I must admit, I did influence my son’s choice a bit for his third birthday party theme. He watches the show Octonauts and loves Peso, a cute little penguin who is the team’s medic. I prefer not to focus too much on TV or movie characters, so instead of a Peso party or an Octonauts party, I suggested a penguin party. He changed his mind several times between this and a few other themes, but we landed on this one. It turned out to be very educational because we learned all about penguins in the process!
Decor
Black and white were of course the main colors with light blue and orange as accent colors.
I sewed bunting using black and white buffalo plaid fabric. I chose this fabric over a penguin print because I felt it could more easily be reused for other occasions. The first time I made fabric bunting, I used this tutorial as my guide and wrote a post about it. Now that I’ve made a few, I no longer need to look at a tutorial. I have saved a couple of templates for different sizes and gotten used to sewing them and it goes very quickly now. This time I made only 8 flags instead of 15 because it fit the space better and I like how simple it turned out with less flags. I also saved time doing it that way. Always a plus!
I used the leftover fabric from the bunting as a tablecloth on the buffet table.
I reused many of the paper lanterns from my other son’s space party and supplemented with some paper fans, all of which I will save and reuse. I already have plans to lend the fans out for another party. These hanging decorations are a beautiful replacement for balloons. I think they look classier than balloons anyway.
In addition to the paper lanterns, I reused a few other things for the decor, including a wooden easel that I have from my wedding six years ago and a chalkboard that I used to make a sign for my brother’s wedding last year.
Library Books
For my kids’ birthday parties, I love to research quality children’s books in the theme of the party and then request them from the library online so that I can go pick them up all at once. It requires some planning ahead, but is such a fun, FREE way both for the kids and me to learn more about the theme leading up to the party. It is also a nice, calm activity during the party.
Here are some things we found interesting about Emperor penguins:
- They huddle together and take turns moving to the center to survive the frigid conditions of Antarctica.
- The female lays the egg, then leaves for months to look for food.
- Meanwhile, the male protects the egg in its brood pouch, balancing it on his feet.
- The female returns, finds her mate by his vocal call and regurgitates food for the newly hatched chick.
Another added benefit to our study of penguins was that it added to the kids’ awareness of an animal’s role in an ecosystem. I hope that learning about wildlife will instill in children the desire to protect it.
Borrow, Borrow, Borrow
A big way that I have been making our family parties more sustainable and affordable is to ask to borrow things instead of going out and buying them. I live within a few minutes of my parents and my brother and his family so we share things all the time for parties or when we have company. Having that network has been so valuable to me.
Here’s what I borrowed this time around:
- A folding table, black tablecloth, and black slate cheese board from my mom
- Two folding chairs from my brother
- A penguin stuffed animal and penguin ice tray from my sister-in-law
Favor Bags
I bought a set of tiny black paper bags and decorated them with cardstock to resemble a penguin. I have been shopping at a locally owned craft store as much as possible as opposed to the big chain stores. I used tissue paper that I had already to stuff inside the bags.
Inside the bags were these finger puppets I made from felt scraps I had leftover from another project. I was inspired by this Etsy design by Cheryl A. Smith. I used a blanket stitch for the first time and really enjoyed learning a new skill.
I turned a cardboard box into a penguin with an open mouth and sewed these fish shaped bean bags out of felt (that I already had) and filled them with beans. The kids could ‘feed’ the penguin by tossing fish into its mouth.
I used a light blue felt crown that I had made for my son’s first birthday that happened to be one of the party colors again. He has beautiful blue eyes so I think I associate the light blue with him subconsciously. I stitched a goldenrod “3” onto it to make it special and specific to this year. I was able to practice my blanket stitch one more time when adding the “3” on. It sure isn’t perfect but he loved it! It ties in the back with a ribbon so the size adjusts as he grows. I’m hoping I can remove the “3” and add something else in the future for another birthday or other occasion.
Food
I made vegetarian lasagna using this recipe. I had made it many times before and knew it was good. Lasagnas are such a great way to feed a crowd. I think this recipe is also really great for bringing to a friend who is sick or just had a baby. My mom brought salad, fruit, and garlic bread.
My mom is a pastry chef and made the adorable penguin cake. Isn’t she the best?! She had extra cake so she made cake pops. She used ribbon she had to decorate the cake pops.
This is the third party we hosted without using any disposable plates, napkins, or silverware. I did purchase a set of white napkins for this party. We now have several different colors (green, navy, gray, and white) so I won’t be buying any for a long time. I didn’t really need more napkins, but I thought white would be a versatile color. In my journey to have less of an impact on the environment, I do struggle sometimes with wanting to invest in the “zero-waste lifestyle” when it is really about using what you have. Looking back, I now think I should have just gone with a color I already had. It is a journey and there is always room for growth. I am trying to let go of having the perfect thing to complete the party aesthetic and focus more on the experiences and making it magical for the child and the guests. I hope to offset some of the waste I created in buying napkins I didn’t need by lending them out to family and friends who might need them for their own parties. You can call me the Crazy Napkin Lady.
Thank you for reading about my son’s special day! It was such a lovely celebration for my sweet little guy.
