for the boys. Then I bought some foam stickers that the children could use to decorate their tiara or visor; I also purchased some green and light green sheets of foam that I would use later.      

A couple of days later I took the green and light green sheets of foam and drew some "Shrek ears" and I cut them out. Using a hot glue gun I glued the ears on the boy's visors. They came out great and I was excited that every boy would go home as an ogre. I also put a pair of ears on my daughter's tiara so that she could look like a little ogre Princess Fiona.      

The day before the party I drew a Donkey and cut out some "tails" so that the kids could use to play pin the tail on Donkey. Then I created a Shrek Quiz, with questions pertaining to the movie. I also made "Dirt Cakes" made of Oreos, chocolate pudding and gummi worms. I placed the cakes in little cups to be served individually to the children. I had also ordered a real cake from our local Dominick's that came with a Shrek and Donkey figure.      

The morning of the party I went out and hung up the decorations. The party was to be held outside under our patio and by the pool. We made it look exactly like a swamp with green vines hanging all about and the door to our garage was decorated with the Fiona streamers to be as her "castle". I placed my daughter's stuffed Shrek, Fiona and Donkey out too, but that did not last very long because she took them back. I also put up home-made signs that read "Wanted Fairytale Creatures!" and I hung up "Keep out! Danger! Ogre!" signs in places where the children were not allowed like on the door leading down to the basement.     

When the children arrived they were greeted by my daughter who was dressed in green and who was wearing her tiara and ogre ears and myself. We handed them either a tiara or visor and directed them to the table where all the stickers and foam things were waiting for them. During the party I played both the Shrek and Shrek 2 CDs. We played pin the tail on Donkey and the Shrek game and then the children were invited in the pool. They swam and then came out for some hotdogs and burgers fit for an ogre and some Dirt Cake (they were a hit!) as well. After a while we sang happy birthday and ate real cake and the guests soon departed. My daughter had a blast and so did her guests. And, even though, I was stuck having to clean up (As most of us parents do) I had fun too.