Elmo Party!

My daughter loved Elmo and Sesame Street so we decided to throw her an Elmo-themed party for her 2nd birthday!  If you are looking for creative ways to decorate for an Elmo party of your own, read below for details on all of the decor from our party.

 

Invitation

I made the invitation above based on a sample that I saw while doing an Internet search.  I loved the little poem that is read to the tune of the Elmo's World song!  At the time that I made this invitation I did not have Photoshop Elements (like I do now).  So, I made the invitation using Microsoft Word.  Microsoft Word works fine, but it is a little difficult to make the text "pop".  After making the invitation I took it to a local print shop for printing.  Making your own invitation saves a lot of money.  This invitation cost about $15 as opposed to the nearly $40 that I would have spent had I ordered it from a site like Shutterfly.  Plus, in doing it myself, I could totally customize what the invite said.

Decorations

Many of the decorations were hand made by me and my mom from ideas that we found on Pinterest.  Some of the other decorations were generic items purchased at Party City.  Some other decorations were the Sesame Street toys strewn about my house!  All of the decorations are detailed below.

Dorothy

It just so happened that we had a goldfish (whom we renamed "Dorothy" for the party).  We tried to make Dorothy's bowl look like that of the real Dorothy on "Elmo's World".  We put stones in the bottom and anchored down a tiny birthday hat, since Dorothy typically has something in her fish bowl related to the theme of the show.  Dorothy became a cute centerpiece on our food table!

Welcome Sign

When guests arrived at the party the first thing that they saw was a Sesame Street-like sign that said, "Myla's 2nd Birthday" on one side and "Thanks for Coming" on the opposite side.  This sign doubled as a welcome sign and a goodbye sign.  The sign is made out of a white foam display board.  After cutting the display board to the shape of the Sesame Street sign, I then covered it with green poster board.  Then I cut thin strips of yellow poster board to create the border around the edge of the sign.  I attached the green and yellow poster board using double stick tape.  Then I attached Vinyl letters that I purchased at OfficeMax.  I punched two holes in the sign and attached it to the lamp post in front of my house using zip ties.

"Myla Street" Sign

My mom made this super cute "Myla Street" Sign.  It looked really neat on our dessert table and now is a decoration in our playroom!  We found the idea on Pinterest.  Here's how it was done...

Materials Needed:

• 2 circular placards (two different sizes)
• 1 railing rung
• 1 dowel rod
• 2 small wooden craft balls (with a flat bottom, if possible)
• 1 large wooden craft ball (with a flat bottom, if possible)
• 2 small chains
• 2 small "s" hooks
• 2 small eye hooks
• thin board cut to the shape of the Sesame Street sign

To create the sign, first paint all pieces green, except the large wooden craft ball.  Paint the large wooden craft ball white.  Paint a thin yellow edge around the Sesame Street sign, like on the picture above.  Using vinyl letters (from an office supply store or cut with a Cricut machine) add your child's name to the street sign.  I also added a number two at the top of the sign because it was my daughter's second birthday.  Drill a hole through the bottom of the two circular placards and insert a screw through the placards and into the bottom of the rung.  Make sure that you sink the screw in the bottom far enough so that the base sits level.  Next, drill a hole about 2 inches down from the top of the rung to insert the dowel rod.  Make sure it is a snug fit.  Then drill holes in the flat part of the two small craft balls so that they fit on the ends of the dowel rod.  Next, drill a small hole in the top of the rung and on the flat part of the white craft ball.  Insert a double-sided screw (both ends are screws) into the top of the rung and then screw the white craft ball on top.  Next, screw two tiny eye hooks on the bottom side of the dowel rod.  Attach the chains to the eye hook and place the "s" hooks on the ends of the chains.  Drill two tiny holes where the "s" hooks will hook onto the sign.  Hang the sign on the chain and your done!

Banner

My mom also made a banner to hang above our dessert table.  The banner is made out of scrapbook paper and ribbon.  There two scrapbook papers as the background of each piece and then Elmo and the "I'm 2" are also cut out of scrapbook paper.  Each of the 4 scalloped papers has two holes punched in it (one on the left side and one on the right side).  A string is then woven through the holes to connect each piece of the banner.  The string is then taped to the backside of the banner using packing tape.  This prevents the pieces of the banner from tilting.  In between each scalloped paper are several short ribbons that are tied around and knotted. 

"Thanks for Coming" Sign

 

I created the sign shown above on Microsoft Word.  I then printed it out and attached it to a piece of foam display board.  I cut the foam display board the exact size of my sign.  I then punched two holes in the display board and placed a yellow ribbon through the back and tied large knots so that it could not slip through.  I hung the sign on the inside of my front door so that guests would see it as they were leaving. 

 

Mural and Balloons

 

 

When guests entered the house they were greeted by a life-sized Sesame Street mural.  The mural, balloons, and Cookie Monster and Elmo pictures were all purchased at Party City.  The mural became a fun place for photos.  Plus, the kids thought the life-sized characters were pretty cool!

 Label Signs

 

I made little tiny "Myla Street" signs and sat them around the house.  I also made labels for the food using the same format.  I simply made the signs on Microsoft Word, printed them on card stock, then cut them out.  It was really easy, cheap, and they looked cute.

 

 Toys

 

In an effort to de-clutter my house before the party I put all of my daughter's toys away or moved them to her playroom.  I thought it would be fun, though, to leave the Sesame Street toys out.  We dressed the big Elmo up in a party hat and placed him on the dessert table!

 

Party Hat

 

I bought a pack of party hats at Party City for the kids to wear.  On the one for my daughter I added a number "2" and some feathery cord to the bottom edge and the top.  This helped her party hat stand out since she was the birthday girl! 

 

Dessert Table

 

Above is the completed look of the dessert table, including the banner, "Myla Street" sign, cake, cupcakes, cookies, and stuffed Elmo.  I wrapped a couple of boxes in striped paper that matched the colors of the party in order to elevate the cake and cupcakes. 

 

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

 

 

The cookie monster cupcakes were super cute and not hard to make, but were a bit time consuming.  In order to make some of your own check out the Cookie Monster Cupcakes recipe on the Duncan Hines website.

 

Elmo Cake

The Elmo cake is made with the Wilton Elmo Cake Pan.  It was pretty easy to make and turned out really well!  For directions on how to make it check out the Elmo Cake Instructions on Wilton's website.  

 

The Number "2" and The Letter "M" Cookies



 

Just like on Sesame Street, the letter of the day was "M," and the number of the day was "2".  This theme showed up on the invitation, various signs, and in the "2" and "M" cookies.  These are sand tart type cookies with a glaze and polka dots.  They were cute and yummy, but took awhile to make because I made so many.

Food

 

I kept the food simple because, with a two year old, preparations are tough even if they are easy, but also because I wanted the kids to eat too!  I did make a few things to fit with the theme of the party, as shown below.

 

Dorothy's Goldfish

 

I got some tiny cups and tied a red and white polka dot ribbon around them and placed Pepperidge Farm Goldfish in them.  The kids enjoyed this snack!

 

Big Bird Eggs

 

To make the big bird eggs, I made hard boiled eggs then sliced them in half vertically (the opposite of the way you do deviled eggs).  I then took the yolks out and "deviled" them.  I dipped the egg whites in some water dyed with yellow food coloring.  I then put the yolks back in the whites.  I made a beak out of yellow and red pepper.  I placed two candy eyes (I know, kind of gross to have candy on deviled eggs, but I couldn't come up with anything to make the eyes) above the beak.  To finish it off I put a thin piece of red pepper over the top of the eyes.  They resembled Big Bird a little bit! :)