Holy Shoe... Elise is 2!

The invites I made using picmonkey.

We had Elise's birthday party the Saturday before her actual birthday. When we were talking about possible themes for her party I kept saying that she loves shoes but I wasn't sure how to do a shoe party. Every time we talked about it, it kept coming back to her love of shoes so I finally decided to go with it. Elise has a very strong personality and enjoys lots of things but shoes are her absolute favorite. She picks out what shoes she wants to wear every morning and insists on wearing those shoes regardless of weather. She's been known to wear sandals in the winter because she just had to wear those "shoooooes!" One day on a run I came up with the idea for her invitation "Holy shoe... Elise is 2!" and we went from there. I knew I for sure wanted to have an area with different kinds of shoes for the kids to try on and play in and that evolved into having shoes from different book characters. I found red sparkly shoes for Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, white shoes for Pete the Cat, boots for Puss in Boots, and princess shoes for Cinderella. I put together some props to go with the shoes: masks, speech bubbles, a crown, and Toto in a basket. I figured even if no one played with the shoes at the party, Elise would have fun with them later on. My mom found boots at Goodwill, I got the red sparkly shoes on sale for $3 at Wal-Mart, the white shoes were $5 and will fit me so I'll wear them, and the princess shoes were $5 (they were Elise's birthday present from us).

 

 

 

 

 

I initially thought I'd get some white shoelaces for the kids to decorate but they were expensive. Then I decided to get socks they could decorate with either markers or fabric marker and they could wear them to try on shoes. They could either take them home or leave them for Elise (if they didn't fit). One of my friends decorated a pair that say "Happy Birthday Elise" which I thought was so cute! I also printed out some Pete the Cat masks for the kids to color. That was probably the biggest hit outside of just our regular toys. The weather was perfect so the kids also spent quite a bit of time outside. Sandwiches made with Jimmy John's day old bread were such a big hit at Carter's party that we decided to do that again for Elise's party. Since she loves macaroni and cheese so much we made a large batch of crock pot macaroni and cheese. We served carrots, sugar snap peas, and strawberries as sides. My parents got a cake and cookies for us from their local bakery which we love! My mom took in a picture of the invitation and the owner came up with the cutest cake and cookies complete with glitter on them! One of my friends was joking that we were all going to have sparkly poop after eating the cake. I was really excited to incorporate a couple pairs of Elise's shoes that are too big, so she hasn't worn them yet, into the decor. Carter loves to help decorate and was so excited for the party. He drew a picture of a shoe and taped it to the living room window as a decoration. I thought that was adorable and left it so everyone else could see it.

 

 

 

 

 

One of my friends texted me that her daughter couldn't wait to sing at the party. Everyone remembered her from Carter's party (Carter is friends with her older brother and she's about 6 months older than Elise) because she was so adorable and sang so loudly. When everyone arrived Elise had just woken up from her nap so she was feeling a bit overwhelmed and shy. The kids took off to play pretty much right away and a few of them played with the shoes and did some crafts. A couple of creative kids and parents made sock puppets out of the socks and it was funny to watch them make the puppets talk to each other. After everyone had arrived and the kids had some time to play, we ate. Elise was still feeling a bit shy after waking up from her nap to a room full of people. She was pretty particular about who she wanted to be with. She was all about my mom and even followed her outside to eat with her. Once everyone had finished eating we did cake. Elise worked really hard trying to blow out her candles and Ty helped her a little. I was surprised that she didn't eat much of her cake and then she had a little bit of cookie. She ran around playing while eating her cookie. Having all eyes on her for presents was a little bit much. She opened a couple and then crawled off, leaving Carter to open for her. Then she crawled back in and opened a few more. The first present she opened was fruit snacks from her Uncie J and that was all she wanted. She completely lost interest in the other presents after that, it was so funny! Carter kept talking about how much fun the present from my parents was because stuff just kept coming out! My mom found an adorable bag with shoes on it which worked perfectly with the party theme!

Elise making crafts.

Jennifer showing off the socks she made for Elise.

 

 

 

Elise ready to blow out her candles.

 

Elise with her bestie.

All the kids at Elise's party.

 

Gigi opening Elise's treat bag for her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was such a fun party! Elise looked so adorable in her shirt that she painted just for her birthday. I paired it with a pink skirt my parents got her for Valentine's Day and she looked so precious. I asked her if she wanted her hair in piggies and she said no so I just left it down and curly. She is the sweetest and spunkiest little girl! It's hard to believe she is already 2. Carter kept asking to have another shoe party for Elise for days after her party. On her birthday he was convinced her friends would be coming over again for another party. That boy sure loves to party!