A week before my daughter’s birthday and while traveling, I had a “simply do” moment.  My little girl was turning two and I hadn’t planned anything for her.  To be honest, I had been on the fence about throwing a party because we had done such a big one for her first. We were also traveling the week before and practically speaking, there wouldn’t be much time to prepare.  Life happened as it always does and the idea of a party fell off my radar.  While traveling with family, it resurfaced.  There was no time to prepare…But–I had to, right?  My in-laws were going to be in town.  She was turning two and there was so much to celebrate.  Most importantly, it would be the only chance where Winnie the Pooh rhymed with her age: two. And so it was done.  In less than a week, I (with lots of help from my husband and family) did the following:

Invitation

I quickly made an invitation to send via text.  I used Canva—a lifesaving (in this situation) app where you can utilize templates for a variety of personal and social media uses.   I was able to create a clean, polished looking invitation in a short time.

Closet/Garage raid

My sister happened to have some Winnie the Pooh favor bags and a Pooh Bear Canvas picture that she sent home with us which was serendipitous.  She previously also got my daughter a pooh and piglet from Japan.

When we got back home, I dug up party supplies that I had saved from previous parties, such as red & yellow paper lanterns, butcher paper, banners and green balloons.  I used the brown butcher paper to draw 100 Akre Wood type trees and used balloons as their leaves.

My wonderfully supportive husband grabbed some wood from a pallet we had sitting around (and by grabbed some wood, I mean spent a fair bit of time and effort taking it apart).  He cut and assembled some pieces to create a sign.  Then I took his handiwork and painted “100 Akre Wood” on it.

Classroom

I have tons of craft supplies due to my background and role as an elementary school teacher. On hand, I had craft sticks, glue guns, markers construction paper and paint.  I used the craft sticks, markers, and glue gun to make signs for the food.  I used the paint to make the 100 Akre Wood sign.  

I am always adding to my classroom library and I often find good deals on books at Goodwill or Sav-a-lot.  One particular time, long before my daughter came along, I found a couple sets of Winnie the Pooh picture books.  These were part of my classroom library so I brought them home for the occasion. I set these out for the kids to read (or be read to)–though I don’t think they were utilized as much as I had hoped.

Amazon Splurge

I jumped onto Amazon to order a few things that would arrive prior to her birthday but after the time we’d get home from travels.  You would think that, given this theme obsession, I would already have a plethora of Winnie the Pooh paraphernalia and toys at home. Nope.  So I ordered Winnie the Pooh stuffed toys.  (They unfortunately got delayed and did not arrive in time for the birthday. I went another route which is detailed later.) I also ordered Winnie the Pooh stickers and stamps for party favors and a puzzle for kids to play with.

Dollar Store/99 Cent Store Run

Returning home, I made numerous trips to the Dollar Store and 99 Cent Store.  From the Dollar Store, I bought red and yellow plates and napkins, letter stickers for a banner, flower/bee stickers and clear party favor bags.  My favorite find was Winnie the Pooh coloring books which I used as part of the favors.

At the 99 Cent Store, I bought mini pots, big pots, flowers, more balloons, a bit of wood fencing, and a couple of dress-up bumble bee wings to use for the 100 Akre Wood backdrop. The fencing and construction paper grass was used around the sign to help disguise the weights that were holding it up. I painted yellow “honey” dripping from the larger pots. I used a lot more yellow paint than I thought I would. Looking back, I would use a white primer of some sort.

I went back and forth to both the Dollar Store and 99 Cent Store so many times, and honestly, I may have mixed up where I got what—but no matter where you go, I’m sure you will find just what you were (and weren’t looking for).

Disney Store Shuffle

When I was informed that my package wouldn’t arrive before the party, I went into panic mode.  How could I have a Winnie the Pooh party without Winnie the Pooh? I hurried to the Disney Store and found medium sized Winnie the Pooh and friends.  If you bought two, they came at a slightly discounted price.  We wanted to buy the 4 characters they had: Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, & Eeyore.  Unfortunately, they were out of Pooh’s.  So we had to go to another store the following day, but bring our receipt to show that we had bought 3 to get the discounted price.  It was a bit of a hot mess and put us in a bit of a panic mode.  

It was for the best that the Amazon plushes hadn’t arrived in time.  As I mentioned before, they were too small for what I had in mind.  We did end up keeping them because they were cute and good quality.

Supermarket Outing

We got most of our food from Costco and Von’s.  Kept it simple and did mostly store-bought prepared foods.

• Tigger’s Twisted Tail Macaroni: Costco spiral mac n’ cheese
• Eeyore’s House Sticks: a bag of Pretzel sticks
• Piglets in a Blanket: a box of frozen pre-made pigs in a blanket
• Pooh’s Hunny BBQ Chips:  Lay’s Honey BBQ chips
• Christopher Robin Eggs: homemade deviled eggs
• Kanga’s Chicken Salad Pouches: Costco Chicken Salad & Pitas
• Rabbit’s Garden Veggies:  a vegetable tray

We ordered the birthday cake from Smith’s.  It was not in their book of options but the baker there was extremely nice and helpful.  She tracked down a Pooh topper and was able to do the Pooh themed cake for us.

As part of the favors, I made rice krispie treats but used Honeycombs cereal instead.   Super simple: a box of honeycombs, a bag of marshmallows, and lots of butter. 

Activities

We didn’t do any organized games.  I just set out activities here and there.  We had a Winnie the Pooh puzzle, Pooh books, free play, and eating.  I tried to pair Pooh books that matched the activities.

I was pretty proud of myself for being able to pull off the party on such short time frame. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of my family. I’m sure that during the planning and prepping, my family wanted to strangle me because I definitely went into all-consuming, panic stress mode.  But at least the pictures don’t show that part! And I think they still enjoyed themselves during it. *hopefully*