Last week Abel turned two and we had a car themed birthday party for him!

I racked my brain for a long time trying to decide what theme to have his party, and then all of a sudden I realised it was extremely obvious because he is obsessed with cars. Why I didn’t think of that sooner I’m not sure, but I really think my brain is working at half capacity lately.

Anyway, once I decided on the theme I started searching Pinterest for ideas. My mom is the expert at themed parties so I grew up with them. It was really fun to brainstorm and put together this car themed birthday party!

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My friend Mia at Crate a Celebration made the banner and the cake topper. How cute are they?! If you’re in NZ and need party decor, check her out.

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I baked a cake and frosted it to look like grass. I printed off a number 2, laid baking paper over it, and traced it with melted chocolate and it turned out amazing! Then I piped the road lines with white frosting. I found a finish line flag online and printed, cut it out, and taped it to two toothpicks.

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I made a balloon garland with red, black, and white balloons, and I hung up the car drawings that usually go in Abel’s room. Then I decorated the table with his toy cars, and hung three of the worst streamers I have ever seen, I have no clue why they didn’t twist beautifully. But, he is two. He really didn’t notice that the streamers were twisted funny.

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We had some themed food: ‘nuts and bolts’ nut mix, ‘spare tires’ Oreos, ‘racecars’ made from Tim Tams with M&M wheels stuck on with melted chocolate, ‘dip sticks’ sliced carrot and celery with dressing. I also planned to make ‘traffic lights’ by putting kiwifruit, apple, and pineapple on a skewer but the kiwifruit I bought were (and still are, actually) rock hard so I abandoned that idea. We also had ‘petrol’ drinks, and I wrote ‘Fueling Station’ on the chalkboard.

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Look at the details on the decorations! I love the letter L has a sign in the background that says ‘Abel Second Birthday’ which is so fun and unique!

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Abel was so sweetly looking at the food before the party started and I told him he had to wait. Once he was allowed to eat the food, though, he ate a LOT of biscuits. I don’t know how many, but, you only have a birthday once a year, so I didn’t mind.

I have to admit that the sugar cookies and the cake didn’t turn out as good as I had hoped. But I enjoyed making them, they added to the fun theme of the party, I wasn’t entering them in a beauty contest, and my child was turning two so really didn’t notice that they weren’t perfect. I can be a perfectionist but I’m realising that’s prideful. Fear of failure shouldn’t stop me from making an effort, especially when it’s about something like making my son feel special.

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Can you believe how much he has grown in the last year? Here are some photos from his last birthday!