Whew, planning back to back birthday parties is a whirlwind! The minute that I clean up Cam’s (o-fish-al details), we jump right into prepping for Lily’s. The parties have been thrown, the kids have been celebrated, and the confettis have been cleaned up.. let’s chat about how we decided to celebr-eight the Squish!
Going into the new year we always start to toss around party themes. It was no surprise that the first thing out of Lily’s mouth was Taylor Swift, I mean duh. Although her love for TS doesn’t go as deep as those planning the full out parties. Plus the creative in me really wanted to lean into something more original. We’ve always called her Squish, and she has quite a love for Squishmallows, it immediately clicked for me. Accordingly I put together some thoughts and pitched them to her, knowing that she might veto the idea (and I would have respected that), but she was an easy sell! We saw completely onboard with my celebr-eight the Squish theme.
I turned to Canva and started putting together my party board. We unintentionally built a beautiful rainbow of colors with pops of Squishmallows. Typically I prefer to focus on a color scheme then add in bits of the theme here and there vs. filling the entire party with ONE thing. Especially when it’s a character like Squishmallows (or Pokemon last year).
All things considered I did not use our basement for this party because it was set to be a rainy day which means very, VERY dreary in there. Rather I utilized all of our main level by putting different activities into different areas. It was a more spacious area to celebr-eight the Squish. We had a lot less party guests as we decided to be a lot more intentional about who we invited.
The foyer served as the party space with cake table and seating for the girls. We set up a photo booth to welcome them at the door. I set up our ‘formal’ living room to hold the party favors and coloring activity sheets then became the prime spot to watch presents be opened. The food spread out throughout the kitchen in a self-serve way. As a result we used the eat-in kitchen space for the make your own slime station.
Set up
We rented a table and chairs from a local vendor then set them up in the center. Using a white tablecloths, pink kraft paper, and whimsical rainbow runner I created a girly and colorful area. I placed rainbow colored cake stands (in various sizes) down the middle with honeycomb cakes on top for a centerpiece. Then I set up each seat with set with plates, napkins, cutlery (and holders), acrylic cups, and stir sticks. The sprinkle of custom confetti down the middle finished it off.
Cake table
Our vintage sideboard in the foyer held the custom cake, cupcakes, cookies, and rainbow candy necklaces to fill anyone’s sweet tooth. We served pizza, fruits, vegetables, meats + cheeses, and chips to make it all easy for everyone. This gave us the ability to let them help themselves and/or serve them quickly.
Party favors
Multi-packs of 5″ Squishmallows from Costco became our ‘adopt a Squish’ activity. Coupled with their choice of large jelly baskets and Squishmallow trading cards. The girls loved opening up their cards and trading their favorites with each other.
Party activity
The ‘slime station’ was set up on a patio cart with all of the slime containers, mix-ins, spoons, and containers to design and make your own custom slime. I used the Squishmallow scented slimes, mix-ins of all sizes and shapes, wooden sensory spoons, and food boats to complete the cart. Afterward the kids all had a lot of fun smelling all of the scents before choosing, creating their own, and taking them home to continue to play.
I was initially being really bummed over the weather and having to shift to an indoor party. Not surprisingly it turned out to be such a fun day! The Squishmallow theme was really well received by all of the squish obsessed with ones that came to celebrate. If you select theme your kids love, then all of their existing toys become decorations you can use. Thank you 1,000 times over to all of the small shops that really helped bring this to life for my Squish! All of the small shops, vendors, and links are below.
Sources
tags | Chalk Designs by Me
confetti + jelly bags | Festive Fetti
cake | Fresh Taste of Bel Air
cutlery holders | Atomic Kraftworks
cake + cupcake toppers | the Buttercream Shop
stir sticks | Acrylic Sticks
tableware | Ellie + Piper
acrylic signs | Hobby Lobby
cake stands | Temu
cloud slime | Michael’s
trading cards | Amazon
custom cookies | Pop Shop Bakery
felt garland | Pearl and Jane
Squishmallow multipacks | Costco
slime mix-ins | Temu
table + chairs | Party Party Event Rentals
honeycomb cakes | Bubblegum Market
Squishmallow placemats | Etsy
Pink kraft paper roll | Amazon
Rainbow fabric runner | Temu
