In keeping with our annual tradition, we wanted to share Clara’s invitation and a few of the party supplies we’ve been gathering, just like we did last year and the year before. Many of you guessed this year’s theme (after last year’s worm obsession)… meet our little dragon.
The dragon idea developed gradually. Clara claimed Dragons Love Tacos as a favorite book (we even read it to her preschool class) and frequently asked to wear her dragon cape around the house. Between that and her telling us dragons were coming to her party, the theme felt like a natural fit.
With the invitations sent last week, that’s one big to-do crossed off the list. For reference, her first birthday invite riffed on a weekly photo project theme, and last year we created chevron-y worms that drove the color palette.
This year we wanted friendly, Clara-like dragons. The concept evolved into turning Clara herself into a dragon on the invite. To do that we needed a cute open-mouth portrait—harder to capture than we expected—but when we saw this shot we knew it was perfect: she looks coy, like “oops, am I breathing fire?”
We created the graphics and text in Photoshop, aiming for a 3D paper cutout feel. To get some texture we scanned construction paper for a slightly pulp-y look, cut shapes digitally and layered them to build flame and scale effects.
In the past we printed with Winkflash for fully custom postcards, but this year we used a Shutterfly promo for 15 free 5×7 stationery postcards. We found blank cards in the holiday section; they were already discounted, and after the coupon our only cost was shipping—so we splurged on a faster shipping upgrade. Total cost came to about ten dollars.
We’ll share a full recap after the party, but here’s a sneak peek of some of the supplies and favors we’ve picked up so far.
Those dragon socks were 99 cents each at Target—Clara loves novelty socks, so they make fun favors. The large ikat serving plate was on clearance for $6. We’ll host a dragon egg hunt, which explains the plastic eggs on the right. The party will be low-key: about eight kids and fifteen adults. Clara also helped paint the wooden castles from Michael’s while the alarm was being installed at the new house—she adored that mini project, and the castles will look cute on the food table.
The celebration will take place at our current home. We wanted Clara to have celebrated her early birthdays and spent several holidays there; the new house isn’t quite ready to host yet—though the occasional centipede does lend a slightly medieval atmosphere.
Psst—Tonight at 7pm we’ll be chatting with Kate Hall (Richmond Mom) about parenting, decorating with family in mind, and Mother’s Day gift ideas at Barnes & Noble in Glen Allen (near Virginia Center Commons). There will be a Q&A and a book signing afterward; we’d love to see anyone who can make it.