Dr. Seuss First Birthday Party for Twins - Part 5 (Food/Snack Table)

In continuation of the blog series I have been working on, I want to share more Dr. Seuss fun with you this morning.  Today I want to talk food!  You can't have a party without food, right?  

I chose to keep the food simple for our twin boys' Dr. Seuss first birthday party.  I needed to be able to do most of the food preparation in advance.  The party was on a Sunday afternoon, and we had church Sunday morning.  The meatballs (frozen meatballs and a good brand of BBQ sauce) were able to simmer in a crock pot three hours before the party started.  The deviled eggs (regular deviled eggs with green food coloring), ham roll ups (deli ham and sliced cheddar cheese) and pasta salad (spiral pasta, cucumbers, tomatoes, Italian dressing and Parmesan cheese....black olives and fresh basil is also good in this dish) were made the day before the party.  The fruits and vegis were cut up the day before. I gave my mom the job of overseeing the pizza pockets (half of a cheese stick and pepperoni or ham wrapped up in a crescent roll).  She started them an hour before the party, so they could be served warm. The rest of the food was easy for me to assemble on the table thirty minutes before people arrived. 

I also made sure to time the party, so it wasn't at lunch or dinner time. The party started at 3:00, so I was able to just have snack food.  While it wasn't a meal, I made sure to have plenty of food to snack on.  I didn't want people to leave hungry.  I also kept in mind that this was a party for one year olds.  I wanted to make sure the menu I came up with was adult friendly but also something my little guys would eat.  To keep things fun, each food item had a Dr. Seuss title.  Below you will find my menu along with the grocery list I used. I was expecting about forty people for the party.  We had about thirty people show up, and there was plenty of food leftover.

I arranged the food on a table that we have in our loft.   I just pushed the table against the wall, put a table runner on the table and hung a birthday banner over the table. Next to the table I had a bundle of balloons I bought from Party City they day before the party. I served the food in dishes that I already had with the exception of the large bowl for the pasta salad and the large platter for the green eggs and ham.  Both of those were Dollar Tree finds. I made the birthday banner, the table runner and the food tents.  Below you will also find instructions on how I did that.

Menu:

Green Eggs and Ham

(deviled eggs, ham and cheese roll ups)

Wocket in a Pizza Pocket

(pepperoni and cheese crescent rolls with marinara dipping sauce)
Biggle Balls
(BBQ meatballs)

Beezlenut Berries

(strawberries and blueberries)
Poodles N Noodles
(pasta salad)

Truffula Vegi Tray

(vegetable platter with ranch dip)
Cheese and Cracker Stackers
(crackers and assorted cheese)
Pop on Pop Corn Puffs
(cheddar corn puffs)
Stink Stack Stank Sticks
(vegi straws)
Fish in a Dish
(gold fish crackers)

Decorations to Make:

Table Runner
Supplies: 1 yd patterned fabric, 1 ft burlap, Heat N Bond, hot glue gun
Directions: divide patterned fabric in two, hem patterned fabric with Heat N Bond, hot glue burlap in the middle of the two hemmed pieces of fabric) 
JUST SO YOU KNOW:  I am not a seamstress.  This was my no-sew version of a banner.  Sewing would be just as easy for someone who has a sewing machine and is good with a needle and thread. 

Happy Birthday Banner
Supplies: printer, color ink, card stock, scissors, tape, string
Directions: order printable banner PDF file from this etsy shop, print onto card stock, cut and a tape triangles to craft twine)  
JUST SO YOU KNOW: It took a lot of color ink to print the banner.  I would have made my own banner out of scrapbook paper, but I couldn't find Dr. Seuss scrapbook paper.  I specifically wanted the Dr. Seuss banner, and didn't want to pay $30 for one online, which is why I chose to print my own.  I only recommend printing something that uses this much color ink if you are wanting something specific, as color ink is pricey....but not as pricey as buying a Dr. Seuss birthday banner online.  I paid $3.70 for my printable PDF file of the birthday banner, and then used my own ink to print it.

Food Tents/Labels
Supplies: 2 pieces of 12x12 scrapbook paper, paper cutter, printer, scissors, glue stick 
Directions: using paper cutter, cut scrap book paper into 4x4 pieces, fold pieces in half to make tents; make labels on Microsoft Word using shapes, fill shape color black, use center type in white font, print, cut and glued to paper tents 

Grocery Store Shopping List:
sm. bag baby carrots
bag of broccoli/cauliflower mix
1 green bell pepper
2 cucumbers
 cherry tomatoes
strawberries
blueberries
2 bags frozen meatballs
two dozen eggs
3 packs crescent rolls
1 lg pack string cheese
assorted cheese
2 packs pepperoni
mayonnaise
mustard
ranch dressing
Italian dressing
marinara sauce
2 bottles bbq sauce 
2 boxes spiral tricolor pasta
1 box Ritz crackers
green food coloring

Dollar Store Shopping List:
large platter for green eggs and ham
large plastic bowl for the pasta salad
pack of two plastic scoops
pack of four plastic tongs