"Circus-Circus" 2nd Birthday Party

On Saturday our twins, Jonah & Gia, turned 2! It's unbelievably hard to believe two years have gone by already, but we were sure to celebrate to the max with a "CIRCUS-CIRCUS" party. Unlike the twins' "Farm Sweet Farm" party last year, my husband held me to a small and strict budget which meant I had to get very creative when planning this little soiree. I re-purposed a lot, I shopped around a lot, I crafted a lot and I baked a lot. But, I must admit the DIY approach made the success of the party all the more rewarding. Everyone had an absolute blast, especially the guests of honor!

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INVITATIONS:
Instead of purchasing three-dimensional invitations, I decided to send electronic invites which featured the cutest colors and circus graphics. Family and friends really got a kick out of the animation and were extremely excited to celebrate with "The Greatest Twins On Earth."

KID'S TABLE:
I rented specialized children's party furniture to ensure each and every one of our 15 "little" guests were comfy, then covered the table with a bright blue table cloth. The place settings consisted of yellow polka-dot placemats, circus tent plates, red whirly-wonder cups and personalized buckets of surprises, which served as party favors. Each miniature galvanized bucket featured a chalkboard where I was able to write in each child's name. Then I placed a miniature slinky, box of animal crackers, a kazoo and a clown nose (of course).

FOOD & DESSERTS:
The usual circus-like treats were on hand, including hot-dogs and pizza. Guests also enjoyed cotton candy, popcorn, "strongman dumbbells" (chocolate dipped marshmallows), circus cookies, gourmet sodas and lemonade. And instead of ordering birthday cakes and cupcakes, this year I decided they'd be made-by-Mommy! I created each cake with lots of love, featuring bright rainbows inside, and even made personalized cake buntings to match. The cupcakes were a huge hit too, featuring balloon toppers, pop rocks and cotton candy dollops.

ACTIVITIES: One of the twins' birthday presents was their very own circus-tent bounce house and it was also a perfect celebratory space for the kids. We conducted potato sack races, played pin the nose of the clown and musical chairs as well, plus created individual circus scenes with fancy stickers and backgrounds.

DETAILS & DECOR:
It was pretty easy finding most of the big top items needed to round out the decor of the party, but I also created an indoor circus canopy for the ceiling and a festive curtain of crepe streamers and balloons for the entry way. These details laid such a magical foundation for the overall ambiance and provided the WOW factor every party needs a little bit of.

The twins and their guests truly enjoyed celebrating in circus-style and we were thrilled to have been able to share our joy with them all. They received many generous gifts, lots of LOVE and enjoyed what was (for them) the greatest party on earth!