Red White & Two (a few months late)

Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is on it's way with Christmas trailing closely behind. So why am I writing about Little J's "Red, White, & Two" birthday party?? Well, I guess I wanted to give you a jump start on next 4th of July. Not exactly, but I just hate not to post some of the cute details from Little J's 2nd birthday (and in case you didn't read this post, I'm pregnant, and tired, and a little behind on the blog these days!). Here are the invites:

My inspiration for this party came from here (via Pinterest, of course). Even though Little J's birthday isn't until the 19th of July, it was close enough to Independence Day that the hubby and I thought that "Red, White, & Two" would be a fun theme. That and Little J's first birthday party was A TON of work (worth it, but a TON of work nonetheless) so we wanted something a little less labor-intensive this time around. I bought some of the decor from the Dollar Store. Not usually my style, but cutting down on some of the labor was exactly what we had in mind. And I made some of the decor myself, along with the goodies. Like these pretzel sticks that are always a huge hit with our family:

And white Oreo truffles (my version of another Pinterest find):

And this garland I made from star cupcake liners I had lying around for YEARS, glitter cardstock scraps from Christmas, and leftover yarn. I also framed an extra invitation and put our own calendar on a stand on the gift table since the picture/caption were appropriate:

We used mason jars we had on hand for drinks. I used cupcake liners from the $1.50 bins at Michaels to act as "lids" on jars for the younger ones (just used a hole puncher to make a place for the straw):

We used our homemade chalkboard not only as a "Happy Birthday" sign, but a place to keep track of how many wanted a black bean burger and how many wanted a salmon burger (with cheese or without which is why most of the tally marks are C's):

We made PB&J for the kiddos (or whoever wasn't fond of black bean or salmon burgers) and used one of our star cookie cutters to make them a little more festive:

And the Dollar Store did the rest (balloons, window clings, and hanging lanterns, along with the star trays pictured above):

So tell me, do you remember what it was like to plan a party before the days of Pinterest? I suppose I do...but the memory is quickly fading!

Sorry! One more thing. I couldn't help but share our thank-you notes: