Like most 2 year olds, Elmo is Stephen's 1st love, so why not base his 2nd birthday party around that fuzzy, red monster?
the invitation
Printed on simple white card stock using Sesame Street clipart I'd found online. I added one of my favorite photos from the year. I cut the image out, making sure to not clip Elmo's head. I then glued the white card stock onto yellow colored card stock.
the cakes
My sister and I made 3-8" round, single layer cakes. One Elmo, one Cookie Monster and one Oscar the Grouch. I wanted an assortment of characters but did not a ton of left-over cake, hence the single layers. I baked and my sister did her magic piping on the frosting. The Wilton Grass Tip was her best friend!
For lunch, the kids each made Elmo's Funny Face Pizzas from this great link at Sprout.
For dessert they decorated pre-made sugar cookies, ala Cookie Monster.
For a party game, I filled a plastic tub with bubbly water and rubber duckies and the kids played Ernie's Rubber Duckie game. I numbered the bottoms of the duckies, with a Sharpie, with a 1, 2 or 3. There were three prize stations and the children chose a prize from the corresponding station. Prizes were small toys I'd purchased at our local dollar store.
As a keepsake for Stephen, I'd made a large poster to have each guest sign.
