The Party Chronicles: Episode 3- Pete the Cat

The Party Chronicles 

Episode 3- Pete The Cat

The inspiration for Olivia's birthday party this year came from her absolute favorite book- Pete the Cat. 

If you don't know who Pete the Cat is, stop what you're doing right now and check out this book. It's adorable. It's entertaining. The message behind it is fantastic, and the pictures are hilarious. Livy became attached to it immediately and Pete's motto became our family motto for the year. She had the book memorized after reading it once, and has repeated it over and over again ever since. 

Unless you've read the book you won't fully understand the awesomeness of this cake. (Even then, it's not that awesome.) But alas, here it is. 

I tried to do this paper towel method I found on pinterest- where you use a paper towel to make buttercream frosting look like fondant. I didn't think it worked that well for me, it turned out pretty lumpy. I want to try it again someday, but I'm kinda scared to. I'd rather just stick to what I know- fondant. YOU should give it a shot and let me know how it goes. 

Pete and his shoes.... 

I love these Pete cups and plates that Carson and I put together while watching an educational documentary on the history channel (Ahem- Friends reruns) the night before the party.

For one of the games we did a mouse hunt....Because what do cat's like to chase? MICE! And inside the mice are goldfish crackers and Sweedish fish. Why? Because mice like to eat fish! The fact that I have to spell it out is proof that I'm not as clever as I think I am. LoL. 

Just humor me and pretend I'm a genius okay? Oh, and inside one of the mice is a picture of Livy. The person who found the "special" mouse won a prize. 

I also had each guest write a little letter to the birthday girl, and I put them into a little book for her to keep. You'll notice most of these pictures are taken before the party... that's because I'm trying harder to live in the moment. Sometimes when I'm behind the camera, I feel as if I'm not really there, and I want to be there! So I take as many pictures BEFORE the party starts as I possibly can. 

Thanks to Superman *aka- My Hubby* for making this awesome game. It was a huge hit with the kids. (And me!)

The winners of our games got to take home some super sweet cat food- made from wholesome natural ingredients: Swedish Fish. 

Here are the Mouse hunting goodie bags

Meow. 

And here's the birthday girl herself... crawling and meowing all over the place, wearing cute little felt ears that I attached to an old headband.

One last thing I forgot to mention- the inside of the cake was color coordinating with the colors of Pete's shoes in the book- Red, blue, brown, and white. 

This was such a fun party to put together, and so easy! The hardest part was honestly making the paper cups and plates look like cats, and not because it was hard- just because it was time consuming. Put on a good movie and grab a friend to help you out, and it'll be done in no time!

And by the way,  I'm serious about checking out all of the Pete the Cat books. They'll change your life. 

If you've got a few minutes to kill and want to see some serious cuteness you can check out this video of Olivia reading the book.

Here's the price breakdown for those who are interested: 

Pete the Cat cups and plates: $4.00 and a few hours of TV watching :) 

Pin the Shoes on Pete: $.75 

Cake: About $10.00 (Not counting eggs and oil for the cake mix)

Mouse Hunt Game: I spent $4.00 to fill the eggs with treats. I used leftover plastic Easter eggs we had on hand. I don't know why but we always end up with SO many! I also used the leftover treats as "Cat Food" prizes for the winners of the games.

Homemade Pizza: $10.00

Watermelon: $3.50 

TOTAL: $32.25

Guests: 18 adults and 9 kids.