Della’s Unicorn 2nd Birthday

After a successful first birthday party, I was excited to create more projects and decorations. As the months sped by and her 2nd birthday was quickly approaching, I started brainstorming theme ideas. This was in 2016 when unicorns were trending hard core, I jumped on the unicorn band wagon and started planning! The biggest mistake I made for Dell’s first party was I didn’t have activities to occupy the kids who were older than 1. We had about 10 kids ranging from infant-8 yrs old, add some sugar to the mix and I had a zoo of children running around my new home. I walked into my formal dining room and there she was, a sweet little one with a white chocolate pretzel rod covered in sprinkles sitting on my brand new velvet couch…. In that moment, I decided two things:

1. I would have plenty of activities for the kids.

2. I’d block off areas of the house I didn’t want little slicky fingers, ha! 

This whole parenting thing, seems like common sense but nothing can prepare you for a household of sugar high toddlers!

I chose activities that would take some time and would hold the kiddos attention, even if they were strung out on sugar. I decided on a station rotation!  When the Littles first arrived they got to choose a unicorn horn headband and a tail made out of tulle and yarn. 

Once they had their costume, they came to get their face painted. My sister helped me paint faces. She drew up a makeup map of 3 different designs for the kids to choose from. This made it quick and easy for us to bust out 13 kids in no time.

After they looked the part, we had them split up into groups at the following stations:

• Unicorn slime
• Coloring pages with crayons
• Unicorn jewelry station (fruit loops and yarn).
• Playdoh

This kept them occupied for a solid 30 minutes! Once they’d start to lose interest, we’d switch stations. When everyone got to play at each station we played  “Pin the horn on the unicorn” . 

I drew this on a piece of poster board and painted it with acrylic paint. It was a crowd pleaser for sure! The kids loved this one! 

I wanted to make a statement piece in the dining room to have centered over of the Unicorn Skirts. I made this Unicorn bust out of paper grocery bags, blue painters tape, and paper mache! This unicorn bust cost the price of a can of spray paint and dollar store flowers, about $8! Win! The best part is, 2 1/2 years later, it’s survived 3 moves! It’s holding up beautifully and is still showcased in Della’s bedroom.  

I fell in love with this next project! I needed something to be a focal point behind the dessert table, but I was on an extremely tight budget. My goal was to make everything for this party from items I had around the house. I had a bag of baby pink balloons from the dollar store. I blew them up half way and started to attach them to the wall with blue painter tape in the shape of a giant two! I had quite a few stems and flowers left over from the unicorn bust, so I started cutting the blooms off the bouquets and just slide them between the balloons and the wall. Looking back, I’m super proud of this quick, affordable, and elegant wall display! Is it just me, or is stuff way cuter when it doesn’t cost you a penny to make? Balloon Tutorial Here

I had a few pink plastic table clothes from the dollar store that I cut into 2ft wide strips and hung them from the center of the ceiling out to the corners of the room. In between these, I strung fuzzy hot pink yarn that I found in a ball at the bottom of one of my craft bins. The goal was to spend as little money as possible and use up what I had one hand… I decided to dive into this massive ball of a knotted yarn. My Dad came over to help and after about 2 seconds he looked at me like I was nuts for attempting this challenge. Poor guy, over the last 30 years he has been getting roped into being either my Mother’s or my assistant! But he does it with a smile….most of the time. Lol  Long story short, I got the knot out and off we went to hang in.

Fun fact about me, I can untangle ANYTHING! My mother lives in PA, every time she comes to visit, she brings her tangled and knotted jewelry for me to untangle. It oddly makes me feel special! There aren’t many things I can do that my mother can’t! 

My family is mini and simply adorable…this must be where my obsession for anything miniature stems from. What can I say?

On to the cake! It was beyond simple but effective. Mind you, this was only the second cake I had ever decorated….is it perfect?? FAR from it, but I kind of love it for it’s imperfection. I remember giving myself a pep talk before I started piping, I was still so nervous! My Mom was my cheerleader, standing behind me saying, “Little, it’s going to be beautiful!”

Yes…. you guessed it, my nickname is Little! I was given the nickname as a kid and it stuck! Not only am I a petite 5ft tall, but my Mother’s name is Tisha as well. She’s “Big” and I’m “Little”. Cute right?

Anyway, back to the cake! I used store bought marshmallow twists for the horn and I made the ears from Gold leather from the craft store, I hot glued them to skewers. (I can’t really get away with doing a single project without using some hot glue…so sue me).

Last but not least, I made Dell’s outfit and headband! Unfortunately, I have very few photos of her wearing it, bummer!

I decorated a store bought dress with some rosette trim on the front and a giant bow with a unicorn tail in the back! I made the unicorn tail from white yarn! I used the same rosette trim for her headband!

I hope you enjoyed this party as much as we did! Go dig deep into your closets and make some beautiful decorations using items you have laying around your house!

Let’s get crafting!