My kid’s birthday’s are exactly 2 years and 2 days apart. It is so fun to be able to celebrate their special days together and throw a bash in their honor. Each year I let them decide on a theme and then I seriously enjoy the process if making it a day they will never forget.
Their last birthday was to celebrate my son turning 4 and my daughter turning 2. They came to the conclusion that a Yogi and Boo Boo themed party was the perfect way to share their special day with the friends and family that love them all year round!
Birthday Decor:
The decor was pretty easy for this party, and unfortunately I didn’t get many pictures. I had pine trees drawn on the windows with dry erase markers to make it feel woodsy. I put Signs up that said Don’t Please Feed the Bears. They were on the door and by the food. A Yogi pinata, and large Yogi Poster for Pin – the pic-a-nic basket on Yogi adorned the walls.
Food:
I kept with picnic themed food. I made BBQ sandwiches, had chips and snacks in little picnic baskets, smores cereal in cute bowls for table centerpieces, little PB & J sandwiches for the kids, lots of veggies and dip, pasta salad, and a Yogi and Boo Boo cake that was all my own!
My take on a yogi and Boo Boo Bear Birthday cake:
I made a lemon cake with lemon filling iced with lemon butter cream frosting and covered in home made fondant. The cake decoration was a mixture of piped on butter cream frosting, gel icing, and fondant.
I was so thrilled with how this cake turned out! I started making my own fondant covered cakes a few years ago – when I realized I couldn’t afford $100 for an adorable birthday cake! They are so easy to personalize and the kind of thing a toddler will never forget! I will do a tutorial on how to make a fondant cake soon so that you can try it yourself! I will share the easy and yummy recipes that I use too. Basically my plan for the cake was to have Yogi and Boo Boo sitting at the top of a waterfall fishing for picnic baskets full of food.
Here is Yogi Fishing!
I put a 4 on the basket because my son was turning 4! The little fish were the favorite for the kids there – they each wanted one!
Boo Boo Bear was fishing for a # 2 picnic basket. I simply used toothpicks as the fishing pole and a small piece of fishing line to attach to the baskets.
The waterfall was made using a small tube of gel icing and the little rocks are fondant as well. I also added a little sign behind the bears that said please feed the bears. My kids could not wait to get their piece of cake topped with their little bear and basket.
Birthday Boy and Girl Shirts:
I made Kyle a tie like Birthday shirt. You can go to my tie applique tutorial if you want to try to make some fun shirts yourself. I wanted it to look like he was wearing Yogi’s collar and tie with his age on it! These are so fun for the kids to wear afterwards too. They talk about their special day and all the fun they had each time they wear it!
Olivia’s Birthday Shirt was my favorite. I made Boo Boo Bear popping out of a cute little birthday cupcake. I like to add the age they are turning to their birthday shirts too! Then when I look back at the pictures I can remember exactly what they looked like at that birthday. She was so thrilled with her birthday shirt that she wore it for about a week straight!
Activities:
I’m so sad that I didn’t get more pictures. I was so busy at the party that I didn’t get a chance to snap shots during the activities. The kids and I made this Yogi Bear pinata a couple weeks before the party. I have to say we had so much fun making it that we will for sure be doing a paper mace project again just for fun! The kids took swings at yogi until the candy was pouring out onto the floor. I think home made pinatas are easier for little kids to break open than the store bought ones. We also played pin the picnic basket on Yogi, where each child was blind folded and had to get a little picnic basket taped closest to Yogi’s hand. The most fun was watching Kyle spin Grandpa around in circles, and Grandpa took of the wrong direction! Made for a good laugh!
Favors:
The Favors were so simple. I wanted each kid to have their own little pic-a-nic treats. I had a picnic basket with juice boxes, silly straws, a yogi picture to color, and a treat.
The favors were Bear hugs! I filled little baggies with chocolate (dark brown) and gram cracker (light brown) Teddy Grams and gummy hearts. It was cute to have both little bears in the package like Yogi and Boo Boo.
I tied the favors with a simple red ribbon and a tag that read: “Bear Hugs From Yogi and Boo Boo, Kyle and Olivia too!” They were a cute little treat for the kids to take home.
Birthday’s in our house are a big deal. Let me tell you a little bit about why. When my first baby was born he was very sick. He had a heart defect that would make the next 2 years of his life filled with ups and downs. I remember clearly the day he turned one. It was by far the BIGGEST and most amazing day of my life. It was time to rejoice in the fact that he had made it!! From that year on I looked at my children’s birthdays as a gift to our family. I want to celebrate their health and happiness . The day is about smiles, laughter, and simple joys and pleasures. It, for me, is not about making it fancy, or better than another party, or spending a lot of money, or gifts, it’s sole purpose is to fill their day with a little bit of magic. It is a small thing that I can do for them to show my appreciation for their precious little lives. Because each year that passes is a gift to me as a mother, and a chance to remember how blessed our family really is. I don’t spend a ton of money, but I do spend a lot of time planning and creating for them, Because their birthdays are so special to me. It is for the sheer joy of seeing that ear to ear grin on their faces, because in the end it is what makes life worth living. I think every child’s birthday is a serious reason to celebrate, and it doesn’t have to be fancy to be special as long as you truly see the joy in the year that has passed and the gift you have been given in your child.