When I was pregnant with Evie, my sister and Rosemary threw us a couple's baby shower with a Hungry Caterpillar theme. And when Evie turned ONE we threw a Madeline themed birthday party. I wasn't even sure I wanted to have a party for Maggie's birthday, but my mother insisted and I'm glad she did. We kept the guest list very small, though you wouldn't guess it by the quality and quantity of the decorations.
We chose Evie's Madeline theme because the little dog's name was Genevieve, so I wanted to see if I could find a story with the name Maggie in it. I discovered Maggi and Milo
while in the waiting room at the pediatrician's office. We read the story and fell in love.
while in the waiting room at the pediatrician's office. We read the story and fell in love.
The book is about a girl who receives a yellow bucket and a frog hunting kit from her grandmother. She wears an orange tutu and blue polka dot rain boots. Maggi and her boarder collie, Milo, go on adventures looking for frogs. It's adorable.
For the table decorations my mother used yellow buckets from the dollar store, frogs made on her Cricut, and pictures of Maggie.
My grandmother made potted plant arrangements in the yellow buckets to have that marshy-pond look.
I also HAD to buy new blue polka dot rain boots just for the occasion.
The fireplace mantle decorations included a banner of Evie's monthly baby pictures on a layered set of paper cut out on the Cricut and strung on a ribbon.
The MAGGIE letters are from Hobby Lobby with the same scrapbook paper from the banner cut and mod-podged on top.
For each of the girl's parties we've used the story book as a guest book. Instead of signing a message, guests were instructed to make frogs out of their thumb prints. Everyone was so creative with their froggy families.
The author's website for Maggi and Milo has free coloring sheets, so we set up a coloring station for the kids.
With the party being late morning, we kept the food to some yummy breakfast snacks: bagels & cream cheese, fruit, veggie tray, cheese platter, and then some crunchy cracker snacks for the babies. Did I mention we had mimosas? Because, why not?
I baked some of the frog cookies on to sticks to put in this "pond" - this was my favorite decoration my mom pulled together. (List of cookie recipes and tutorials here)
Hopefully I don't embarrass Eric in telling you that he has a talent for carving things into / out of water melons. Of course we had to put him to work!
With enough of our guests having food allergies or intolerances, Eric's parents ordered a special cake (and a few cupcakes) from 2bWhole bakery. Their customer service was excellent and they were happy to make cupcakes for our friends with very complicated dietary restrictions.
Maggie had fun opening presents and smashing her cake!
Two other vendors to mention~
invitations and thank you notes: ClaudiaCurtiDesigns
Maggie's party dress: MadilynnsBoutique
I totally forgot to photograph the goody bags. Each family received a yellow bucket, enough frog cookies for the family, and a paperback copy of Maggi and Milo (it happened to be the feature Scholastic Bookclub book at Evie's school fundraiser this spring - win win!)
