Today is my daughter’s second birthday. TWO. How in the world did we get here already? It’s truly insane how fast time flies. I’ve definitely spent that last couple days feeling all the emotions as I look back on the amazing 2 years we’ve had all because of our darling baby girl. To celebrate the big #2 we threw her a birthday party a few weeks ago and well, here are all the deets!

Welcome to AVERYFEST 2022- A TWO GROOVY Event!!

So our venue had this amazing lounge space that fit the vibe of our theme just perfectly. My husband custom made all the “Avery” posters on photoshop, using actual 70s posters we’d found online (WoodStock posters, Beatles posters, and even a very special Willie Nelson poster!) After he’d completed the design (changing the details of the original posters to match our event details and editing Avery’s photos in), we ordered them and had them printed at FedEx. We hung the posters around the lounge space at the venue.

Within this lounge, I set up a “TatTWO” station as well as our dessert table. The cement center table was already at the venue so I immediately knew I wanted that to be the dessert table and the area where we’d later gather to sing Happy Birthday to my daughter.

+ my girlfriend made the cake pops, rice krispies, and cookies. Cake is SusieCakes

+ macrame runners (used throughout venue) were made by another girlfriend of mine for my wedding back in 2019 (I’ll keep them forever)

+ tattoos I ordered off Etsy, I set the Tattwo station up with wash cloths and spray bottles for guests to apply their tattoos

+ flower vases (used throughout venue) I bought at Hobby Lobby and then my girlfriend and her fiance bought the flowers at Trader Joes and put the bouquets together before the party

Alright, now that we’ve covered what I considered to be the focal point of the event, lets rewind and take you to the Entrance/Welcome area.

Upon entering the party, we had everyone grab a little “AVERYFEST 2022” VIP wristband. And for the kiddos, I made little 70s style sunglasses with their names along the frame for them to wear as well. The gift bags on the bottom I filled with glow sticks and some iron patches for the kids to take home!

My husband bought the Cozy Coupe online, painted it and turned it into this super cute and fun VW style van- which Avery absolutely loved riding around in all day (separate post on that DIY later).

+ AVERYFEST 2022 VIP ACCESS wristbands- ordered off Etsy

+ sunglasses and beads all ordered off Amazon

+ goodie bags- ordered off Amazon and then ordered the groovy stickers separately off Amazon and added them to the bags

+ “Thank you tag”- my husband made the design on Canva and then we printed them and tied them on ourselves

+ Festival “SMILE” tickets- bought from Party City and just used to decorate the tables throughout the venue

+ shelving unit is a rental

Throughout the venue, there was already plenty of seating set up (which was nice), the flowers were also already there, so I made these little vintage flags to put in the flower pots on all of the tables.

DIY FLAGS

I bought a variety of different felt colors (that matched my color scheme), 8 inch wooden rods, pom poms, and paint from Michael’s. Then all you have to do is cut the felt into triangles, giving yourself a little extra along the bottom to fit around the rod. Then, hot glue the flag to the wooden rod and you’re done! Once it’s dried, you can paint on your design and then hot glue the little pom pom to the top. I also made some that said “Peace and Love” and “Be Kind” which I’ve now got set up in Avery’s room!

Now, for what was definitely THE MOST FUN part for me to design : the kid’s space!!!

Off to the side, our venue had a grass area that I knew was going to be perfect for my kids table set up and bounce house.

+ mini white tables , white comforters, and pillows are my girlfriend’s

+ charger plates are from Target and are plastic

+ purple flower paper plates- ordered off Etsy

+ Stay Groovy plastic cups and straws- ordered off Etsy

+ ornaments – these were a party gift for all the kids and then for our friends and family as well, we bought the ornaments from Target (when I saw them I knew they were perfect and literally bought out all of the ones my Target had) then we wrote “AVERYFEST 2022” on them ourselves! I put one on every plate for the kids table and then we hung them around the venue as well for people to take. Because Avery is a Christmas baby, I will always make a party favor that is some sort of Christmas ornament for guests to hang on their trees!

+ miniature lava lamps- these I made myself and were probably the most difficult thing for me to make LOL

+ flower power party hats- my girlfriend made these herself

+ AVERYFEST sign : so the AVERY letters I actually had from her party last year (they were all white for that one), so I bought the FEST letters from JoAnns. Originally they are brown and they’re cardboard so I painted the FEST letters white and then re-painted the AVERY letters brown and painted the flowers and peace signs on myself afterward. Spoiler alert- I kept the AVERY letters once again and will most definitely find a way to use them again next year!

+ bounce house : lux.inflatables (my ride or dies) this is my second time using them and they’re amazing!

+ balloon garland : one of my friends came over the day before our party to help me build this! We ordered the garland off Etsy.

For food we had tacos catered and set up all the different meats, rice, and beans on this table, cardboard records are from Amazon!

To complete the vibe, we made an entirely 70s playlist that we played throughout the venue for the entire party. It was so much fun! We also encouraged our guests to come in their most groovy attire!

We had the absolute best day celebrating with everyone! If you’ve got a little one turning TWO, I highly suggest throwing a TWO GROOVY FEST! It was so much fun!

I definitely start planning Avery’s birthday parties like WAAAYYY in advance (but it brings me so much happiness to do so and I look forward to all the DIY it can bring, so for your convenience- this is a list of the things we did ourselves that required a little bit of a time commitment to complete. I can’t stress this enough- these parties are not planned in a week!

The DIY list

+ VW BUG

+ Lava lamp center pieces

+ AVERYFEST sign

+ Vintage Style Flags

+ Goodie Bags

+ Custom Band Posters

+ Sunglasses

+ balloon garland

Happy Grooving!!