I’ve always wanted to throw a “literary” birthday party. But our oldest is so into cars and trucks and trains… Along came our second boy and by the time I started party planning a few months ago, he hadn’t yet seemed to show a strong interest in any one thing.
So I decided to use a book theme, and chose Peter Rabbit, chiefly because we love gardening, and our youngest son has a summer birthday, so it’s easy to be outdoors! There’s a lot of ideas for Peter Rabbit parties on Pinterest (especially since the movie came out, which it had not at this time).
Of course, I love to DIY on some party stuff, so I added in more of my own take on a Peter Rabbit birthday party.
Take a peak into our “McGregor’s garden” during the big birthday bash!
Peter Rabbit Birthday Party Decor
I love garlands for birthday parties decided to go with a store-bought garland for this party (maybe throwing my 4th party has tired me out?). With delightful Beatrix Potter characters and my child’s name and age spelled out, I can reuse this garland in the baby’s room later on!
Balloons are a must for me, and I found these balloon sticks so we didn’t need helium. Light blue, green, and white were the colors of the day! I had plenty of blue gingham fabric for a tablecloth and two runners for the food and dessert tables. Add streamers criss-crossing the ceiling and the mood was complete! (I’d wanted to have the party outdoors, but the high heat made keeping food safe difficult so I decorated indoors and guests could choose to eat in or out).
Peter Rabbit Birthday Party Food Ideas
What better to have at a garden party than a Salad Bar? Moe’s Southwest Grill catered our party and I’ll tell you much more about that later!
A beverage station with cups, ice, paper straws, iced down sodas and homemade Iced Blackberry Vanilla Tea kept us all cool!
For appetizers, we started with chips and salsa (since salsa can be made straight out of your garden), and cool bites of cucumber and hummus surrounded by carrot chips. Perfect for a little bunny turning one, right?
The main meal was our salad bar! For a refreshingly zingy topping, Wholly Guacamole sent us mini guacamole cups (in regular and ranch) just in time for the party. The mini cups are just perfect for parties. They ensured everyone got fresh guac on their salad, in two great flavors! And there’s no leftovers because each cup is a single serving, keeping every bite of guacamole fresh! (Psst you can keep these minis in your freezer for up to 3 months!).
Peter Rabbit Birthday Party Dessert Table
This year I chose a simple cake. A double layer of vanilla bundt cakes stacked with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. Topped with a fresh yellow mum and blue birthday candle, it made for a simple and sweet birthday cake.
Yes, I made homemade “Pop Tarts” but I prefer to call them handpies. Filled with blackberry jam, they were buttery and flaky. We also had mini cups of blackberry sorbet with fresh mint leaves on top. You have to get a little fancy for a garden party!
Perhaps the sweetest part of the entire dessert table was the Peter Rabbit cupcake liners with adorable Beatrix Potter character cupcake picks on top. Accented with Blackberry Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (homemade) and a fresh blackberry, the cupcake tower took the day!
Peter Rabbit Birthday Boy
I used a cupcake as my baby’s “smash cake”! He got a real kick out of delicately tasting dabs of frosting until… he went for the cake and stuffed it in his face! That cake disappeared faster than Peter Rabbit under Mr. McGregor’s fence!
Both our boys had delightful garden outfits from Janie and Jack although the day was just too hot for the dress up clothes, so I let the baby run around in his custom Peter Rabbit cloth diaper (more on that later!). The next morning I snagged a photo of the boys in their birthday clothes before church. Oh I could just squish them!
I can’t believe our baby is one. Makes me want to have more toast and blackberry jam!
So that’s our Peter Rabbit Birthday Party experience! I hope it gives you lots of ideas if you plan to throw your own Peter Rabbit party! Using a party kit took a lot of the burden off me as I planned. For one, I had a unifying theme and color scheme. Also making party hats yourself can be a challenge, but putting together personalized party hats from a kit was a breeze!
Even with some store-bought party items, I could still personalize this party by adding some of my own DIY party elements, like the cake, dessert table, and putting together a coordinating outfit!
What themed parties have you thrown? How do you go about planning?
Thanks to Make it Mine Parties (no longer in business) and Wholly Guacamole for sending items to facilitate this post! All opinions are 100% my own!
Cute party! I LOVE this diaper cover! Please let me know where you got it from, I would love to order one for my son’s first birthday party! Thanks so much!
Cute party! I LOVE this diaper cover! Please let me know where you got it from, I would love to order one for my son’s first birthday party! Thanks so much!
LOVE the Peter Rabbit theme. Hopefully in a few weeks, I’ll be posting about my daughter’s third birthday party.
LOVE the Peter Rabbit theme. Hopefully in a few weeks, I’ll be posting about my daughter’s third birthday party.
That last photo of the boys ready for church was too sweet and too cute. The party looked amazing. Were you exhausted afterward? How about the birthday boy?
We usually do theme parties. My daughter’s 2nd birthday was a big deal because the theme was a 1950’s book called “Jenny’s Birthday Book” about the little black cat names Jenny Linsky. There were no DIY kits to get me started there so I made it all up including how to make a black cat shaped cake. In the end it was simply perfect – I blogged about it (see archives Jan 2012). This past year we did fairies and wizards. This coming year, both kids parties will likely be somewhere catered out as our new baby will still be tiny and I won’t have time to pull out something big. We’ll see though.
That last photo of the boys ready for church was too sweet and too cute. The party looked amazing. Were you exhausted afterward? How about the birthday boy?
We usually do theme parties. My daughter’s 2nd birthday was a big deal because the theme was a 1950’s book called “Jenny’s Birthday Book” about the little black cat names Jenny Linsky. There were no DIY kits to get me started there so I made it all up including how to make a black cat shaped cake. In the end it was simply perfect – I blogged about it (see archives Jan 2012). This past year we did fairies and wizards. This coming year, both kids parties will likely be somewhere catered out as our new baby will still be tiny and I won’t have time to pull out something big. We’ll see though.
SUPER cute! Love everything ~ you did awesome mama! 🙂
SUPER cute! Love everything ~ you did awesome mama! 🙂
This is such a cute first birthday theme! Your pictures are great, I really love the banner and the cupcakes that you made. Looks like he had a great day. Happy First Birthday!
This is such a cute first birthday theme! Your pictures are great, I really love the banner and the cupcakes that you made. Looks like he had a great day. Happy First Birthday!
What a great birthday theme. Looks like one of the best 1st birthday parties I have seen.
What a great birthday theme. Looks like one of the best 1st birthday parties I have seen.
This is fantastic. You did a great job
This is fantastic. You did a great job
What a sweet party theme, I love it!
What a sweet party theme, I love it!
Oh my! What a perfect 1st b-day! You really went above and beyond and took such fabulous pictures. You’ll have such fabulous memories of this special day! Love it!
Oh my! What a perfect 1st b-day! You really went above and beyond and took such fabulous pictures. You’ll have such fabulous memories of this special day! Love it!
How cute is this party, I love it. You did a great job!
How cute is this party, I love it. You did a great job!
omg. cutest.party.ever.
and i’m dying over that diaper. 🙁 its darling.
omg. cutest.party.ever.
and i’m dying over that diaper. 🙁 its darling.
And why was I not invited to this party???? I would have loved those cupcakes. 🙂 You did a great job, Julie! I love the decor!
And why was I not invited to this party???? I would have loved those cupcakes. 🙂 You did a great job, Julie! I love the decor!
Wow! You put together a beautiful party! I am loving the rabbit snacks and that cake is to die for.
Wow! You put together a beautiful party! I am loving the rabbit snacks and that cake is to die for.
You did an AMAZING job! I love how it all came together!
You did an AMAZING job! I love how it all came together!
We’ve done Elmo, UmiZoomi, An Art party, Basketball…but nothing as creative as this one. I’m pinning this for sure!
We’ve done Elmo, UmiZoomi, An Art party, Basketball…but nothing as creative as this one. I’m pinning this for sure!
That is the CUTEST party – you paid so much attention to detail and it turned out wonderfully. Man, I can’t believe your baby is already 1! This year sure went by fast.
As for themed parties, I love throwing them too. I did a Spider-Man party for Halloween where I made food that fit the “Spider” theme and wore a Dr. Octopus costume. For planning, I like to brainstorm in a notepad and consult Google for inspiration. Budget is also a big factor. LOL!!
That is the CUTEST party – you paid so much attention to detail and it turned out wonderfully. Man, I can’t believe your baby is already 1! This year sure went by fast.
As for themed parties, I love throwing them too. I did a Spider-Man party for Halloween where I made food that fit the “Spider” theme and wore a Dr. Octopus costume. For planning, I like to brainstorm in a notepad and consult Google for inspiration. Budget is also a big factor. LOL!!
Your party is SOOOOO cute!!!! Happy 1st to your little man!
Your party is SOOOOO cute!!!! Happy 1st to your little man!
Julie, you’ve done it again! I love the picture of A & E sitting together with their party hats. Brotherly love is so sweet.
Julie, you’ve done it again! I love the picture of A & E sitting together with their party hats. Brotherly love is so sweet.
the cake looks amazing! The party must have been so much fun!
the cake looks amazing! The party must have been so much fun!
Wow, what an amazing party! You did a fantastic job. Everything looks beautiful. Happy Birthday to your big guy!
Wow, what an amazing party! You did a fantastic job. Everything looks beautiful. Happy Birthday to your big guy!
I absolutely love this!!! Such a sweet theme and the food looked amazing! The photo of the boys made me melt!!
I absolutely love this!!! Such a sweet theme and the food looked amazing! The photo of the boys made me melt!!
aww what a beautifully well done 1st birthday party!
aww what a beautifully well done 1st birthday party!
Oh gosh. There is NO way he is already 1, is there?! 🙂 It’s so crazy to think that both of our little ones are already one… You did a wonderful job on his party! I love the decor, cake, party hats….well, I suppose I love it all! Happy 1st Birthday to the birthday boy!! <3
First, that picture of you and Everest is SO sweet! The one of both of the boys too. Just love.
The party looks so adorable, especially those blackberry cupcakes! I’ll have to check Make It Mine out for Liam’s 1st. It looks like it was a great day and he really enjoyed himself! 🙂
First, that picture of you and Everest is SO sweet! The one of both of the boys too. Just love.
The party looks so adorable, especially those blackberry cupcakes! I’ll have to check Make It Mine out for Liam’s 1st. It looks like it was a great day and he really enjoyed himself! 🙂