Planning, Planning, Planning!!

Yesterday, was my little monster's birthday. We had a super day, just the three of us - The Daddy took us out for lunch, we strolled along the seafront in the sunshine, we went to the park, we opened presents, we ate cake. Perfect.

Saturday, however, will be a little busier.
Saturday, is party day. At last count, we had 58 confirmed guests. Including 22 children. Eeek.

I know, I know, it's his first birthday, you're supposed to keep it small & low key - he won't remember anyway - blah blah blah.

I considered a small party, really I did, but even just inviting mummy & baby friends, it was getting bigger than my little house could handle.  Then my dad said he'd pay to hire a hall (love you daddy!), and then I turned into a party planning loony.  On a budget. Which adds an interesting dimension to the proceedings.

I am loving it though. I take sheer delight in planning & organising, so am in my element with lists & even a spreadsheet.  Yes really.

The theme, is Dylan's favourite book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. A classic.

I blew a small chunk of my budget on very lovely supplies from Juicy Tots (if there's a little person in your life - go visit - so much great stuff!) including these super cool cupcake cases & toppers. My very lovely twitter buddy @HannahSam donated some hungry caterpillar goodies left over from her little one's party too, so it's going to be a total caterpillar-fest :)

I'll be spending much of Friday whipping up LOTS of tasty cupcakes & adorning them with my very own Hungry Caterpillar Holy Communion! (Edible wafers, printed to order from a very clever lady on ebay) - *and* I found these awesome sprinkles which will coordinate perfectly too. I like :)

My wonderful friend Michelle is making the 'proper' cake (cupcakes I can do, big ones, I don't know where to start), but I have made this little beauty to sit on top:

He's made of polymer clay (fimo), so isn't edible, but hopefully he'll look pretty cool, and I can put him in the little dude's memory box afterwards :)

Other than that, there's just the rest of the food to do (quick & easy cold buffet style picky bits), balloons to blow up, pass the parcel to wrap (I know they're only little, but you HAVE to play pass the parcel at kid's parties!!), a box of toys to sort out to keep the little people amused, decorating on the day, and of course, PARTY BAGS! :D   .....Yes, there's a chance I'm having way too much fun with that bit. And I know, a lot of mummy's hate them, it's a waste of money, loads of junk that doesn't get played with... But it's my little boy's first party, and I want to do them. So there. Everso proud of myself though - thanks to a mixture of thrifty ebay buys & some 99p shop bargains, I've amassed plenty of good stuff for about £20. Hooray for the frugal mummy instinct!

So, I think we're more or less good to go.  I've had a few wobbles - there were a couple of hitches, and might be a few no-shows on the day thanks to the stupid ash cloud (most notably my dad, bit gutted about that), but on the whole, it should be a fantabulous day.

Dylan will be happy to just spend a couple of hours chilling & playing with all his chums, and if he's happy, I'm happy :)