partyin' with play-doh!

it was almost a no-brainer when trying to decide what to do for amelia's third birthday party. give that girl a few cans of play-doh, and you won't hear a peep for a good long while! now most people looked at me like i was crazy when i said i was having a play-doh party for amelia, but seriously... it was the easiest party i've done yet. i kept it very simple. no games, no frills... just a bunch of play-doh and even more cutters and gadgets!

here's the little invitation we gave to amelia's friends. (that play-doh was brand-new just three days prior...)

here is the dining room, ready for the party.  the play-doh and gadgets kind of doubled for decorations. :) i told you i kept it simple. all these bright colors make me happy!
 
the table above was full of just a variety of cutters and things... and then we had two smaller tables set up with some specific play-doh kits. the first one was a deli, sandwich-making type kit (yay, target clearance!). you could make hot dogs, squirt mustard, etc... the coolest thing with this was the potato-chip maker. those things flew all over the place!
 
the other table was the sweets station, where i set up the "sweets 'n treats" kit that amelia got for her birthday. the girls made waffles, waffle cones, cupcakes, and ice cream galore. definitely a hit!
 
what do you give for a party favor at a play-doh birthday party??? play-doh, of course!
 
these "play-doh" cupcakes were so much fun to make. and i didn't mind eating them either.
 
as soon as everybody arrived, the kids crowded around the little tables...
 
then i turned around, and look what i saw....


my extroverted husband cracks me up! the kids eventually gave brian some company...

this is the last birthday party we'll have with these two girls here... their families are both moving, and i'm just not ready for them to go!
 
lola was so proud of her ring!
 
and then a minute later, i heard her gasp, "my diamond!" and we all went on a search for the missing play-doh diamond. :) you'd have thought it was 2 carats by her reaction.

annnd pretty much, for the next hour, everybody just played with play-doh. easiest. party. ever.

 
the chip maker   a green hand!
   
karina and her "popsicle" 
 
everybody joined in on the fun! 
 caroline made the cutest little funny face waffles, complete with potato chip hair. (i think she's pretending to eat it??)
 
(the "treats" in the first picture in this post were also made by the girls during the party... i told you i loved that sweets 'n treats play-doh kit!)

when it was time for cake, we just scooted all the play-doh to the middle of the table. the birthday girl had no trouble blowing out her candle!
 
here's a peek inside the cupcakes. don't they kind of look like they were made out of play-doh?!?!
 
we are thankful for these sweet friends!
 
amelia loved opening her presents from her friends and family, but that stinker hardly looked up during the whole present-opening process. she was on a mission! so i'm keeping this (fairly) short and am leaving out present pictures...

but speaking of gifts... we are so so thankful for our birthday girl! she is a silly little ray of sunshine in our lives, and we cannot imagine our home without her. she is going to be a great big sister in may, but for now... we enjoyed one last birthday party with her as our baby girl.
    
we love you amelia bedelia! happy birthday, baby girl.