Peace, Love, Foxes

 

Last year, Maggie's Spy Party was a lot of fun....but EXTREMELY labor intensive and stressful.  As soon as it was over, I told her that the next year was going to be an "easy" party for Mommy and Daddy.....haha!

 

We did simplify a bit, but I hope it didn't look like we did ;P

 

These were her invitations this year.  I had quite a few extra, so I tried to incorporate them into the décor.

 

 

 

The colors were white and green polka dots, brown and accents of yellow. 

 

 

 

 I went to our local park to pick up lots of free, natural elements for our décor :)

 

 

The little hedgehog was a thrift store find.

 

 

I tried to add a woodland touch to everything in the house.  I just took the above photo tonight, so sorry for the lighting!  But, I forgot to take pics of everything on the day.

 

 

I found some cute woodland fabric to use as a tablecloth, but I also made Mags a special shirt from it for her special day.  The owl is an iron-on.

 

 

We had 2 craft stations for the kids. 1 for making painted rocks and another for coloring and beading their own bookmarks. 

 

 

I purchased digistamps and made the templates for the bookmarks in Photoshop.  I had them printed on cardstock and cut them out myself.

 

See the cute snail on that rock? :)

 

These were the Goodie Bags.

 

 

I hot-glued raffia and ribbon bows to clothespins to clip onto simple white bags.

 

 

Inside (again, night picture, sorry) was a sheet of Woodland Stickers, a fox bookplate that I turned into a sticker using my handy Xyron machine, a foldable owl friend, animal crackers, fruit snacks and a Tootsie Pop.  I'm not big on giving lots of candy.  I thought these things and the crafts were good enough :)

 

I found this cool guy here.

 

It was a super hot day.  I wanted the drinks to be super accessible. 

 

I made 2 kinds of iced tea and offered juice boxes and water, as well.  I decided not to put out food this year which was the biggest stress reliever of all!  The kids arrived, started their crafts, had a drink......then......

 

Went outside for the main event!

 

An Animal Show!

 

 

We were able to go to their Website and pick 5 animals for the show.  These were Maggie's choices.

 

 

A sweet little Hedgehog :)

 

 

A funny Armadillo :)

 

 

A fierce-looking Alligator. 

 I just love this windswept picture of Maggie...cheeks rosy from the heat.

 

 

A Fennec Fox.

This little critter made all the girls squeal with delight :)

 

 

The adults loved the animals as much as the kids. 

They were all asking questions and waiting their turn to pet. :)

 

This next animal stole the show and made everyone gasp.

 

 

This is Gizmo the Barn Owl.

It is so hard to describe just how beautiful they are up close....and how soft....

 

 

It really was so neat to have an event like this in our own backyard.  5 animals was just enough, though.  Everyone was getting thirsty and a bit over-heated. 

 

 It was time to go in and cool off with some cake!

 

 

Those rocks on the cake are actually candy. 

I think this is my favorite cake of all her Birthdays so far.

 

 

After cake and presents, some girls danced while others finished their crafts.  It was a very nice day!

 

Maggie has told me, though, that she's looking forward to the "hard" party she's going to have next year! She's already started making plans.

Uh oh! Haha!

 

Thank you so much for stopping by our little woodsy gathering!

 

I'll be back with some art soon :)

Hugs,

Cameron