Deanna Moore Design

{Lulu a la mode 3rd birthday party}

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Our little Luella is sooooo sweet and LOVES to eat sweets,

so an ice cream social was the perfect way to celebrate!

Published on Hostess with the Mostess!

Ice Cream Social Party Printables
now available on my etsy shop!
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Enjoy these party pics and check out more images of

the event on my Flickr page!

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invitations included play money to bring to the event for the kids to use to purchase their own ice cream.

{Ice Cream Social Party Details}

When thinking of a theme for my daughters' birthday parties, I always take what they love as inspiration. For my daughter Luella's 3rd birthday, I knew the party would be centered around food! She definitely loves to eat and her favorite food- like most kids- is anything sweet! But I realized that when served cake and ice cream, both of my daughters go for the ice cream first and hardly touch the cake (except for maybe licking the frosting). That's when I decided her birthday party would be all about ice cream! No cake necessary! I chose to hold the event at 2 pm so I got away with not having to arrange serving a meal for the guests. It also allowed me to invite some extra guests since I was saving a little bit on our budget. I created custom "ice cream shop" branding for the event and called it "Lulu a la mode". I had so much fun making oversized ice cream creations to make the day memorable for the guests- especially for the kids and my birthday girl!

FOOD- a variety of ice cream treats were served; all of which were pictured on the ice cream shop menu. Guests could order and purchase their items at the ice cream shop counter!
*ice cream sandwiches from Hans' Homemade Ice Cream & Deli
*Klondike Choco Tacos & Heath Ice Cream Bars
*6 flavors of ice cream- including sorbet
*"toppings bar" including 6 kinds of sprinkles & gummy cherries
*ice cream sundae "birthday cake" made of Rice Crispies Treats (no cake at this event!)
*ice cream floats- Root Beer or orange soda with vanilla ice cream, and Sprite + Hawaiian punch with rainbow sherbert- yum!
*there was also a table for some salty snacks- popcorn, Pirate Booty, and crackers- in case the guests were on sweet overload
*gummy cherries were packaged with custom "thank you" labels as a favor

ACTIVITIES- children earned play money for each of these activities and had to buy their own ice cream:
*Photo booth ice cream shop- Handmade ice cream cart prop along with ice cream-adorned aprons for the kids to dress up like an ice cream vendor. Perfect for ice cream social networking! :)
*"Cherry on the top" game (version of "pin-the-tail on the donkey")
*"Design your own flavor" ice cream scoop coloring activity using scented markers- scoop creations were stacked up on the wall to see how high they could reach!
*Build-a-cone Castle" children were given cake frosting and several types & colors of ice cream cones to create a castle.
*In addition to the activities, play ice cream treats & a cash register were set out for pretend play and for the kids to make use of their extra play money.

DECOR- Giant scoops of pink ice cream were scattered around the house and were "melting" on our furniture and light fixtures, and tons of chocolate syrup was "dripping" from windows and walls and tables. The floor was even covered with rainbow "sprinkles"!
*custom ice cream shop logos which included an illustration of the birthday girl's sweet smiling face. *custom signs, menus, ice cream cup labels, and play money.
*handmade giant scoops of ice cream made using paper lanterns covered in pink tissue paper, cotton ball "whipped cream", and a foam ball covered in red felt as the "cherry on top".
*handmade "chocolate syrup" was so simple- neon multi-colored pom poms were hot glued to dark brown felt that was cut to shape.
*"Sprinkles" (multi-colored neon pom poms) were scattered all around the pretend play area!
*handmade ice cream cart complete with custom signage!
*DIY balloon ice cream cones.
*cherry heart pillows
*ice cream sandwich soap

VENDOR CREDITS AND RESOURCES
*event branding and design- Deanna Moore Design
*photography- Jen CYK Photography

*neon multi-colored pom poms- Hobby Lobby

*delicious ice cream sandwiches- Hans' Homemade Ice Cream + Deli

*ice cream scoop hat- Pam KR

*ice cream sandwich soap- Love Lee Soaps

*felt ice cream sandwiches- A Crafty Designer
*felt banana split- Fiddle dee Dee