Luke’s favorite thing in the whole universe (besides drinking milk, haha) is watching The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot about That (on PBS). He is obsessed – or should I say, obseussed. :)
So I knew it was only logical that my boy was going to have a Cat in the Hat-themed 3rd birthday party! We’ve decided to give him a big party every other year until he hits 5 (and then he can have a yearly friends party), so after 2 years without throwing a kid party, I was super excited to get to throw one! I think kids’ parties are super fun to plan – if I could get paid to do it, I totally would. :)
This post is going to contain a lot of photos – if you want to see one in more detail, simply click to enlarge! Source list is at the bottom.
The Cat in the Hat is super fun to do because the color scheme is pretty simple – bright blue, bright red, bright yellow, and white. Those colors are already easy to find, but throw in the fact that 4th of July was right around the corner (we had the party on June 30th), and it made it a cinch to find things in the color scheme. Plus, I love the combo of blue and red already, so I had a LOT of items laying around the house in this color combo – which saved me a ton of money.
One thing I was SUPER grateful for was all of the Cat in the Hat cutouts you see scattered around. They were posters mounted on plywood that I borrowed from a friend who is a 1st grade teacher. They really made the party pop! You can buy the packet of posters at an educational store (we have one at our local mall) and totally do this yourself, too.
I had the big frame already, and used blue paint I already had in my stash to make it party-worthy. Pictures from Luke’s last year (the first one was taken on his birthday last year, right up to a few weeks before the party) were hung up with twine and mini clothespins from Michael’s. I bought scrapbook paper on sale 5 for $1 to back it with and make it pop.
And don’t discount the Dollar Tree when you need party supplies! The tablecloths, utensils, and plates all came from there and no one was the wiser. :)
The food was pretty simple: grinders from a local grocery store, veggies and dip, pasta salad, and chips.
I couldn’t resist adding silly Suess-inspired names to the food table labels. :)
I pulled out the chalkboard from my kitchen and made an easy little scrapbook-paper banner for the top of it. The quote is: “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one on earth who is youer than you.”
I tried to make my handwriting look as whimsical as possible. :)
I wanted the whole yard to feel like it was decorated somehow – I found white and red streamers on clearance at Michael’s and we just taped them to the tree with duct tape. It held up great!
The red chair and table were already from Luke’s room!
Cat in the hat greeted our guests as they walked in. :)
I had found this “Thing 2” shirt at a big consignment sale I went to in the winter and was SO thankful it still fit my birthday boy!
He had been talking about birthday cake for DAYS and was allll business when it came down to eating it. lol
These cupcakes were definitely inspired by Pinterest – I can’t take credit for them! Simple cupcakes topped with white frosting and blue cotton candy to look like the crazy blue Thing 1/Thing 2 hair. **Tip: cotton candy hardens really fast! Make and frost the cupcakes and then add cotton candy right at the end before serving.**
I took glass jars from my stash, wrapped striped ribbon around them, and filled them with red and blue candies for a little candy buffet. I bought Twizzlers, Swedish fish, Almond Joys, Kit Kats, and Crunch bars.
I was so happy with how the treat bags turned out! They’re simple brown bags (thick) from Michaels. The Cat in the Hat stickers were on clearance at Michael’s – and I also found the mini clothespins there.
All in all, we had a GREAT time celebrating our little boy and were so thankful for all the friends and family that came to help us celebrate!
Source list:
Utensils, tablecloths, napkins, plates: Dollar Tree
Streamers, scrapbook paper, red stickers (for food labels and treat bags), mini clothespins, blue and white straws, Cat in the Hat stickers, treat bags, cupcake liners, red/white striped ribbon: Michael’s
Free cupcake labels (Thing 1 and Thing 2): Obseussed website
Everything else I had on hand at my house. :)
