Winnie the Pooh Party Ideas

My little baby girl just turned 7 and as some of you know, birthdays tend to be a big deal in our house.  My girls absolutely love special parties with all of their friends and unique themes and the whole shebang.

It does tend to be a bit of work but they are always so thrilled that it makes it so worthwhile to me to invest the time.  I know the memories of super special birthdays will last a lifetime for them.

This year we talked about tons of different party ideas and the one that my little one was really firm on was Winnie the Pooh.  I was completely thrilled as there are so many adorable ideas for this type of party and knew I wanted to go with classic pooh- the vintage blue and white with hints of yellow. Perfect for a Spring party.

So I thought I’d share some details from our party with you and a few of the DIY ideas I came up with.  I was really surprised to find that you really don’t see a ton of Winnie the Pooh items out there and the ones I did find were the bright red and mustard yellow and that wasn’t what I wanted for our party.

So here goes– at the bottom of the post I linked to almost everything I bought for the party for your reference.

I have had this little signpost for several years- it was a clearance purchase at Hobby Lobby and originally was really tacky painted neon with Dig It and a garden painted on it. I paint it over and over and use it for almost every party.  (See it for our Harry Potter party here)

This year I spray painted it and used my Silhouette to cut out a quote from Pooh on vinyl.  I used the vinyl template directly on the sign and then a brown sharpie to trace the quote directly onto the sign.  My little girl is very adventurous and jumps headfirst into life so this quote was so appropriate for her. (Font: Farmer’s Market)

Our party was at a large outdoor space with games and balls and hula hoops and toys for the kids to play.  I wanted to set up a space for the adults to relax while the children played so I purchased gingham fabric for tableclothes and just used assorted mason jars vases and just one bouquet of flowers went a long way!

I had big plans for the classic treasury of Pooh book pictured- my intent was to have all the kids at the party write a message for Maya inside as a keepsake.  I forgot.  Boo!  I do want to start that party tradition though.

And we made a little sign for the 100 Aker Wood which is a must for any Pooh party for sure.  My husband just cut down a fence post and nailed the pieces together with two smaller pieces on the back to keep it secure. We drilled holes in the top and used a thick twine to loop it around the fence.  I cut a stencil with my Silhouette in the shape of 100 Aker Wood and then used a Sharpie paint pen to just paint the words on. For the Pooh and Christopher Robin image I Googled Free Winnie the Pooh image and printed it out.  I carefully cut all around the image and then traced that in pencil onto the sign and used the paint pen to color it in.

We did a really simple dessert table.  Initially I planned to do some themed foods like a veggie tray from Rabbit’s garden and such but well time ran out and I didn’t get to it.  The facility we had the party at provides pizza and Honest juice pouches for the kids so we set up a side table to hold the pizza, water bottles and juice boxes.

The dessert table had watermelon, cherries, cookies, the birthday cake and bumble bee cake pops plus sparkling water for the adults.

Watermelon is my secret for any party as it is cheap, takes up a lot of space on a table and I have yet to meet a kid that doesn’t love watermelon.  We actually had a huge Tupperware container of more watermelon and I refilled the serving tray three times and we still didn’t have any leftovers.  🙂

For party favors I made these little Honey Pots and we filled them with bags of Bit o Honey candy.

The pots were spray painted and then I used yellow paint to just free hand paint on honey drips.  I used my Silhouette and gold foil to create the HUNNY label.  I reversed the N so it would look just like Pooh’s pots.

I ordered 3 lbs of Bit O Honey candy and that was enough for 12 pots.  I actually made a few extra pots using Teddy Grahams inside the bags for the toddlers that came (Bit o Honey is really sticky candy and better for older kids).

As for the cake my little girl actually wanted a naked cake.  I love how it turned out – this one is lemon cake with lemon curd and buttercream and blueberries on top.  (Recipe for everything here.)

For the kiddos I made little vanilla buttercream cupcakes and the adults had the naked cake.

I used box cake mix for the cake and this buttercream frosting recipe and then added sprinkles and cute Bumblebees to the top. In retrospect I wish I had made these Bumblebee cupcakes which would have been perfect but oh well.

And two big highlights for the party are the most adorable Pooh cookies:

That is Pooh’s bottom sticking out of a Hunny Pot.  So cute!

And the BumbleBee cake pops were another favorite detail.  My friend Kelley from The Rogue Baker is wildly talented and made the cake pops and the cookies. Amazing right?

I had my husband put together a super simple box, paint it white and then I popped a styrofoam brick inside to hold the cake pops. Seriously a 10 minute project.  I was hoping to find faux grass or some sort of ground cover from the garden store to use on top and came up empty handed- so I just used a little moss from the craft store to cover up the styrofoam.  My little girl picked some dandelions from the yard and sprinkled those on top.

And one other little note about this party. I made almost everything myself and so I decided on one splurge item and that was hiring a professional photographer.  We have an amazing photographer in our area, KT Moffit Photography,  that was luckily available and I am so happy I did this!

Usually I take photos and let me tell you I am normally a sweaty, hot mess trying to set everything up, act as hostess, supervise the food and such, spend time with my children oh and take a zillion pictures.  It always turns into this giant fiasco. And several darling parties we have done have never made it to the blog because I ran out of time and the party started and I forgot to grab the camera.

It felt a little over the top for a kid’s birthday but I can’t even begin to tell you how darling the photos were that she took of my little girl and all the friends she has grown up with.  I don’t want to post any photos of the other children obviously on the blog to respect their privacy but the group shots are truly priceless.  The price was very reasonable and if you live in Sacramento or the Bay Area get in touch with Katie!  You will have photos to cherish for a lifetime.   I got to enjoy the party and it was truly the most relaxed I have ever been as a hostess.

Big sister jumping away- we did simple activities with balls and bubbles and hula hoops and soccer and the kids had a great time.

And all the supplies:

Winnie the Pooh stuffed bear // Krylon Chalky Finish Spray paint // Silhouette Cameo // Blue Gingham Fabric (similar)  // Pooh Treasury Book // Sharpie Paint Pen // Wood Serving Tray from Home Goods (similar here) //  Blue Colander from Target (similar here) // Bit o Honey candy // Milk Glass Cake Plate // Large Bumble Bee Balloon (or Pooh balloons here) // Styrofoam Brick // Sugar Bumblebees // Galvanized Metal Tiered Stand // Kangaroo Bouncer // Girl’s Dress // Dress // Checked Jumper //Sandals

If you decide to have a Pooh birthday party, please come back and let me know how it turns out!  I really loved this party.

(All photos courtesy of KT Moffitt photography)