For my oldest’s 8th birthday she wanted to invite a few friends out to a movie to see Zooptopia and then come back to the house for dessert.
I love these small intimate parties the girls have been favouring these past couple of years and this formula of just a few close friends, a short outing and dessert back at the house has really been working well for me (uh… I mean us).
Since the guest list is small everyone can easily fit around the dining room table and I can focus on a themed table scape and dessert bar rather than having to decorate a whole house.
It really takes the stress out of planning and I get to focus on the details, which is my favourite part. It worked really well for past parties like our mermaid theme and even our spa theme.
Playing off the movie selection, Zootopia, we decided on an animal themed party. Which was an easy sell for our birthday girl who is a self-proclaimed animal lover.
The local party supply store did offer up a plethora of Zootopia party supplies but I prefer a more eclectic and homemade approach to my party decor.
As we were turning “8” this year I decided to take a bit more sophisticated and grown up approach to our theme opting for a black, white, gold and minty blue palette.
Black and white striped paper straws, zebra print cups and cheetah print napkins paired with white dinner plates and black square chargers helped set the foundation for the table scape.
Each setting featured a different animal adorned candy container filled with pretty pastel chocolate treats.
I also painted inexpensive plastic animals and topped them with homemade paper hats and gift boxes inspired by This Heart of Mine. The animals were lined up parade-like down the centre of the table with a few pieces of faux greenery strewn about to play up the wild factor. You can see my own tutorial here.
A combination of homemade and store-bought confetti was scattered over the tabletop for an extra splash of colour and to compliment to animals hats and presents.
The place settings also featured a different animal mask for each child that I handmade using felt and hot glue, plus a piece of elastic, no sewing required. We went with a woodland animal theme and included a fox, raccoon, deer, owl, bunny and peacock.
The kids enjoyed popcorn and a treat at the movie, so lunch was simply make your own sandwiches (a birthday girl request).
Our birthday girl was very specific about her menu this year and didn’t want a cake. Just a good assortment of yummy sweet treats.
Dessert featured animal crackers with confetti dip, strawberries with chocolate for dipping, chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles and a chocolate chip cookie tower.
The kids talked about the movie over lunch, then we opened presents and shortly thereafter moms and dads arrived to escort our guests home.
Each friend took home their animal felt mask, an animal adorned reuseable container filled with chocolate treats, and a Zootopia movie themed cup from the party supply store.
It was such a great celebration for our sweet birthday girl. I loved that she handpicked only her closest friends and sister to mark the occasion with her. It definitely made it more special (and easier to manage for me – wink, wink.)
