For my daughters first birthday party I had a bumble bee theme. It was inspired by her halloween costume, a bumble bee.
For the invitation, I had pictures made of her in her bumble bee costume, I glued the pictures onto scrapbook paper, added some cute bee stickers and put the "Kayli's going to "Bee" one! and party info on the back. It was a challenging theme as there is not much for kids birthdays with cute bumblebees on it. We rented a large pavillion ($35 and it kept the mess away from home) Tablecovers for the eight tables alternated yellow and black. I used cheap streamer to put yellow and black "bee stries" on the tree trunks. Each table had a bumble bee centerpiece from a yellow or black painted terra cotta pot with greenery and large felt bumble bees on dowel rods in the center. I couldn't find a cake with bumblebees on it, so I had a cake made with a sky background and added my own bumblebees, They were made using the tops of cupcakes, striped with black and yellow with twisted pipe cleaner for anntenae. Each table also had a glass filled with large white-chocolate dipped pretzle sticks covered in black or yellow sprinkles. They were yummy and looked great. Tons of black and yellow ballons, and I was lucky enough to find giant mylar bumblebees, just a few of those really added a lot. Goodie bags were clear plastic bags tied with yellow and black ribbon, filled with honey straws (plastic straw snack filled with honey from the health food store) and a bumblebee sqirter toy. Another challenge was finding a pinata. I found a round smiley face one, added crepe paper stripes, cardboard wings, antennae and a stinger and it came out adorable. The pavillion had a nice playground, so the only extra we had was pony rides (a HUGE hit!) and face painting. And the pony wore a bumblebee party hat to match the theme. It took a lot of planning and a lot of improvising to come up with bumblebee stuff, but it turned out great! And once the party was under way, it was a minimum of effort and a tons of fun for the kids.
