For Zane’s first birthday, we skipped a party he probably wouldn’t even be aware of and opted instead to get a babysitter and go to a fancy dinner to celebrate a year of parenthood. This year, though, I surprised myself by being strangely excited about throwing a toddler party. I found myself browsing Pinterest and waffling between lofty crafting ambitions and reminding myself both that I’m not crafty and that my two-year-old was not going to appreciate or even notice my efforts. It was fun to try my hand at party crafting, although I’ll never come close to the skill of my talented sister, Lisa Storms.

For decorations, I chose a monkey theme (because Z is super attached to his small stuffed Curious George) and primary colors. I purchased red, yellow, and blue balloons, put up our Ikea circus tent, and filled a kiddie pool with ball pit balls. These were the main source of entertainment for the toddlers, who appeared to have a great time chasing each other around and jumping in and out of the ball pit. We were also really lucky to have Sing Along Amy play a short set; Zane enthusiastically danced and sang, and was thrilled that little bunny foo foo made an appearance.

The only craft I tried my hand at was several paper banners, which read: Go Bananas, Monkey Around, and Stay Curious. I’m glad I didn’t try to take on more because they took what felt like FOREVER to make. I’m pretty sure I made them in the least efficient way possible. I chose a font and had Ben print the letters on computer paper at work, then I cut out the letters and used the computer paper stencil to trace the text onto card stock (red, yellow, and blue of course). Cutting out the letters both from the computer paper then the card stock was a giant pain – I probably should have purchased an X-Acto Knife and/or printed directly onto the card stock to save myself a lot of trouble. Finally, I taped the letters to hemp twine and clipped them around the apartment using clothespins attached to the wall with double-sided tape.

I snapped a few photos of the food just minutes before party kickoff, and each and every one of them is hideous. I am not skilled enough to take appetizing photos sans natural light or a light kit. I still want to share the menu here, though, since choosing and preparing the food is one of my favorite parts of planning a celebration.

Since the party was late afternoon, I stuck to simple appetizers. I wanted to keep the hassle to a minimum, so I avoided anything that would need to be kept warm or required a utensil. Other than serving spoons, I only included cups, small plates, napkins, and toothpicks on the table. My last criteria was that the food make you feel good; I wanted people to leave the party feeling nourished, not weighed down. Here’s what I ended up making, including links to any recipes:

A Simple Finger Food Party Menu
Fresh Fruit: strawberries, grapes, kiwi
Crudités: tri-colored bell peppers, carrots, radishes, cherry tomatoes
Garlic-Rubbed Crostini: sliced baguette brushed with olive oil, roasted, rubbed with the cut side of half a garlic clove, and sprinkled with sea salt
Edible Perspective’s Avocado Goat Cheese Spread
Sprouted Kitchen’s Roasted Fennel and White Bean Dip
Hummus
Cheese
Olives
Prosciutto
A House In The Hills’ Herb Roasted Almonds
Water, Iced Tea, Beer

For dessert, I made my healthy banana cake with Greek yogurt frosting. I strained the Greek yogurt overnight to bring it to piping consistency, and added food coloring for fun/to keep on theme. To me, a birthday is not complete without a layer cake but cupcakes are so much easier to serve at a party (Also, see my “no utensils” requirement above), so I did a smash cake-sized version and cupcakes. I finished the 5-inch cake with this Curious George cake topper.

For party favors, we sent each toddler home with a crayon roll made with Curious George-themed fabric, ordered from Adorable Blessings on Etsy. I ordered them a week beforehand, and the shop owner Laurie got them in the mail for me right away to ensure we’d have them on time. I paired each with a mini coloring book from Amazon.

Most importantly, Zane had a blast! He gallivanted about the apartment and soaked up all the attention. When he needed a break, he placed a blanket in the middle of a doorway and lay down to relax and snuggle with his monkey.

Ben and I had been preparing him for the party for several weeks, talking about how his friends would be there and that we would have a cake with candles and sing Happy Birthday. We also practiced blowing out candles after dinner most nights. This prep paid off and Zane didn’t hesitate when the big moment arrived: