For Max’s 3rd birthday, we threw a zoo-themed party. It was a great theme with so many options for fun.
This is the cake I made! My most ambitious to date. My neighbor recently took a cake decorating class and she helped me decorate. I'm thrilled with how it turned out.
It's a lemon cake with butter cream frosting. The decorations are fondant, but the actual frosting isn't. I drew the lion face.
My husband cut scrap wood for the sign. The food was all based on zoo animal diets. Buralp covered the table and stainless steel bowls are trays worked as feed troughs.
I mounted animal postcards on chopsticks and planted them in the food. Peanuts for elephants. Watermelon for gorillas....
I made my favorite party pasta salad: Seashell Salad. Recipe is in the food section. It has avocado, mango and shrimp. Always a hit.
An old rice sack was filled with oatmeal raisin cookies. Peanut butter and banana sandwiches are a toddler fave.
Tropical punch for kiddos (mango, guava, pineapple and lemon-lime soda)
Our wheat-grass for juicing fit the theme, so we used it as a centerpiece. Sipper cups and animal print shades were party favors.
Not 100% healthy. We made popcorn and put cotton candy on straws for fluffy lollies.
The classic box of cookies for a parting gift.
We threw some blow-up animals and all our outdoor toys in the backyard and just let the kids find their own fun.
At the end of the party, Max opened his gift from Nana: a teepee!
We made out own cutouts with posters and mdf board.
Jack takes a turn.
Max as a baby giraffe.
The long shot. Everyone's favorite poster.
And Jack takes his turn. He's the next birthday boy. Thank goodness I have until September to plan.
Print
I love all of your ideas! I am in the process of planning my son’s 2nd birthday party…zoo themed. Will you please tell me a bit more on how you made the cutouts…Where did you find the posters? How did you adhere them to the wood? The details are appreciated. Again, your party turned out sooo well!
Thanks. I’m so glad you liked it. We had a great time at our party. I hope you do to.
For the cut-outs I looked for animal posters that featured a head in the center to make pictures. You have to frame the shot in your head when deciding which poster to choose. I think I got them at allposters.com or postergods.com. My husband made the frames out of particle board. It was a little tricky to get them to stand upright and we ended up weighting the support down to get that straight verticle line.
Adhering the posters was very easy. First I cut out the head. My husband traced the hole, then cut and sanded the wood to match. I used spray glue and worked one section at a time. It’s important to smooth it down as you go. It’s OK if there are a few little flaws. Most parents have camera phones, but I printed out photos of each guest and included them in our thank you notes.
As I write these instructions, I’m remembering standing outside our garage at night, figuring out how to do these projects with my husband. The kids were asleep inside. Some people think planning a party is too much trouble, but it’s always brought us closer together and been a fun creative outlet for me. Have fun!
What size posters did you use? I love this idea……it is so creative!
Hilary,
Thank you. It was so much fun.
I don’t remember exactly what sizes, but they were standard posters. Over-sized posters are great, but can be quite a bit more expensive, plus kiddos are small.
Good luck,
Rebecca
Love this! So creative.
Where did you get the balloons from?
Oriental Trading Company. A friend actually thought I had drawn them with sharpies. I’m not that crazy!
Thanks! I thought that too but so happy that I can buy them
Where did you get those cute animal drink bottles? I have to have them
Oriental Trading Company