Don’s Construction Birthday Party

Good morning! Don turned two this past weekend so we threw him a construction birthday party. It’s so bittersweet watching him grow. He’s so fun and independent, but he’s so much more a toddler than a baby now (speaking of baby, here’s Don’s birth story if you feel like ugly crying with me). Anyway, Don loves anything construction lately- excavators, backhoes, cranes- they’re his favorites! So a construction party just made sense!

First up, we started by buying Don some gifts. I looked through a ton of stuff that I thought he’d love and here are my favorites-

gift guide

ONE-

Don is really getting into dress-ups! I really believe in the power of imagination and what helps you imagine something more than a costume?!

TWO–

Don already owes these mini construction vehicles and LOVES these. They are the perfect small size to throw in your purse so you have a toy or would be perfect on the top of a cake.

THREE–

I think this Lego set looks so fun! Don was playing with some Legos at a friends house and was in love. I like this bigger size so they’re easier for him to maneuver.

FOUR–

This is a Bob the Builder mold play set. It comes with play sand and lots of molds so that you can create your own shapes. I don’t think Don’s quite old enough for all of the small parts, but it looks SO fun!

FIVE–

Don doesn’t have any remote control vehicles yet, but how cool is this one?! You can move the whole excavator and the arm also moves too!

SIX–

I love these play toy sets because they are so good for hand/eye coordination! Don loves to bring his out while I’m working on a project around the house. Love!

SEVEN–

Don’s grandma gave him this board book and he is obsessed with it. He has to read it before bed and will walk around asking “digger book?” It’s so cute! I love getting Don books that go along with what he is currently loving because I feel like it supports his hobby’s and he gets to learn more about the subject (we’re learning the term “car transporter” right now!). I also like this book and this book for construction loving kids.

EIGHT–

Don already has a Melissa & Doug puzzle (an animal one) and loves it. So I’m sure he’d be a fan of this one!

NINE–

how fun does this little sandbox look?! I’m a big fan of kits and this one comes with all of the little toys. To by honest, I cringe a little when I think of the mess, but it might be worth it for how much play time it would get.

birthday invitations

Then it was birthday invitation time! I love Minted because they have the cutest, not cheesy, cards. How perfect is this one for Don?!

party decor

Next up, decoration time- my favorite! Confession time, I use parties at my house as motivation for projects. To start, I painted trim that I had left half sanded, cleaned where no one would look and did a little project for Don that wasn’t necessary, but totally made me happy. It was thrift store find- a little kids table. We needed more seating so we figured Don and his cousin could have a kid’s table. We struck gold at the thrift store when we found this $10 table!

I am obsessed with the turned white legs! But I wasn’t in love with the wood top (plus it was really beat up), so I gave it a quick sanding and a few coats of paint-

activity

Much better! And this photo was after one coat of paint. To be honest, I actually love that the table is already “broken in” because I don’t feel too precious about it and Don can play to his hearts content. We used the table for an art project for the kids- they got to decorate their own bird house:

little kid chairs / hard hats / bird houses / markers

Originally, I wanted to decorate cars, but my eBay order got mixed up and at the last minute could only find bird houses. It was still fun! To decorate the houses, we used washable markers. For me, paints and parties and two year olds just don’t mix- haha! The markers were still really fun to use though. This is also where I put the hard hats for the kids. How cute is Don in his?!

balloons

I really wanted a fun construction themed picture for art  that wasn’t too kiddie (I normally have a floral print in that frame), so I googled and found some old photographs of the Empire State building being constructed in 1931. The photos are part of New York’s digital library. Since I was using the photo for personal use (and super temporarily), I downloaded my favorite and had it printed at my local Office Max in an 18″x24″ size to fit in my frame for $10. I had them use the cheapest paper and just put it in the frame in front of the normal art. Super easy and I love this custom touch!

food

Speaking of custom touches, I made Don special food signs which I have for a free download below! For simplicity, the labels were printed on white card stock, cut out, and glued onto a toothpick. I used the dip printable for, well, dip and veggies. Even though some of this stuff may seem overkill for a birthday party, but it made me happy and Don honestly loved it so I figured that right there was worth it.

For dessert, I made dirt cups with pudding, ground up Oreos (I just put the Oreos in my mixer and mixed until they resembled dirt) and gummy worms. The dirt cups were topped off with the “Dig In” printable. Here’s how I presented them for the party:

free printable

If you’d like these free printables for your party, just put your information in below and they will be automatically emailed to you! While I was cutting these out, Don wanted to play with them SO badly! So for the fact that Don was obsessed was enough reason for me to spend 5 minutes making them :). For your convenience, I left one sign blank so you can write in your own custom words and there’s a blank label (that’s what I used for the “decorate a house” label.

To get your free printables emailed directly to you, just fill out this form:

I thought it’d also be fun to make a Happy Birthday display with balloons! It made a big statement!

balloons / mini light box / acrylic tray / mirror

cake

You got a glimpse of the cake, but here is a close-up of it. Didn’t it turn out so cute?!

I sent inspiration photos and my color scheme to The Sweet Tooth Fairy and she made my dreams come true! Don came with me to pick the cake up and watching his eyes light up when he saw it was magical! And then he cried the whole car ride home because I wouldn’t let him hold it!

bib / pants / shirt

We had such a fun time celebrating Don! I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the details for his second birthday. Honestly, I loved putting it together and sharing it. If you would like to see Don’s 1st (football) party, here’s the link to that.

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