A Toddler Valentine's Day Party!

Valentine's Day is a BIG deal in our house... like a really big deal. So when Miss Hannah asked for a party, and had been asking for a party since Halloween (girl after my own heart), how could I resist? We invited all her little friends and their Mama's too. I really wanted to give those Mamas something fun to do with their little loves... community with each other is so important to me.

The hoops are from last year and were made by wrapping the inner and outer pieces of the embroidery hoop with contrasting fabric. I hot-glued paper bunting that I ran through my sewing machine to the back. The tissue tassels were super easy... lots of tutorials on Pinterest. I also punched glittery scrapbook paper and then ran them through my sewing machine to make garland.

I bought most of my supplies at the Target dollar spot... they have insanely adorable stuff, and at a dollar a pop, I filled my cart with adorable washi tape, tissue paper, cups, plates, napkins and paper straws! I also found the ADORABLE photo booth props at Target for 5 bucks. Cute parties don't have to break the bank y'all!

The valentines that Hannah made for her friends were an idea I found HERE. We bought a pack of stiff card stock, heart shaped washi tape, and a tube of zoo friends from Hobby Lobby. The stamps were also from the Target dollar spot! Hannah picked out a certain animal for each friend and it was such a fun craft to do together.

Probably my favorite part of the decor was the tissue swag garland with the glitter "Valentine." I found the idea HERE, and I love it! It was the perfect backdrop for our photo booth. A special thanks to my dear friend Whitney who's adorable daughter Molly (Hannah's BFF) is pictured above. She helped me prep everything the night before the party... it's so much more fun to decorate with a friend right? 

We decided to do both breakfast food and kiddo snacks including sprinkle donuts from our favorite local shop, a breakfast casserole, sugar cookies, yummy toddler trail mix, animal crackers, fruit, and breakfast casserole. I wish I took a close up of the trail mix... I got the idea HERE, but used organic 'Lucky Charms,' Strawberry Yogurt O's from Trader Joe's, strawberry yogurt drops, & mini pop tarts. 

I love all the pink and red, and especially the donuts... I'm such a sucker for those.

Little Miss Norah slays me with her little skirt and moccs! And seriously... what a handsome little toddler Liam is!

The drink bar served Trader Joe's strawberry lemonade for the adults and Horizon strawberry milk boxes for the kiddos. The cups and straws are from the Target dollar spot. 

Aunties sure do love their nieces! There were 7 toddlers, and 4 babies at the party. I must say it was MUCH quieter and a lot less chaotic than I was expecting! I think that's what happens when Mamas of toddlers get together... we all help each other out, making things run smoothly. 

I had 4 areas set up... the kitchen for painting and cookie-decorating, the dining room for food/drinks/photo booth, the entry way for the sensory table, and the living room for eating/chatting. There were cheerios to be strung on red heart-shaped pipe cleaners and THESE worksheets with red crayons on my coffee table too. 

There were more activities than I thought we'd have time for, but those kiddos moved QUICKLY through each station! We made the noodle valentines above, using the free template found HERE. I set up large pieces of paper with noodles and pink, red, and white washable paint. After carefully (and some not-so-carefully) dabbing paint on each noodles, we moved the papers away to dry. Then they decorated sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles... very festive! After the noodles were dry, they quickly strung on them onto the pre-cut bakers twine and wrote their names on it. I think having it all prepared ahead of time made it really stress-free. 

Another friend brought a couple sensory bins for the kids to play in, and it was quite a hit! I don't have her recipe, but there were cookie cutters and valentine cupcake wrappers... so cute! I swallowed my OCD tendencies and let Hannah get messy! I should do that more often... she brushed right off and had such a good time. 

Seriously... the toddler photo booth slayed me! They were so cute! Miss Moriah was so sweet and polite. I hope they all had as much fun as Hannah did... she's still talking about it. 

It was such a fun way to celebrate with our little Valentines!