When it comes to children’s birthday parties, there is nothing I love more than a Peter Rabbit theme in the springtime. It just doesn’t get any cuter. As my April baby Louise approached the one year mark, I knew this is the theme I wanted to stick to for her birthday, complete with lunch in the garden and an Easter egg hunt. Here is a look at what I did to make my daughter’s- wait a minute- I mean my Peter Rabbit birthday dreams come true.
As I do for any event, I created the invitation first because it sets the tone for the entire party. I know I preach this, but it is so true! Jack Paper Co.’s in-house illustrator, Sullivan Barreto, did the most extraordinary job with the illustrations, focusing on my vision of including not only Peter Rabbit, but also Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail. I wanted to showcase the girls because it was a little girl’s birthday party I was planning after all.
When the invitation design was complete, next came the outfits for my kids. My sweet friend and owner of the most adorable children’s store, Duck Duck Goose, found a solid white bubble with a pink trimmed apron collar for the birthday girl and a coordinating shorts set for my son, Grady. I decided I wanted to match the bunnies on their outfits as closely as possible to the bunnies on the invitations. Lucky for me, I have another wonderful friend who made this happen with her incredible hand embroidery skills. We decided on using Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail for Louise’s bubble and Peter Rabbit for Grady shirt.
When securing the cake, I sent along a copy of the invitation for a replica of the bunnies and the florals for a consistent theme. We stuck to pink, yellow, white, and blue for the balloons, and initially did not book any vendors thinking we would focus on the Easter egg hunt as our main activity. At the last minute we panicked and decided to book the wonderful Sarahdipity- a local birthday phenomenon – who does it all. At this party, she focused on her incredible faceprinting and balloon art skills. Both were a hit!
As for decor, a friend of mine found the most adorable Meri Meri bunny paper bags that I used to pack a bagged lunch for the kids’ “lunch in the garden.” These were so cute, I knew I wanted to display them for my guests to see upon arrival. To do just that, I had the little bunnies all lined up and ready to go on the children’s table for lunch. Their lunch included peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut out with a bunny cookie cutter, Annie’s cheddar bunny crackers, Peter Rabbit squeeze pouches, and carrots. All little bunnies need (however, most little bunnies did not eat) their carrots! I used pink napkins and yellow paper placemats for each setting and set crayons out for the kids to color on the paper table runner. The adults also had boxed lunches. For those, I designed a “Hop on Over for Lunch” sticker to differentiate the different types of sandwiches.
I am not sure where the idea came from – well, who am I kidding, Pinterest probably – but by favorite detail for the party was the rye grass we planted in Louise’s empty glass baby food jars. It was so neat to watch it grow (because I have a black thumb), and it grew fast! Each child had a jar of bright green grass at their setting, and it added so much color and happiness to the tablescape. I also used the empty baby food jars to make tiny cups for lemonade.
For the final detail, I wanted to find a way for it to feel as though Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter Rabbit were with us at the party. These bunnies had to come to life! I knew my husband wouldn’t dress up as Peter Rabbit – ha – so I decided on child height cutouts. These were put on stakes that I drove into the grass where we had the egg hunt.
This was such a fun party, and it would be easy to recreate with a little help from Jack Paper Co.
Vendors// Cake: The Southern Gourmet | Invitations: Jack Paper Co. | Bunny Bags: Meri Meri | Bunny Yard Cutouts: Shindigz | Placemats, napkins, paper runner: If it’s Paper | Children’s Outfits: Duck Duck Goose
