Our sweet Oliver was about to turn two and I could not wait to design his party! I had known for a while that the theme was going to be based off of the “Little Blue Truck” children’s books by Alice Shertle, as they were his absolute favorite, and what he would always pick out for us to read during his bedtime routine.
Since Oliver’s birthday is in March, it seemed fitting to center the design on the “Little Blue Truck Springtime” book - a cheery tale following Little Blue Truck and his good friend toad, who go out for a drive on a sunny spring day to meet all of the sweet newborn baby animals on the farm. And just like the weather in the book, on a bright sunny spring day, we held Oliver’s birthday celebration in our home in Leavenworth, Washington.
Finding the right invitations is always a favorite process of mine during the planning stages, and typically the next step after deciding on the theme. Minted.com is always my “go-to” for finding the most charming invitations and they have quite a large selection. Because my theme was so unique, I had to find an invitation that somehow correlated with the story, and fortunately, rather quickly, I found just the one! It was the perfect blue colored invitation, with cute little farm animals that rhymed just like the book did: “ Oink, Moo, & Cock-a-doodle-doo, Oliver wants to celebrate his 2nd birthday with you!” I was thrilled!
The invitation suite also came with darling gift tags and stickers that I was able to utilize on the drink cups and party favors. It’s always such a joyful feeling when everything starts falling into place and I can move on to the next phase of my design – the decor!
With such a distinct theme, I planned to make most of the party decorations myself, and was up for the challenge! I knew I wanted to have a large statement piece and I felt like the main character of the book was it. Using a giant piece of free mdf board that was recently given to us by my husband’s co-worker, I rough sketched the outline of Little Blue Truck, and then cut him out using a jig saw. I then enlisted the help of my talented mother-in-law Jennifer, to hand paint our newly constructed truck body.
She did such an incredible job, and really made Little Blue Truck come to life! Loaded with presents in the back of the truck bed, and surrounded by bright spring flowers and our favorite Jellycat farmyard stuffed animals, Little Blue Truck was the perfect focal point of the party and also a really great photo prop!
For the other main parts of the décor, I sewed large canvas banners to be placed above the dessert table, kids table and Little Blue Truck. I recruited my best friend, (& insanely talented artist) Josie, of Chalk Chic Mama, and had her hand paint phrases from the book onto the banners, and draw Little Blue Truck himself!
I can’t tell you how perfect the banners were! Time after time, her artistic talent continues to blow me away, and this time it was no exception!
The banners certainly made for perfect and unique décor pieces and really added a cohesive look throughout the party!
To give off a spring vibe, I set the kid’s table with placemats I cut from a roll of preserved moss, and lined the tan and white striped table runner I sewed for the event with grape hyacinth plants potted in galvanized tubs.
Lying atop the plates were the cutest birch wood laser cut names of each guest, made by the company Simple & Sentimental – a darling addition that delighted everyone!
The ever so darling piglet plates along with the farm animal napkins & wood cutlery set were from my favorite party essential store, Meri Meri.
This sweet and simple setup might just be one of my favorites - although I tend to say that about every event I design! ;)
I found the perfect birthday attire for Oliver from the company The Katie Co. Katie’s custom designed Little Blue Truck t-shirt with Oliver’s name on it was the most adorable thing!
Watching Oliver’s face light up when I got him dressed for the party was such a precious moment – one this mama’s heart will never forget!
Okay, prepare yourself for the cutest springtime dessert table!
This cheery table STILL, makes me so happy and I love how it all came together!
My good friend Olivia from Flour + Sugar made a scrumptious chocolate chip cake, filled with sweet butter cream, a cocoa crumb mixture, chocolate ganache, and a salted caramel drizzle on top! It was to die for!!
Olivia also made delicious chocolate cupcakes topped with salted caramel butter cream, fudge sauce and cocoa crumbs that I had her place into Meri Meri’s “on the farm” cupcake kit! They were too cute and I just adored the mini animal toppers!
One of my favorite creation of Olivia’s had to be the egg shaped, speckled espresso macarons filled with chocolate ganache and salted butter cream! I placed them into an antique wooden egg crate I found on Etsy for the event - it was literally, the sweetest addition.
Another favorite aspect of mine from the dessert table was the custom-made vanilla sugar cookies. Housed on mini hay bales, these incredible cookies were made by my sweet friend Stefanie Rosales. She took pages from the book and put them on cookies with royal icing! Such a masterpiece! I have to admit; these cookies are currently residing in my freezer, as they were seriously too cute to eat!
The cookies placed on the mini hay bales turned out better than I imagined and was such a fun addition to the dessert table! I still swoon over this simple design!
Mini desserts of any kind are always welcome in my designs, as they always seem to be a hit! I was excited to re-use this mini donut holder that we had made for a previous event because it is too cute! And, you may have guessed it - Josie, of Chalk Chic Mama is the one who beautifully wrote out “donuts” on this board!
I love putting party favors together for the kids, and I especially love tying the favors into the theme of the party! So of course each child needed to have their very own “Little Blue Truck’s Springtime” book!
In addition to the book, each child also received Farm animal party blowers and farm animal temporary tattoos - both by Meri Meri.
It’s safe to say the favors were a hit!
I just adore these special images of Oliver’s big brother Avery showing the book to their darling friend Penny!
It was a very sweet day with friends and family celebrating Oliver, our now two year old, and the lover of Little Blue Truck!
A huge heartfelt thanks to all of the incredible vendors involved!
Photography: Nicole Conner Photography. Instagram: @nicoleconner
Chalk Artist: Chalk Chic Mama. Instagram @chalkchicmama
Invitations: Minted . Instagram @minted
Pig Plates, Farm Animal Napkins, Wood Cutlery, Farm Animal Party Blowers, Farm Animal Cupcake Set, Farm Animal Temporary Tattoos: Meri Meri . Instagram: @merimeriparty
Cake, Cupcakes, Egg-shaped Macarons: Flour + Sugar . Instagram @flourandsugarhomebakery
Sugar Cookies: Stefanie Rosales . Instagram @stefffrosales
Birch Wood Laser Cut Names Place Cards: Simple & Sentimental . Instagram: @simplesentimental
Little Blue Truck T-shirt: The Katie Co. Instagram @thekatieco