January is Mattie’s birthday month, and since the terrible two’s haven’t fully set in, I decided that her second birthday party should be bumble bee themed because she still is just “to sweet to bee two.” Keep reading for all the details on her second birthday bash. Hope this helps you plan your own bee-you-it-ful party!

Things can get a little crazy when you’re 9 months pregnant and trying to throw a party for your other kiddos. With baby girl #3’s due date less than a couple weeks away I decided last minute to have Mattie’s birthday before my due date. Initially I was going to have her party after her actual birthday because it fell this year in the middle of the week and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to squeeze it in with all the other things going on. Somehow however, I decided I could do it!. Also, since I try to wait and go into labor naturally, there’s really no telling when I could have this baby and I decided the earlier the better…

With less than a week’s notice, I kept her party really small and just invited immediate family. Although the party was small, I still wanted to create a cute little set up so she would be excited about her special day! She was so pumped when she came downstairs the morning of her party, I have to say, the day turned out to be a success (despite the sibling fighting of course over toys after the party, lol).

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THE PARTY DETAILS

Even though I decided to have her party a week before we held it, I did have the theme decided a couple months before so I wasn’t rushing around last minute to get all the decor, etc. The party decorations were a mix of things that I already had on hand, as well as a few things purchased from Amazon, Target, and from Dollar Tree! I have to say, Dollar Tree is my favorite for party basics, including plates, silverware, balloons, cards, and table cloths for tables…

Speaking of table cloths, the table cloths that I use for my backdrops/photo walls always come from Dollar Tree. I had Will make a frame one year with PVC pipe for me, and I just drape the table cloths over the pipe, tape it securely with clear packaging tape, and then add the balloons, or whatever else to the backdrop for the party.

I thought I had bumble bee table cloth purchased with the plates and other bee themed decor, but somehow I either did not buy it, or I misplaced it, because I was scrambling at the last minute this year to figure out what to put on the cake table.

Anyway, I think things turned out for the best because I love what I came up with last minute for the table because it provided a nice contrast to all the yellow with the rest of the decor. I laid out a white table cloth and a few blue and white gingham napkins as a table runner. I think it ended up looking better than it would have with the matching table cloth. What do you think?!

As for the rest of the decorations… The balloons also came from Amazon, the hexagon shelves were a Target purchase that I made for Mattie’s big girl room (still currently in progress, but almost done so stay tuned!), and the flowers came from my favorite place to buy fresh flowers, Trader Joe’s! I instantly gravitated towards the Billy Buttons and Chammomile flowers when I saw them walking in the store. They’re giving me all the spring vibes, and making me excited for the upcoming season!

The letter board I picked up at a Home Goods at some point, and my cake stand was a registry gift from Anthro from back in the day! I am still in love with all my serving dishes that I got from Anthropologie when I got married six years ago, and highly recommend an Anthro Registry if you are at that stage in your life. The pieces have come in so handy over the years, but I digress again… Pregnancy brain has that ADHD in overdrive, lol.

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My linking tool was not working for everything that I used on this post (like the balloons), but you can find everything I used, plus some other cute bee themed party ideas in my Amazon shop HERE.

THE CAKE

Now because I am literally about to pop, I thought about buying a cake for the occasion, but I couldn’t stop my streak of making cakes now! Plus I find it fun, and enjoy trying to create something new.

I did buy a beehive cake mold to make this cake ultra easy to do (kind of cheating I know, right?!), but I love the time and mess that it saved. And even with buying the cake mold, the cost of making the cake is still probably less than I would have spent buying one in the store…

To make the cake I found this chocolate cake recipe on Pinterest that was delicious! I decided to make the cake about a week in advance (so I’d have it ready when party time came), wrapped it tightly in cling wrap and tinfoil, and froze it to keep it fresh for the party. I know I mention that in every party post I do that involves a decorated cake, but it is a great hack and time saving tip if you like to DIY. I highly recommend it.

To decorate the cake, I assembled the two beehive halves together with a little frosting in the center, and then filled in any cracks around the seams with additional frosting once I placed the cake upright on the cardboard round.

Next, I made the buttercream frosting. I separated a little from the main batch to make color the black frosting for the doors and then colored the rest of it yellow for the hive. I frosted the doors first because I figured they might get a little messy. I used a flat, Wilton tip to fill in the doors and smoothed out the frosting inside the door with my finger.

I then filled up a disposable piping bag with the yellow frosting and cut the tip off so that the opening would be about 3/4 of an inch thick to do the piping around the beehive. I started piping around the bottom and worked my way up to the top! I piped a little more of the black around the frame of the hive doors (front and back) when I was done with the yellow piping to frame off the door and make sure everything looked neat.

After I was done, I felt the cake needed a little more, so I made a chocolate ganache to drizzle over the top before I added some sugar bumble bees that I pre-ordered with the cake pan and the rest of the party decorations.

It was super simple to do. If you’re a beginner when it comes to decorating cakes, this is definitely one to try!

With the cake recipe, we had a little batter leftover, so I ended up with about a half dozen cupcakes which was perfect to fill in the hexagon shelves that I set out as decor. I let my oldest, Greta, help decorate the cupcakes and was sure to warn the guests about the ones that she decorated because there was a lot of finger licking and touching going on with the ones she did. I figured it was okay to set hers out on display since it was just family coming over and there weren’t a lot of kids that would just grab at everything.

Find the cake goods here:

THE FOOD

The food I kept really simple for the party. We only had a handful of guests, so I just made a large fruit plate with a variety of fruits and had Will pick up Chic Fil A before the party. Did not go all out on this party with charcuterie and all the cheesy things I usually do, because I was just not feeling it. And Let’s just be honest, everyone probably just prefers Chick Fil A anyway!

Oh, and I also made some fresh Guacomole and threw some chips in a bowl for a little something extra. Luckily some of my cilantro was not completely frozen from the snow we just had because I totally forgot to pick some up at the store the day before! I just don’t think guac tastes right without a little cilantro in it, do you agree?

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Here are a couple extra pictures for you all to enjoy. Including some documentation of my baby bump! Fingers crossed we figure out her name before we have to go to the hospital!

I hope this post provided some inspiration for you for your next party! Be sure to Pin it to come back to later and leave me a comment with your thoughts.

You can also check out past parties that I have done HERE if you’re looking for more inspiration as well. And check out what I’m up to from day to day on insta @ShipsHQ. Cheers to party planning and may your next one be a big success! XOXO.

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