For my daughter's 4th birthday, we decided to go with an Olivia (the pig!) theme. At that time, there were no Olivia party items to be found.   INVITATIONS My husband made the invitation on the computer, using a little graphic of Olivia, and printing them ourselves. DECORATIONS We used the colors red, black, and white for the decorations. Balloons in all three colors, just placed in bunches here and there, and hanging from the light fixture in the center. Streamers in the same colors were also used. Red fabric was used to drape over the tables, and another long piece of red fabric was used across the floor for the girls to sit on during the party. I made red, black, and white felt seating mats, or placemats, for the girls to sit on during the party. With fabric paint, I made little images of Olivia from the book. Time consuming, but fun. I also painted their names on them, so they could take them home as favors after the party.  ACTIVITIES/GAMES The theme for the party was taken from the book, Olivia Forms a Band." My husband and I took turns reading the book and stopping at various points to have an interactive moment from the book with the girls. The seating for the reading was just a long piece of red fabric on the floor and their seating matts. Interactive portions of the story included: 1)Olivia couldn't find her red sock in the book. We had a scavenger hunt for a red sock hidden somewhere in the room. 2) The band! Olivia formed a band and so did we. We borrowed hand held musical items such as tambourines maracas etc. and the girls went on a march through the house performing with their musical instruments. 3)Olivia's family went on a picnic for the 4th of July and had snacks. We created our own version of the snacks from the story. We had strawberries and little round peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut with a cookie cutter. 4)After the picnic Olivia's family watched the fireworks! We purchased the little poppers that are in a small plastic bottle with a pull string. The girls all pulled their poppers and we had confetti streamers pop out for our fireworks! CAKE Our cake was a boxed mix red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. I purchased an Olivia figurine for a cake topper because as I said before no Olivia decorations to be found! I still have it and am glad it worked out that way as now we have a keepsake. We set the figurine in the center and used some chocolate sprinkles lightly around the top and used red gel icing to write "Happy Birthday Chloe." Four red and white candles were placed with two on each side of the figurine. FAVORS For favors as mentioned previously were the personalized felt placemats/seating matts. I also made little books for the girls like a little drawing pad. I drew a picture of Olivia in pencil on the front of each book. They also received a package of crayons to go with the little book.  This party proves that you can use any theme you want without store bought decorations! It may take more time but it sure does save money and it absolutely adds a personal touch.  "