Host a Butterfly Garden Birthday Party

Want a birthday party idea that's fun and easy to do? Try having a butterfly garden party. With a few decorations, creative food ideas and favors, you and your guests will be sure to have a great time.

The cake is the focal point of the party. Most stores have a book of designs to pick from and look really nice. Some will even take a picture you bring in and put on the cake. If you want to bake your own butterfly cake, you can do two different varieties. Make a standard rectangle cake and decorate it with flowers and butterflies. You can use candy or decorating frosting and gels. Another idea is to bake the cake in a round pan. After it's cooled, cut it in half, and put the round edges together to form wings, frost and decorate. For a cute accent, use black licorice as antennae.

One idea for some unique decorations, which are also useful: terra cotta flowerpots. They can be found at your local garden center, craft shop and even the grocery store in a variety of sizes. Buy some of the larger ones to use as serving bowls. You can decorate them, with paint and stickers. You may want to apply a waterproof sealer over the paint and stickers if you intend to use them for live plants later. You can even paint the name of the guest of honor on one of them. Line the pots with plastic wrap, and use to hold chips or other snacks.

Some of the decorations can actually be party activities and favors for your guests. There is always the old standby of tissue paper and pipe cleaner butterflies. Another idea is to buy enough small pots for each of your guests, and provide them with bottles of fabric paint and stickers and let them decorate their own flowerpot. When the party is over, send them home with a little bag of potting soil and some flower seeds. Buy seeds that are particularly attractive to butterflies.

If the party is outdoors, you can place garden decoration butterflies on sticks around the table and maybe at the end of the driveway. If you have a canopy, you can set it up over the food table, and attach butterflies on strings from the support bars.

In addition to the cake, you could also make butterfly and flower cookies. You can get candy sticks to bake in the cookies. A fun way to serve them is to put some floral foam in one or two of the large pots, and put the sticks in the foam. Some other fun things to serve would be gummy worms, bugs and frogs on ice cream (rocky road anyone?) or in the old stand by, Dirt Pudding.

The invitations can either be purchased or make your own. Most card making programs have butterfly and flower clipart. If you want to involve the guest of honor, print out invitations with a coloring book look and let her color the butterflies.

Let the ideas fly, and you'll find yourself with a one of a kind party.