A Little Ladybug Party

Grace turned 3 on Sunday. That morning she received her present from us; a dollhouse!  It’s a really neat little house and, best of all, it can be broken down to lie flat. 
Her party was that afternoon.  We all had a blast…well I think Elijah would have been happy with less people there, but Gracie had a blast!  We gave out goodie bags as soon as friends arrived.  The contained everything the kids would need for the party. Each contained: a bug house with a built in magnifying glass, tweezers, a small bug catching net, a small coloring book, a ladybug bean bag, tattoos, stickers, and beads and string to make a necklace.  We had the yard set up with a mud pile, the parachute, a bean bag toss, obstacle course, a sprinkler, a painting place, and the ladybug house.
A few weeks ago I went to a local gardening supply store and purchased some live ladybugs.  They can live in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.  They go into a dormant state.  But man the MINUTE you take them out, they are awake and ready to go!  So I pulled the ladybugs out of the fridge, they were in a mesh bag, and I transferred them to a larger pan with a lid (holes poked in the top of course.)  Those little ladybugs wanted to be free!  I would say out of the 1500 we got about 500 didn’t make it.  Still, 1000 ladybugs for 16 kids was MORE than enough.  They were by far the most popular event at the party.
For the cupcakes I went to this website, which a friend of mine mentioned at her son’s birthday party.  I made a few tweaks to the recipe. I didn’t use kisses in the middle as I made mini cupcakes.  For the Ganache I  used half bittersweet and half semisweet chips.  The cupcakes turned out beautifully!  I cut out a ladybug out of red poster board and used the cupcakes as the dots on the back.  We served this with ice cream and they were a huge hit!  Kids tend to not eat the whole cupcake and this little bit with an ice cream chaser was perfect!
So,now for the pics.  (Note that I don’t put other people’s kids on the web, so only pics of my kids are on here.)

      
The Dollhouse!!

Little miss ladybug!  Easiest dress EVER to make!  And I think she looks super cute!

having snack with her ladybugs and helping a friend to catch an escapee.

The Ladybug and her spots!

Fun in the sprinkler!

a break for more snack.

Parachute play.
 
Letting the leftover ladybugs go…. see??
I have no idea what happened with her eye.  Something was bothering it and it swelled.  We gave her a bath and some Benedryl later and it was fine.  Who can say?
Overall, an excellent party, if I do say so myself.  She had fun and that was what was important!