LoveBug Valentine Bash 2 year old  We are expecting our second child this summer and I was trying to think of something fun I could do with just my daughter before our family grows. I love Valentine's Day and so I decided to throw a Valentine's party (with a ladybug theme) for just her 2 and 3 year old friends. With all the invitees being so young I kept the guest list to just six and asked each mommy to attend with their child. I also kept the time to under two hours. INVITATIONS: I purchased 4" paper mache heart shaped boxes from JoAnne's craft store and painted them red. Around the lid edge I glued red gingham ribbon and small pre-painted ladybugs (60 for $2) that I found in the craft section of WalMart. On the top I glued a gingham bow with an attached card that read: "(The child's Name), You're invited to Madeline's Valentine LoveBug Bash!" When you opened the lid there was a heart shaped card with preprinted wording with the party information. It read, "Love Bug, Little Bug, Love Bugga Boo. Are you red and rounded with black spots all over you? If you look like me then won't you come and play, At a LoveBug Party on Valentine's Day!" Underneath this card the box was filled with Valentine's candy for the child and parents to enjoy before the party. These invitations were alot easier to make than what it sounds like and they were SO CUTE! I received MANY compliments on them and I see them around at the children's houses on display! DECORATIONS: I chose to make this a ladybug themed Valentine's bash because I did a ladybug party for my daughter's first birthday and kept all the things I had. But to give the party it's Valentine feel I had a friend make me a tablecloth using red cloth with large white hearts that I found at a fabric store. I put down a white cloth and layered the heart cloth on top. As a centerpiece I found fake grass in pots at Target and put ladybugs on sticks coming out of the grass. This was SO cute because it looked like the ladybugs were hovering over the grass. I set each place with white plates and placed silverware in napkins tied with ladybug napkin rings made from diecuts found at a scrapbook store. I even pulled out some ladybug mugs in black, red and white that I don't use very often just hoping the children would be easy on them. They added the perfect touch to the table! (PS - Not a one was damaged - the kids were great!) The room was decorated with balloons and streamers in white and read and looked VERY festive! CRAFTS: Before the party I purchased 4" clay pots (.50 each) and prepainted them red and glued the same gingham ribbon on them as the invitations. I stuffed them with foam used in flower arranging. When the children arrived they were helped by their Mom's in glueing the same prepainted ladybugs from the invitations onto the pots. Each child glued about a dozen on their pot. Then they covered the foam with easter basket grass. We set these aside to dry. GAMES: Time went so quickly we only had time for one game. Before the party I had made pretty hearts using red constructions paper and purchased white heart shaped doillies. I had these already hidden around the house. The children went in search of the hearts and played that two times while I got the second half of the craft ready. (If I had had the time we would have also played 'Pin the Lips on Mrs. Valentine' which is escentially pin the tail on the donkey.) SECOND CRAFT: Using a Wilton cookie pan, I baked large heart shaped cookies on sticks before the party. After finding all the hearts the children sat down again to decorate their cookies. What a hit! I had icing already colored in the parchment bags with tips and the Moms helped the kids ooze icing all over their cookies and sprinkle an assortment of sprinkles on top! They also decorated their own individual 3" cakes that we labled and put aside for after lunch! The childrean had a blast! I had a huge puddle of sprinkles to vacuum off the floor, but worth every minute of it! When they were done with their cookies we 'stuck' them down in their pots and they had completed their own flower pots with a cookie heart blooming out of them! They were SO beautiful and I was impressed with what the kids did! FOOD: I served heart shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, heart shaped red finger jello, potato chips and strawberries. For the Moms I served: croissants with chicken salad, the pretzel salad with the jello on top (sinfully yummy) chocolate covered strawberries and chips. Everyone enjoyed raspberry sherbert punch to drink. I asked my mother-in-law to help me out with the party and see that everyone was comfortable and to keep activites running smoothly. She even played with the children after they were done eating their personally decorated cakes while we Mom's finished our lunch and enjoyed talking! Several of the mothers wrote me thank you notes expressing how much fun they had and how special they fealt at being able to celebrate Valentine's Day with their child in such a special way! This is not a party I would throw every year because of the effort needed, but it was definately a fun and special way to bond with my girl and I look forward to doing another one again several years down the road! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!