Calling all party animals — Addy is 5!! I cannot believe Adaline is five.
This WILD theme was born one day when Addy came upstairs, super proud that she had picked her outfit out and gotten dressed all by herself. She was wearing black leggings, a leopard shirt, and a black cardigan. She looked pretty good, I must admit. She told me “leopard animal” was her favorite animal print, and followed up with: CAN I HAVE A LEOPARD ANIMAL BIRTHDAY PARTY?!
It’s a good thing I’m in the business of making almost-5-year-olds’ dreams come true 😉
We got wild to celebrate, and had the best time! I will have links/sources to everything at the bottom of the post!
Welcome to the Jungle, Party Animals
We set up the dining room area, and let me tell you, it was a jungle in there 😂😉 I purchased a big roll of green paper, and hand drew the big leaves and snakes. Those, and the massive balloon garland really set the scene!
This massive balloon was a total win! He is currently still inflated, and living in Addy’s room!
You can check out my balloon garland tutorial here.
For this garland, I also added a few faux palm branches (this set was really cool, since it included some gold pieces! The vines were just wrapped around the balloons! The hanging vines definitely fed into the jungle vibe. Simple but impactful 😉
The garland hanging off the table was another quick DIY, adapted from this tutorial!
We decorated the table with more faux greenery, and this sequin tablecloth that we have really managed to get some miles out of! (it was originally purchased for Peyton’s 5th birthday party!) Scattered throughout the table, are Schleich animals adorned with fun little party hats. We love the quality of these animal figurines, and they’re SO lifelike. (For the gold animals, see info below! We used “burner” animals for that DIY)
Please Feed The Party Animals
See what I did there? Feed the party animals 😉
Since the party started at 1, and was very small, I kept the “menu” very simple. I put together a fun little snack board, and used cupcake toppers as food picks. This gave everyone a little bit of substance to snack on between cake and cookies haha. I used a heart cookie cutter (turned upside down) to create the leaf cookies.
For the cake, Adaline requested a Funfetti “Sunset” cake (but she 100% told me I could not call it a “sunsetti” cake 😂)
I tried my hand at fondant for the first time ever (and probably the last time ever lol). I used a mold, but still ended up with only 2 leaves that didn’t crumble, so I worked with what I had. That’s the perfectionist in me talking. The cake tasted amazing, and that’s what matters!!
But, if you’re looking for a laugh, you can head over to Instagram, and watch me struggle my way through the fondant 😅
As promised haha — the gold party animals on top of the cake are the easiest DIY: I purchased a “burner” set of animals from Amazon, then I sprayed them with 2 coats of matte gold spray paint, and then added the fun party hats. Aren’t they cute?
Party Like an Animal
We set up our jungle and had our snacks set up, and then it was time to party like an animal!!
I’ve learned that having too many activities planned is a recipe for disaster for the 3-5ish crowd, so we had one craft planned. It was a very simple DIY binocular station. I pre-made the binoculars (hot glued 2 toilet paper rolls together, hole-punched them, and tied yarn to make the strap).
With all the hard work out of the way, the kids could decorate theirs with animal stickers, washi tape, and gemstones. They ran around the house and played hide and seek with them, so it was a win!
We fell in love with these adorable favor bags. On their way home, each of the kiddos took home a bag filled with some of Addy’s favorite candy, a little paper animal fan, the cutest “make a face” animal stickers, and a stuffed monkey. Those were such a hit with all the little party animals!!
This is a “new addition” to my party blog posts, but I wanted to share a few of Addy’s favorite gifts in here, too! In case you’re also shopping for a special little birthday girl, too! We immediately dug into her Frozen Bruni Lego set (who we all refer to as Fire Lizard haha), and a really fun animal puzzle (the colors are gorgeous), and this DIY bouncy ball kit.
Links
Balloon garland kit
big cheetah balloon
confetti balloons
5 balloon
rose gold sequin tablecloth
macrame table runner
cake stand
leopard candle
green roll paper
vines
faux leaf stems
animal ear headbands
party animal mini hats
schleich animal figurines c/o
“burner” animal figurines
gold cupcake toppers/food picks
favor bags
monkey favors
sticker favors
napkins
plates
fondant mold
little red kid table + chairs
If you’re looking for more indoor birthday party inspo, check out this indoor campout party, and Addy’s Under The Sea 4th birthday party post! Visit this post about London’s 5th birthday to see one of my favorite balloon garlands!