Bug Party Treats

As the children were leaving, we made sure to give each child a treat bag full of buggy goodness!  The treat bags were filled with bug tattoos, bug bands, a finger puppet bug, a bug ring, a bug notepad, and a ladybug paddle/ball.

Babies receieved a large finger puppet and 3 rubber bug duckies.

When they got their bag, they were allowed to pick a sucker and a treat cup as well.

I made 8 of each style - magnifying glasses and ladybugs.  The ladybugs were inspired by several different ideas I saw on Stampin' Connection.  The magnifying glasses were inspired by Becky Roberts.

And just so little brother didn't think he was forgotten, I made him an outfit, too!  I found a WiggleWorm iron on at Hobby Lobby for $1.43 and put it on a onesie I already had!

These little caterpillar pants were perfect to go with it! 

 

Bug Party Activity Stations

For this party, my daughter decided she wanted to have activity stations for all of our guests to participate in if they chose.  I thought it was a great idea, so my thoughts on her plans for birthday parties are pretty much - enjoy her great ideas while I can - she's only young once!  I know one of these days she won't want to have these fun parties!

Stations 1 & 2 were together - Create a bug jar to let a bug live in - I collected and washed the baby food jars her little brother has been eating for the last couple of months for the bug habitats!  (Hello, reusing and FREE!)

Design a bug bag to collect bugs in later on during the party.

And here you can see my daughter's bug jar and bug bag - oh, so lovely!

Notice the real live wooly worm behind that?!  Hmmm....wonder what it is telling us about our  upcoming winter?

Station 3 - Make a Caterpillar

You can see a few of the pom pom caterpillars here - NOTE:  Stampin' Up's adhesive googly eyes STICK TO these pom poms!!!!!  Praise the Lord for not having to glue those things on!  Yes!!!

Station 4 - Decorate a Butterfly

I used die cut butterflies that my mother in law purchased for this activity.  I used the shaving cream technique to decorate them.

 

Shaving Cream Technique

Supplies:  Die cut paper (cardstock works best - Whisper White is great for this!)

Shaving Cream

Re-inkers in various colors

 

1.  Fill a container with shaving cream.

2.  Drop 3-4 colors of re-inker around the top of the shaving cream.

3.  Swirl with a stick or toothpick.

4.  Dip die cut into the shaving cream.

5.  Wipe off with paper towels.

6.  Repeat until desired look is achieved!

Here are several of the children at the activity station making butterflies and caterpillars - notice the bug capes?  They were part of an exploration station below.  They loved chasing each other in those capes!!!  Ah, the joys of being a school teacher with tons of silly props in the closet!  ;)

5.  Exploration Station

In addition to the bug capes, there were several bug books (all from my daughter's library - yes, people, this is what she loves to read at night!)

More of the exploration station - There was a butterfly and a lightning bug jar also.  I found these on clearance - they move around like real bugs when you tap on the top!

6.  Tattoo Station

I believe one of our fearless leaders began receiving tattoos rather than giving them!  Hey, what better way to show off your manhood than with a big huge bug tattoo!??!?

And, at last, the bug hunt!  It was just like Easter here - except the kids got bugs to take home with them!  They LOVED it!!!!

They brought all of their bags back in and poured bugs out all over the table to look at their collection afterwards!  Too funny!

My daughter's bag of bugs.  Cute moment not to be forgotten:

As we were setting up for the party, she looked over at us and said, "I've got all a girl could ever want!"

You just remember that, sweet girl!  We may not have a ton of money to throw huge birthday bashes, but we have a family who loves each other and has fun together!  That is all we could ever ask for!

Bug Day Party Pictures

It's hard to imagine that our little girl is already 6 years old, but that day has come and gone - she is growing up so quickly!  It's funny how when you are this age you think time can't pass quickly enough....as you get older it seems like it passes more quickly each year.  We certainly appreciate our time with our sweet family and children and try to enjoy it as much as possible. 

Here are a few snapshots of the party we had (now that I've crawled out of my crazy business for a few moments!). 

My mom came to the rescue to help me make Halleigh's shirt.  I added the Pink Pirouette ribbon using Patch Attach - very easy to iron on.  I thought the same would be true of the ladybugs, but obviously felt doesn't feel the same way about glue as other materials.  Needless to say, my mom patiently stitched all the ladybugs on by hand while I made the cake! 

THANKS MOM!!!!

And a matching little head band - all supplies came from Hobby Lobby.  Thanks to the genius who invented hot glue guns, that was much easier to make!!!!  I didn't even glue myself thanks to the SU Silicone Sheet.

Here are a few of the food items we prepared - we stuck with the buggy theme for this party - all the way down to the food!

Love my help from Pinterest!

Target clearance special!  Gummy worms in petry dishes - on 75% off sale!  The kids loved them!

Snapshot of the food table...

Caterpillar puffs and Stick Insects

Bug Bites - I just gave them these names - they are the bomb, though!  And so easy!  Little smokies wrapped in a half slice of bacon - you pour brown sugar on top and bake in the oven at 450 until the sugar carmelizes!  YUMMMY! 

Bug Juice - AKA Blue Hawaiian Punch

Peanut Butterflies and Jelly

TIP:  We decided that it would be much easier to cut the bread FIRST with your cookie cutter and THEN add the PB & J.

TA-DA!!!!  Yes!!!!  After 6 years of miserable looking cakes, I finally made a cake that was exactly the way I envisioned it!  Thanks goes out to Pillsbury, Duncan Hines and Wilton for great cake pans, cake mixes and the great new cans of frosting that actually taste pretty good (well, honestly, black is not the greatest taste!)

I'll share some more pics later this week of the activities and party favors, etc.