very lonely firefly party

For the birthday party, I wanted the Very Lonely Firefly to be the bug getting most of the attention.  However, there are 6 girls cousins and only my two boys - so the Very Hungry Caterpillar and butterfly had to make an appearance too!

The goody bags were from the Target dollar section... a long time ago.

Each kid got parts to make a mobile.  The circles had each of the bugs from Eric Carle's books, as well as the star from "Draw Me a Star".  I used my Silhouette to layout the pictures and cut them.

The treats were runts and gummy worms...

in a Target dollar section container.

Some other goodies in their bags - fork and spoon (Target dollar section), glow sticks, sparklers, bug jar, bug rings for the girls, and bug finger puppets.

The finger puppets, jar, and rings were from Oriental Trading Company.

The three babies got socks.

Here is what the finished mobile looked like.

We also made fireflies, using Mountain Dew bottles, glow sticks, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and foam wings.

I used glue dots for the eyes and double stick tape to hold the wings on.

The pipe cleaner just got twisted around the top.

Since we planned on a picnic, I used some of my stickers on rocks to be decoration for outside as well as napkin holders if it was breezy.

The invites were simple.  Green dotted washi tape (Target), a picture of the birthday boy in the grass, and some star and bug stickers.

The insides were made with washi tape, stickers, and a computer printout.

The weather was rainy, so the picnic food was served inside.  The cake was a five layer yellow cake with dark blue frosting.  It was covered in gold stars, and a yellow star candle, and a little yellow paper bunting spelling out Braden's name.

The birthday boy, his siblings, and cousins had a blast playing together anyway, and the grandparents, aunts and uncle enjoyed time with the kids.  That's what really matters!

my firefly is one!

My firefly is one!  For his birthday outfit I used Patty Young's Natalie&Nate pattern, the boy version.  The fabric is from Eric Carle's Very Lonely Firefly collection.  The lining fabric is Brown Bear or Very Hungry Caterpillar - I forgot which one.


I also embellished a romper for him with a firefly star.  We now have five people in our family - so a star seems just right as our family symbol.  His older brother requested a matching tshirt, so he got an orange one with the star appliqued in the middle as well.

very hungry caterpillar

My daughter's latest dress is made from Patty Young's Frida pattern.

I finally cut into my Eric Carle stash.  The headscarf and bodice are from the Brown Bear collection.  The skirt, pockets, ruffle, and sleeves are from the Very Hungry Caterpillar collection.

She loves retelling the story and pointing at the foods on the skirt.

She wore it proudly for her brother's Eric Carle birthday party, and will hopefully wear it for the first day of Kindergarten.

firefly

My mom and aunt made this beautiful baby quilt.  I love Eric Carle, and this book was the perfect inspiration for a quilt for my summer baby.

Here's a close up of the firefly fabric they used as a border.

They quilted a firefly in various places all over the quilt.

The backing was Eric Carle blue fabric as well.

Here's 2-1/2 month old Braden enjoying a late summer afternoon outside on his quilt.

Thanks Mom!  Thanks Aunt Nancy!

growing with eric carle

My kids have spent a lot of time in the church nursery.  One of the nursery workers just had a little baby girl a couple weeks ago.  One of the other nursery workers wanted me to make something special for her using some Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric.  So I got to work brainstorming what to do.

The growth chart was a perfect starting point.  I used a solid yellow for the back & hanging tabs, and used the solid yellow to make the numbers.  Since her daughter's name starts with V, as does her older son, I made two V's with pins on the back to move up as the kids grow.

I used the other panels to make pillows for her.  I used the same yellow backing, and then red piping around the edge of caterpillar.  I used bright yellow piping around the sun panel.

Congrats F on the new baby!  Can't wait to meet her!