Vintage Mother Goose Birthday Party

Sharing inspiration from my daughter’s recent Vintage Mother Goose birthday party as well as ideas for other parties. Plus, a few party planning tips!

My youngest turned three last month and since I haven’t thrown her a birthday party before I thought I would make this one really special. Since I love classic children’s books, I went with a Tasha Tudor Mother Goose-themed party (Tasha Tudor is one of my favorite children’s illustrators). Love Lucy Design helped me design the most darling invitation.

Since Tasha Tudor’s Mother Goose is out of print I searched Amazon for as many vintage editions as I could find to use as party favors. (Note: give yourself a good 3-4 weeks to order used books on Amazon; they have a long shipping time for some reason! ). Because I couldn’t find enough Tasha Tudor books in time I also ordered some vintage Little Golden Book Mother Goose books.

I set them all out on the table before children arrived. (Tip: putting party favors out like this makes the table look fuller and like you did a lot more decorating!)

Mother Goose herself even came to the party and she was a HUGE hit with her puppet shows, stories and games. Perfect for this age group and particularly the little girls in attendance. I actually saw her perform at Northpark Center and my daughter was so enthralled I knew she would be perfect for these little girls.

A few tips for children parties:

• Borrow and Share! Ask your friends because they might have tables, chairs, even a drink dispenser you can borrow. And think about what you can offer to lend them for their next party. When you return the borrowed items, make sure everything is clean and leave a note of thanks and maybe even a little thank you treat.
• Search the goodwill! I found those floral tablecloths (i.e. sheets!) a few years ago and have used them for several birthday parties. So much cuter than plastic tablecloths and I think I paid $1 each for them!
• Make it short. In my opinion, parties of little ones, in which the parents attend, need not be more than 1.5 hours in length (unless it is just family!). My children have received many invitations for 1 hour parities and this busy mom appreciates it!
• Less is more. I used to go “all out” for birthday parties but even this former party planner got super stressed about coordinating the straws and napkins and personalized favor stickers. I love a well-planned party but too much “stuff” can be overkill. So choose a few special things and do those well. Mom is usually much happier that way!

Speaking of doing things well, if you are in need of a fun party idea for your child, Love Lucy Design has some darling invitation ideas to get you started. A Madeline or Raggedy Ann  party would be darling particularly if you wanted to tie in a classic book as the party favor. (Moms will appreciate the no junk/no candy favor!) For boys, Lois’  Lenski’s The Little Fire Engine board book would pair well with Love Lucy’s fire truck invitation below!

 

Love Lucy also designed matching book plate stickers for my daughter (and takes custom orders if you want to do something similar!).  These would make a nice favor by themselves or paired with a classic book!

Another idea: these book plates would also pair nicely with Tasha Tudor’s A Child’s Garden of Verses for a sweet baby gift! (Read here why it’s one of my go to baby gifts.)

What are your party tips for little ones? Let me know below!

 

 

 

 

 

More Tasha Tudor Books:

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Sources:

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 Invitations – Love Lucy Design

Mother Goose – Book through Maggie the Magical Clown’s Funny Business (formerly known as DFW Funny Business)

Cake – Cade’s Cakes (Note: this is called a “naked cake” if you want to ask your baker to do something similar).

Vintage Tasha Tudor Book

Vintage Little Golden Book Mother Goose

Tableclothes – Goodwill!

Vases – Humble Mill Pottery, Seagrove, NC

Dress – Vintage

Rainbow Filler- Party Bazaar