hungry caterpillar birthday ideas

Ashley (my sister) and I decided to have AnnaLeigh and Truett’s birthday parties together…because they are 5 weeks apart…and we were inviting all the same people…and it just made sense…and she’s WAY more organized than I am so I knew she would keep me on track!

It was hard to come up with a neutral birthday theme, so I copied (and I mean COPIED) my friend Kristen Nelson’s idea of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It was such a precious party, and AnnaLeigh and Truett LOVED it!

Just in case you forgot what The Very Hungry Caterpillar ate…

He ate through 1 Apple, 2 Pears, 3 Plums, 4 Strawberries, and 5 Oranges…

He also ate through one piece of chocolate cake

one ice cream cone (i didn’t get a picture of the ice cream),

one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one sausage

one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie (empty bowl was for ice cream cones and The Very Hungry Caterpillar didn’t eat m&m’s, but we did)…

one cupcake

and one slice of watermelon (see fruit pic above).

Then he ate through one nice green leaf

The hungry caterpillar and I would get along really well.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday C ake (using my favorite icing recipe):

When I was almost finished with the cake, I walked out of the room for a few minutes. I heard my sister yell, “Uh, Kate! You better get in here!” I walked into the kitchen to find that our stinkin’ dog (Sam) had eaten a chunk out of the right side of the caterpillar’s head. I would have DIED if he had eaten it all, but he was only able to reach that one little part…thank goodness!

The Caterpillar had to have a head, and I didn’t have time to make a new one, so I patched it with icing and decided I would just throw it away after the party. My children, however, warned every guest, “Don’t eat the head of the cake! Sam licked it!”…which of course grossed everyone out. For some reason most people opted for chocolate cake as their dessert instead of cupcakes. Hmmm…I wonder why?!?!

Ash and I made their caterpillar shirts together.

I was able to re-use the yellow pants I made AnnaLeigh for her first birthday by adding the green ruffle and ric-rac.

Preston made a caterpillar for the mantle…with a smiley face on it. He was so proud of his decorating skills.

Somehow I forgot to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to the children at the party, but they read it to each other.

Sweet Truett was so tired that he laid down on his balloon and let AnnaLeigh read.

We invited everyone to sign The Very Hungry Caterpillar books for AnnaLeigh and Truett as a “guest book” and they got to take home little treats “In case they were still hungry.”