Laken’s Second Birthday – Two wild

We officially have a two-year old and I can’t believe it! The second that everybody left our home Kyler and I literally said We did it! We made it two years!

We celebrated Laken’s second birthday with family on Sunday and she had so much fun! I think I’ve mentioned this before, but we decided to throw a party with a low-key theme. Laken is really weird when it comes to her favorite things. Right now it’s Beauty and the Beast (the new one with Emma Watson), the Flintstones (the real people version), and watching Friends with me! She absolutely hates Paw Patrol and Sesame Street and is over all the popular movies right now.

Our theme was “Two Wild” and I honestly played it way down way more than what Pinterest has it showing it is. I didn’t originally plan to play it down so much and had a huge list of things I would do the day before her party because I always plan things last-minute, but of course Laken and I both came down with a pretty awful cold and were so miserable that I couldn’t get anything done. It sucks because I had a huge vision for her party but I kept telling myself that she is only two and was more interested in chasing her puppy around than looking at the decor. So, it ended up being a bohoish-doughnut-peg-board-party (cue as many laughing emojis possible lol). Below is the my inspiration board I had for her party.

I originally wanted a huge balloon banner arch with a larger wooden two wild sign similar to the cake topper to put on our mantle. This was also the part that I waited until the day before to plan out and didn’t take into consideration how long it would take to actually make each separate thing. I had 5 hours to get everything done for food and decor and it was not enough. I only had time for one and ultimately decided that the balloon arch would be more fun. My backup for the wood sign was the big 2 balloon! It worked out perfectly!

I knew that the doughnut peg board was an absolute must since Laken absolutely hates cake. All the cupcakes you see Laken holding in my photos on Instagram is purely for the photo because she only ever licks off the frosting and gives the rest to Gracie haha. I also really wanted to display doughnuts on a cupcake stand because of how cute it is! We got our doughnuts from Muncher’s Bakery, a Lawrence, Kansas favorite. If you ever come through Lawrence it is an absolute must and they’re open 24 hours, so no excuses! Their pudding balls and eclairs are out of this world!

I am absolutely obsessed with this Pantone color and have being adding it to a lot of Laken’s room and decor throughout out home. It’s a very pretty, clean color and we incorporated it with the peg board and also in her outfit(details are listed at the end of the blog).

Lastly, the greenery, flowers, and vases. I am really big on using items we already have in our home and using them as party decor pieces. I love that amber apothecary jars/vases are super popular right now because they go with everything! I love greenery and fresh white flowers so it was really easy incorporating those into her party. I love how much texture Hydrangeas have and I used the amber jars to hold them!

The peg board itself was super easy and inexpensive! I want to say I made the whole thing for under $15! I have a crazy amount of fake flowers/greenery on had because I love switching up vases, but that would probably put the total coast around $25/$30 with the desired flowers. I got the peg board ($5.49) at Mernard’s and ended up only using half the board for this project. I used Rustoleum Spray Paint in the shade Vintage Blush ($3.50), and cut a dowel rod ($.98) into 2 inch long pieces.

I loved all the little details on this serving stand! It’s the Garnera serving stand from Ikea! It was a little under $20 but I see us getting a lot of use out of it.

Despite my whole vision with the balloon arch, we were really happy with how it turned out! I used cream and gold balloons from Walmart ($.99 a pack of 12) and the big 2 balloon from Target ($6). Pinterest recommended balloon arch tape ($7) from Amazon. Unfortunately I didn’t remember that I needed that until a few days before and spent $15 on it from the party store.

I thrifted this amber jar and two others and got all for around $6. I love that they had warmth and some color to a room. They also look super beautiful paired with flowers and a fun textured candle jar.

I was so happy with how everything turned out and loved how simple it was. Laken had so much fun with the balloons, begging for doughnuts, and playing with her cousin Emery. Here are some pictures that really display her outfit. It is my absolute favorite. 🙂

I got Laken’s outfit from HarlowJade and she’s wearing a 2t. I absolutely love their jumpsuits and am obsessed with things with a bell bottom on Laken so it wasn’t hard to choose. If you aren’t already, follow Harlow Jade on Instagram! They have the cutest deigns for baby and mammas!

Laken’s Gifts

I wasn’t originally going to share all that Laken got but I have never seen her play with her toys as much as she has with these! I made a blog post about awesome gift ideas for a two-year old that you can find here and she received quite a few goodies from it. She has been in heaven since Sunday and keeps grabbing our hands to come play with her and her new toys! She got a lot of clothes that are for fall/her birthday and she also got her official big girl bed from us which will be in a later post, but here are the goodies she got!