CURIOUS GEORGE THIRD BIRTHDAY

August 11, 2022

CURIOUS GEORGE THIRD BIRTHDAY

Who doesn't love a cute, kind, curious monkey that unknowingly lands in a little trouble but always manages to come out on top? Curious George has been one of our daughter's favorite book series since she was a baby, probably because she's a little cheeky monkey herself. She has a treasury of George stories that is a go to night after night still today. Needless to say, when we were planning her third birthday we decided to have a Curious George party. I had so much fun planning and prepping for this party.

I was able to decide on a color scheme and décor using the cover of Curious George and the Birthday Surprise for inspiration. Once I had the décor in mind, then I rummaged through my stash of crafts, fabrics, and supplies to get creating and crafting.

I covered a wooden number three using primary blue, yellow, and red yarn. I simply put a dab of hot glue on the back of the three, placed the blue yarn on the hot glue, and wound the yarn around the wooden three until I was ready to switch to the next color of yarn. At the end of each section of yarn I put a dab of hot glue on the back and pressed the yarn into it. A simple tip to protect your fingers from hot glue is to push the yarn into the glue using a butter knife or metal spoon. I repeated the process with the remaining colors. I made a colorful fabric rag tie garland using scraps of fabric and twine. I cut the fabric into 1x12in strips. I measured out the length I wanted the garland to be and added an additional six inches using twine. Then I randomly tied the scraps of fabric onto the twine until the twine was covered in fabric scraps. I've made these type of garlands for so many celebrations. They are quick and easy and add a pop of color to your party décor. Finally I made these little puffy balls using variegated yarn in the color scheme. The puffs are hard to see but I had them scattered throughout the house. They were another fun crafty decoration to make. I simply wrapped the yarn around my fingers around fifty times, tied it off in the center tightly, pulled it off my fingers, cut across the top, cut across the bottom, and fluffed the yarn out.

We always display a book that goes along with the party theme for guests to write a message in. These signed birthday books have become a cherished treasure for our daughter that she reads over and over again.

Another fun project was this chalkboard sign. I cut the letters out using my Cricut machine and various scraps of vinyl. Then my oldest son made this three dimensional monkey from one of his 3-D printers. I painted the monkey and dressed her up a bit using scraps of fabric, ribbon, and pearls. She turned out so stinking cute.

Another simple tip to gluing objects to something that you want to take off later is to put a piece of masking tape on the object. Then put the hot glue onto the piece of tape and press the object to the piece of tape. You can peel it off later. This little tip works well when you are trying to glue things to glass, mirrors, or walls too.

Balloon arches were all the rage back in the 90's, and I love to see this trend coming back around. These balloon arches, or in my case garland, are actually really easy to make. All you need is various sizes and colors of balloons to match your décor, a little air (my hubby was a good sport about it), some heavy gauge fishing line, and a heavy duty upholstery needle. Simply blow up the balloons to various sizes and tie them off. Again measure the length of the arch or garland and add 50% more using the heavy gauge fishing line, thread the fishing line through your needle, and start threading your balloons on by pushing the needle above the point where you tied the balloon off. This project is so much easier with two people. Make sure to pull the balloon all the way down the fishing line before adding the next balloon. You can embellish the arch with ribbon, scraps of fabric, paper flowers, or faux flowers. I hung the garland using command hooks. They really are super simple to make and add a pop of flair to your party décor.

I love creating name banners. Again I used my Cricut machine and Reflections punches to create this colorful banner.

Decorating with some colorful fans, polka-dotted balloons, and paper flowers added to the overall Curious George feel of the party.

The food was inspired by the characters from the Curious George books. We had Chef Pisghetti's chicken alfredo and spaghetti and meatballs, Quints' fish crackers, Gnocchi chips, and Renkins' fresh vegetables.

A good friend made these Man in the Yellow Hat treats. She adhered a marshmallow to a chocolate chip cookie with frosting. Next, she dipped the marshmallow and cookie into melted yellow chocolate. Finally, she tied a black licorice around the base of the marshmallow. They were so yummy. I displayed these treats on some yellow delicious yummy candy bananas I found off line.