Safari Party

Lions, tigers, and bears... oh my!

Grace is having a wild safari adventure for her birthday bash this year. We're having it at a local park. We have reserved one of their large gazebos. It's less than two weeks away and I am in planning mode.

Invitations went out last week. I was pretty happy with them. I decided I wanted to make them myself, so I researched online and visited Michael's to come up with a plan. For my first attempt at making invitations from more than fancy stationary, I think they came out nice. Its trifolded black cardstock. On the inside, I attached animal printed paper. In the center is a piece of vellum that has all the details. For the front we found these nifty little foam crafts of animal heads (that Mr. D so patiently glued together).

We spent yesterday at the park measuring the space so I could draw up a layout. Yes, that is the level of my planning craziness. I need a map. Today I laid out a map on the computer and it is oh, so pretty. This isn't the best image of it, but you get the idea.




I'm not even going to justify it either. Either you understand why I need this, or you will think I'm nuts and my explaining won't make a difference. My husband thinks I'm nuts, but he humors me anyhow. Just wait thought, he will appreciate it once we show up to set up on the day of the party and all my tablecloths are cut to fit, my paper crepe vines are just the right length, and we know exactly where everything will go. Hmm...I guess I'm trying to justify it after all.

Next in line is planning the menu and cake. Menu will be pretty straight-forward picnic faire. Burgers, hot dogs, chips, watermelon, corn on the cob. Cake on the other hand has yet to be decided. I would love to make a few different animal shaped cakes (tiger, monkey, elephant) using the fun molds, but I don't know if I might be biting off more than I can chew. I could always order a cake, but that's just no fun. I think if I can keep the menu pretty easy, I can spend the time on the cake.

It should be fun. The decorations and party goodies that I ordered online are set to arrive next week. We bought little plastic safari hats for the kids to decorate and wear. I can't wait!