Ladybug Birthday Party

How did we come up with the ladybug theme?  Did you ever see the "Ladybug Picnic" song on Sesame Street?  That was our inspiration, and besides, there were so many cute things we could do with ladybugs! Some things worked, others did not.  But I think the party was an overall success.

 

Inside the treat bag!

Treat bags!

I wasn't lying when I told you Ronnie was my "go to" guy.  I told him my idea for a kid size cornhole set, and he did it!  He constructed these boards for me, and I painted and decorated them.  And with a foot of "ladybug" fabric from Walmart and some expired dry split peas, I made the beanbags to go with it!



Ladybug beanbag toss game

Hidden bugs sandbox
 

The trickiest part of the cake and cupcakes was getting the frosting RED!  I must've added two whole bottles of red food coloring.  And, I researched before I did it, so I had red gel color and the liquid drops.  And I used BOTH!  One thing I did notice was the longer you let the frosting sit, the redder it got.  I still wasn't convinced the red was RED enough, and I used red sugar sprinkles on top.  They turned out just fine! 
 I came up with the idea to use Oreos as the ladybugs' heads when I saw Stonf use them as mouths on Elmo cupcakes.

Ladybug veggie tray
*Compliments of Stonf

Cupcakes and cake!
 



Biggest Failure: I had this cute idea to make rice krispy dots...rice krispy treats rolled into a ball and dipped in chocolate.  I wanted to dye the chocolate red and black.   First of all, I had the hardest time forming the rice krispy treats into balls, and after about 4, I gave up.  And then, when I tried to dye the melting chocolate, it turned to poo!  It literally looked like dog poop!  So, I scratched that idea, took the leftover Oreos, dipped them in white chocolate and milk chocolate, and then added black and red sugar sprinkles. 

Keepin it Real Moment:   We have a dirt backyard, as opposed to a beautiful, green lawn.  It hadn't rained in about a month, and I was thrilled because it would've made for a muddy mess.  What I didn't consider was that extra dry dirt turns to a dusty mess.  Needless to say, everyone's feet were black by the end of the night!