Over the weekend we celebrated Isaiah turning TWO! Like most parents, Tony and I are still pinching ourselves as we fathom how much our, once baby boy, now big boy, has become another year older. How is this all happening so fast? Sheesh! It amazes me how long the years feel but yet time still moves like a jetting bolt!
Last year, Isaiah’s birthday party was a safari theme. We had used the same theme for decor inspo for his baby shower and nursery. I loved it so much and wanted to play with it once more. So planning was quick and easy! I’ll be sure to find time to add a post about it to the blog as well. This years planning was quite different.
I knew several months in advance Isaiah’s second birthday party would be a car theme shortly after discovering how obsessed our sweet boy was over cars. I just didn’t know how I was going to make it my style. So, I procrastinated and didn’t start planning until a couple of weeks before the big day. . . I know— why would I do that to myself?! Eh, to be honest, sometimes I’m my most creative when under pressure. Once I decided on the theme and colors, I moved on to the cake. From there on, everything else began to flow.
While still being in a global pandemic, we kept our guest list small consisting of just our immediate family. And you guys, we needed that! It had been such a long time since we ALL gathered together for quality time and it felt so good sharing this special day with them. I did feel bad that no other children were invited to play with Isaiah.
BUT, his other favorite girl came McKinley, my sisters boyfriend’s (Matt) daughter. She was so sweet and patient with him that even if he were capable of caring about other kids being there, he wouldn’t have noticed!
I must admit, decorating with a toddler running around is almost impossible. However, I was very happy and proud of myself for setting up decorations the day before. I was left with only a couple of things to set up the morning of Isaiah’s birthday so I was able to breathe and relax! The balloon garland was the final touch. Isaiah loves balloons so as the garland was being installed he just went WILD. I just knew he’d be worn out before his party even started! But, he lasted way longer than we expected, even without a nap. Goodness!
Around noon, my boys and I were ready for some fun! As our guests arrived, we asked them to take a picture with Isaiah where the balloons garlands were setup so that we could have memories of them. We also had a Polaroid setup so that Polaroids could be take and hung on the fireplace. It was the sweetest touch to the decor !
Decor
I wanted to keep the decor modern, simple, and a splash of vintage. I loved the color combo as it felt equally bold and soft! The vintage race car we purchased for Isaiah to ride on had an easy peel-off “3” on it so I replaced it with a “2” (not pictured). I think it looks even better without a number, however, the “2” was essential for this event!
Balloon Garland | Checkered Flags | Gold Trophies | Silver Trophies | Assorted Vintage Cars | Gold # 2 | Vintage Silver Car | Race Car Sunglasses
DIY Race Car Track
Because we weren’t having our toddler friends come over, we wanted to keep Isaiah as entertained as possible. I created this DIY race car track (see here) using supplies from Michael’s and the road tape from Amazon. I was so happy to see my son enjoy this fun and easy toy I made for him!
Stationary
These letter boards are my new favorite! They blend really well with the bronze accents in our home and were a nice accent to Isaiah’s party decor. They aren’t huge at all FYI, but the size worked very well for us! I used an easel only for the sign near the cake because there was a noticeable height gap otherwise.
Desserts + Plates + Napkins
As mentioned before, the birthday cake is a big deal! I’m not a big fan of eating all the fondant so I try to keep the festiveness of the cake minimal. We went with a white cake and cream cheese buttercream icing—YUM! The cookies were sugar cookies and I requested the custom designs as pictured. It was all DELICIOUS and I could not have been happier with the outcome of our custom cake and cookies from Leyana Sugar Studio!
Checkered Spoons | Cake + Cookies | Cake Stand | Cake Knife | White + Gold Napkins | Black + Gold Napkins | Cups | Black + Gold Plates | Gold Plates (not pictured)
Activities
Isaiah had plenty of activities to keep him entertained. We painted our own wooden race cars, played on the travel matt, competed on the DIY race car track, sang, danced, and he even had a send off! He had been practicing singing “Happy Birthday” for a few weeks and it paid off on his big day! Lol! He was so engaged.
Now, my plans for his send-off didn’t go as planned BUT it was still fun! It was a beautiful and sunny day so the checkered glasses we had displayed in the foyer for everyone came in handy! We used sparklers and the party blowers used to wish him a happy birthday as well for the send-off outside in the cul-de-sac! I’ll just say we all LAUGHED A LOT!
I really loved Isaiah’s birthday outfit! Gosh I wish I had full body pictures of him because my baby boy looked FRESH and very fitting got his birthday party theme!
Overall, Isaiahs’s 2nd birthday was a BANGER and I am still on cloud 9 over the turnout! I look forward to the day Tony and I can tell him about this day and each of our hearts refuel with the joy we felt then!
I hope you all enjoyed these highlights. Happy Sunday and God bless!
Great blog post! Love everything about this theme
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Thank you so much Shundra!
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Thanks a ton hun!