Husband and I have cultivated a love of reading in Little Tomato as well. She has an impressive library herself, and we have read every. single. book. Many, many times. She loves books. After her bedtime book (or two, or three...) she almost always asks for 'just a few minutes more' to read alone. I have found her awake, flashlight in hand, pouring over a book when she was supposed to be sleeping, and snoring away in bed with a book propped in her lap.
This past week was her birthday. My Little Tomato is five years old. As she is starting school this year, I know she will transition to wanting 'friend birthday parties' in place of the family scene, and she will begin to want to pick her own theme. This was my last unhindered party-planning for my little girl and I wanted to make it special.
Her party was a book theme. The invitations were library-style, edited from this free printable. I printed it off on cardstock, and used washi tape to attach it to a book graphic for a layered and more colorful effect.
I kept with a purple color as a running theme through the decorations, as purple is one of her favorite colors and her birthday dress was a light lavender.
I looked for solid wrapping paper in various hues of purple and used it (and kraft paper) to wrap books we had on hand and stacked them as decorations.
I found this great tutorial on making paper roses and used book pages to make roses as decorations.
Thin ribbon, bamboo skewers and cotton 'page print' banners found in the scrapbooking section of Hobby Lobby were used to decorate the cake. When Little Tomato saw the picture of the cake I gave to the bakery for inspiration, her heart was set on a horse on her cake too. So, while it has nothing to do with books... it was her birthday. And considering her love of horses and riding, most of the gifts were horse themed books. :)
Lavender in pots were on the various tables as centerpieces. I purchased the lavender plants for our yard, and just bought a couple of $4 pots to allow them to serve dual purpose as decorations for the party.
I decorated the chalkboard in the learning room to read "A house without books is like a room without windows." I made the chalkboard several years ago using a clearance frame from Michael's craft store, a scrap piece of MDF and chalkboard paint.
I used book pages taped together on the underside as a table runner in the dining room.
Bazzill paper books on ribbon make the garland into the dining room. Mini clothespins can be found here.
I printed off this free heart illustration onto some 'printable fabric' and put it into an embroidery hoop for a focal piece.
Using the paper scraps from the book garland, I punched round tags with book-themed words: pages, literature, books, read, ex libris, etc. as drink labels for guests. Mason jar glasses and paper straws added a little whimsy.
Note: I cut the smaller paper scraps into strips and hole-punched one end to make additional tags. I put these, the twine spool, scissors and a marker in a jar to allow guests to personalize their own tags for their drinks. It also utilized as much of the scrap paper as possible. :)
I also made a 'book mobile' to add some color to the kitchen nook. This was made using a small hula hoop, ribbon, twine, and the same Bazzill paper books and mini clothespins I used for the garland.
As a final decoration, I sewed book pages into strands which I hung from the curtains in the dining room and learning room. Inspiration was found here.
Sorry for the photo quality- many of the photos were taken the day of the party which was overcast and rainy, so lighting was not great. :(
Happy Birthday, Little Tomato!
We love you.
