On Saturday we celebrated Judah's 2nd birthday. Right after last year's party, I knew I wanted to plan a Monsters party for his next birthday. He was really into monsters at the time, and although cars have taken over his main interests, he still really likes to growl and play monster.
If you do not know me personally, then this is the first you've heard this next bit of information: We are moving again next month! (I'll probably post something more about our move later, but this will tell you the reason why.) Right now we are in the middle of selling our house, packing, and a bunch of other "fun" stuff, so I had to keep the party simple and didn't even include any decorations. I planned it to start at 10:00 AM so that the food could be kept to a minimum, as well.
I still had to have fun with it, though, and included monster themed treats, including this monster munch (recipe will be posted later)...
...Green Monster Smoothies (cups from Target)...
...Monster Sandwiches (American cheese and deli turkey sandwiched between crustless bread cut out from a round cookie cutter, topped with cucumber and black olive eyes and tomato mouths)...
...and then these adorable Monster Cupcakes (step by step tutorial in a later post).
The kids ate...
...and they crafted. Being a part of a church has more perks than you may realize. 🙂 I borrowed a table and chairs from one of the kids rooms for Judah's party. It seated 10 and was the perfect size for their miniature bodies. I printed out monster coloring sheets from Better Homes and Garden and set a small pack of crayons at each craft chair.
I also bought monster foam masks that the kids had fun gluing together.
Other activities included monster bean bag toss, monster bowling and...
...a reading from the cutest book ever, Tickle Monster. This book came with adorable tickle monster mittens! I was lucky that one of older kids there wanted to read the story to the younger crowd, so I was off the hook. She did a great job!
Again, because of the lack of time I had to work on this party, I didn't make a separate smash cake for Judah. I think he'd rather have one of these monster cupcakes anyway. I couldn't stop laughing at the way he was eating it!
At the end of the party, I sent the kids home with the boxes of crayons they used earlier and then a monster favor bag filled with a coloring book, silly putty (that I drew an eye and mouth on to create a monster), a plush monster, a monster pop-up book, play-doh, bubbles, monster stickers and suckers. The bags and monster pop-up books were from the Target Dollar Spot that I snatched around Halloween.
Even though it was missing some of the elements I originally planned to include, the party still turned out great and everyone had a fun time. And, yes, I am already starting to think about next year's party! 😉
Julie @ Willow Bird Baking says
This is absolutely ADORABLE! Happy birthday, Judah!!
Francesca says
Your son is just too adorable!! Love the cute party food! Also, congrats on the move! I checked on the website you provided. Jackson looks like a lovely city. Enjoy!
Jessica says
Nikki! It looks great! Even if you didn't get to everything you had originally wanted, I think it turned out so cute! Your invitations were awesome. And I love that you drew an eyeball and mouth on the silly putty! Great job!
Cindy Williams says
Adorable!! Hey where did you get your black and white curtains?
Nikki says
Hey Cindy,
I bought the fabric from Joann's on a Memorial Day sale (it's a special order fabric). And, a friend of mine sewed them into panels for me. 🙂
Mechelle says
Oh wow your moving to my neck of the woods, well not really, I'm in southern Mississippi. I really can't wait to see what you will do with southern food though.
Judah looked like he and his friends really enjoyed the party and that is what it's all about anyhow, so it was perfect.
Heather says
What a fun party! You did a great job 🙂 I’m in the process of planning my son’s first birthday party and I have already thought about what his 2nd party might be--I completely understand!
Stephanie says
Such a cute party!! Great job on everything! Praying your move goes smoothly and your house sells quickly!!
Kelsey says
Nikki, you did such a great job. It looks like a perfect party!
Krista {Budget Gourmet Mom} says
What a cute party! I love the simplicity of it all and it just goes to show that a little planning and preparation can make for one awesome party!
Heather Taylor @ Kids in the Sink says
Such a cute idea. My son's 2nd birthday is coming up and I'm trying to come up with cute ideas on a budget as well. I always forget about the dollar section at Target! Thanks for the reminder!
Christin says
I love the monster sandwiches and cupcakes! They look fantastic. Good luck with your move.
elly says
Everything looks SO great, Nikki! Love the theme.
Brooke says
Super cute, N! LOVE IT! You did such a great job. Hope Judah had as much fun as it looks like you did!
Jenn says
Hello! I stumbled across your website and absolutely LOVE your Monster party. I'm planning a Monster themed party for my daughter in March and have already purchased many of the same items from the Target dollar section that you have. I was wondering if you were still planning on doing a tutorial for the cupcakes because they are amazing! If not, would you mind emailing me the directions? I love them and definitely want to include those in her party. Thank you so much in advance and also thank you so much for the great ideas!
Nikki says
Hi Jenn, I'm planning to post the tutorial this month. 🙂 After you have your monster party, you should share your pics with us at my Facebook page. I'd love to see them!
ecuador says
lindo, me encanta,algo parecido le voy a hacer a mi nena en su cumpleaños
ecuador says
gracias, voy a practicar las recetas soy aficionada a la cocina especialmente a la reposteria
Heather says
Hi! I am planning a Monster Party for my soon to be 1 year old and have been looking for different "Monster" foods and came across your site! I love everything you've done and wish I had gone to the dollar section at Target around Halloween to get those cute bags!! Anyway, I was curious if you could send me or point me in the right direction to the Monster Munch recipe! Looks good and really cute! Thank you!!!
Nikki says
Hi Heather! I completely forgot to post that recipe and will probably post it sometime this Fall. But, for now, I'll take you to this recipe Our Best Bites, which is what I used. 🙂 I hope you have a GREAT and relaxing party!
alexa says
I dont have access to pages, would you be willing to share the invites you made in a .doc format?
thanks
Nikki says
Hi Alexa. The file is actually not in Pages format, but in pdf format, which is more universal. You should be able to open it that way. If not, you need to download the free Adobe software here: https://get.adobe.com/reader/
Hope this helps! Enjoy your party!
Crystal says
Where can I find the goody bags themselves?
Nikki says
Hi Crystal,
I bought those a couple of years ago at the Dollar Spot at Target during Halloween.
Crystal says
Where did you buy the monster goody bags?
Nikki says
Hi Crystal, I bought them 2 1/2 years ago during Halloween in the Target Dollar Spot.