A Hootin’ Good Time: Crafty Owl Birthday Party

Hoot!  Hoot! Oh y’all, for as long as I can remember owls have been a family favorite, first my mom, then me, now Anna-Laura. Maybe it’s our connection to Chi Omega or maybe it’s the fascination of the animal itself. Either way, we loved them long before Pinterest did. Let’s relive a fabulously fun, crafty owl party for the cutest 8-year-old in the house!

The Invitations
My friend and neighbor, Jayme, created this entire owl printable collection. Everywhere I looked I kept seeing the traditional owl, but Jayme took a whimsical approach and it had Anna-Laura’s favorite color – pink. Winner winner, chicken dinner.

As pretty as the dessert table was (I’ll get to that in a minute), I believe every party should be about the celebration. Eight-year-old girls are at the just right age for crafts. Old enough to be (mostly) self-sufficient and creative, but young enough to not be inhibited by the rules. The girls traveled to four different stations before we dove into the food.

Paint-a-Pot
It was messy, but fun. I pre-painted all the owls on the pots using a template I modified from Pinterest. The girls chose the perfect pot, we wrote the name in Sharpie marker on the bottom and then they got to planting. After a quick hand wash, I painted the girls hands with white acrylic paint and they added “wings” to the owls. We did this activity first to allow for the paint to dry by the end of the party. The girls had a blast picking out the “just right” flower and admiring their handiwork. It was quite cute.

Pin the Beak on the Owl
The game returns! We’ve pinned butterflies on Le Tour Eiffel and cherries on cupcakes. The girls still love this game, although their aim is definitely getting better. I’ve learned to put the object to be pinned on foam core and string it up with ribbon. Big brother Will was in charge of giving the girls the beaks and I did the twirling. It was a team effort.

 Craft Your Own Owl Art
After “enjoying” the Texas heat, the A/C was a welcome change. We busted out the painted toilet paper rolls, googly eyes, wings, beaks and glue to create the just right owl. I collected those toilet paper rolls for weeks! A few days before the party, Anna-Laura helped me bend the corners, secure with masking tape and paint them all. We had a really great time doing it, too!

Owl Scavenger Hunt
While the girls crafted, Scott and the boys hid the owl balloons and clues in the neighborhood. The clues weren’t anything fancy and my rhyming lacked some creativity, but the girls had a great time running from house to house.

After all that painting, planting, crafting and running, the girls were hungry. I underestimated just how ravenous twelve eight-year-olds could be! You can tell these cute things have older brothers. In fact, I think all of them do!

The Food/Dessert Table
It’s possible the Mr. is most proud of this fruit concoction. Amazingly, this came from my brain and not the Internet. What can I say, it was my shining moment. The rest I copied! Scott did a great job putting it all together. He’s hired.

The girls feasted on fruit, sandwiches, chips and lemonade. The dessert table was filled with details – my favorite part – and lots of love. The spray-painted owls were $1 finds at the after-Christmas sale that I painted in the party colors. And, the cookies and cupcake were created by Olga at Polkadots. Oh my gracious. THE cookies! Olga and her staff outdid themselves on these. Almost too pretty to eat, but somebody had to do it. {me! me!}

Oh and those wood stumps that held the owl cookies? Yeah, I actually climbed into a wood trailer, at 7:45AM, in the rain, at a tree company headquarters. The things we do for our kids. Hat tip to Brent’s Tree Service and Jerry for humoring a birthday-happy momma.

The Favors & Thank You’s
The girls took home their owl art and painted pots, but when I saw these cute, stuffed owl ornaments on Pinterest, I was smitten. Until I actually started making them. Not *exactly* a craft fail, but oh my word. Y’ALL. These took a teeny bit longer than what I estimated. Not sure I’ll ever make them again, but when Anna-Laura said, “Oh mom, those are perfect” I forgot how hard it was to make them. Totally worth it. I’ve always been a fan of functional favors and I hope those cute creations bring a smile to some sweet girls’ faces this Christmas.

A few days after the party Anna-Laura wrote the cutest (and funniest) thank you notes. I will never tire of reading her gratitude-filled cards.

Just as we were wrapping up dinner, I heard some giggles from the table and a “cheers, Anna-Laura!” and looked over to see this. My pretty girl sure has some awesome friends. How blessed are we!

Talk about a hootin’ good time. Time to rest up, Clare’s rainbow party is next!

Printables: Jayme Marie Designs
Cookies: Polkadots