I had many ideas for my daughter’s second birthday party, but after receiving a special dress from her Godmother it gave me the perfect inspiration for Julianne’s party. The Bonnie Jean dress has a cupcake on the hot pink top and a dark purple skirt with polka dots. Perfect for a fun loving second birthday party for our sweet little cupcake! I hope you enjoy the details of this party because I had a great time planning this event.

{Invitation} I designed the custom invitation around the dress design. I created a swirly cupcake design similar to the one on her dress. Placing the cupcake in the center of the invitation design, I then added the polka dots and a picture of Julianne. I used purple cardstock as a backing to the invitation to simply give it more weight and depth.

{Decorations} After designing the invitations everything else fell in to place. I incorporated the swirly cupcake design and polka dots through all of my party printables. The “Happy Birthday” banner was inspired by a tutorial I saw on The TomKat Studio blog. It was the most time consuming decoration to make but well worth the effort. I love how it turned out!

I decided the backdrop for the dessert table had to have polka dots. I remember seeing polka dots sewn on string, but my sewing skills are not great. I knew I had to find something that did not require sewing. I came across a DIY circle garland tutorial on the Two Girls Being Crafty blog. Perfect! Using fishing wire, cardstock, glue, and circle punches in two sizes I was able to create the polka dot backdrop for the dessert table. I will be posting my tutorial soon on how I created them!

The backdrop support is made similar to a tutorial I had seen on Anders Ruff Designs made out of PVC pipes. One day I will share how I modified the design! I purchased sheer window curtains at Kohl’s. After hanging the sheer window curtains I added the polka dot strings.

I used a plain white tablecloth for the dessert table and placed a lavender piece of cloth to the top of the table. I added a long string of polka dots to the front of the table and a few balloons on the sides.

Folded and flat food labels were used to help guests identify the food and drinks available. I used mason jars that I already owned to serve the drinks in and added purple polka dot straws with straw flags to dress them up.

{Food & Desserts} I knew from the start that our party food would include something warm since the party was in the middle of January. I finally decided on a menu of hearty beef chili, white bean chicken chili, chili toppings, cornbread muffins, macaroni and cheese, veggie tray, and strawberries. Perfect for a chilly wintery day! Drinks served included water, sweet tea, coke, and sprite.

What else do you have at a cupcake party but cupcakes! The dessert table held 3 dozen chocolate, strawberry, and yellow cupcakes with buttercream icing. I decided to create a simple cake to place in the center of the table as well. The cake was a layer of strawberry and chocolate with buttercream icing. I topped the cake off with a 4″ party circle on a long lollipop stick and tied a ribbon on the stick.

I thought it would be perfect to have a Decorate Your Own Cupcake bar at the party! Guests were welcome to choose from mini M&Ms, mini Reese’s Pieces, mini chocolate chips, coconut, sprinkles, and crushed mint Oreos. Many guests went back for seconds!

{Activity}  I created a cupcake and polka dot coloring page for our younger guests to color. Even some of our older guests joined in the fun!

{Favors} Julianne and I baked homemade sugar cookies shaped like cupcakes to send home with the guests. I placed two cookies in each bag and attached with baker’s twine and a 2.5” favor tag. While doing some last minute shopping the day before, I came across some clearance toys and picked up three for our tiny guests in lieu of cookies.

Here is the birthday girl in the dress that started it all!

Want to host your own Cupcakes and Polka Dots Birthday party for you own little cupcake? This new collection is now available in our Etsy shop!

Cupcakes and Polka Dots Birthday Collection

Vendor Credits:

Invitation, Party Printables, and Styling – Tickled Peach Studio
Cupcake Liners – Little Monster Hugs
Polka Dot Straws and Baker’s Twine – Cakes and Kids Too