Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party

So this is what I've been doing over the past two weeks.  My parents and my sisters and their significant others came to visit (from the East Coast and Wisconsin) and they rented a cute place near us in Dana Point.  While they were here we did a lot, including taking them to the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach and taking a late afternoon whale watch to see the blue whales off Dana Point, as well celebrating my sister and her boyfriend's engagement. Needless to say it was a busy week and to cap it off, we finally had the twins' Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday party.  It was awesome and we had a great turnout of local friends and family (including TWO sets of twins), although it was kinda hot to have an outdoor party in the park. Note to self - next year have an early evening party.  Let me share with you all the fun food and decor we put together for the party with a TON of help from my sisters, their significant others, my folks and the hubby...

Very Hungry Caterpillar Pizzas!! - One Pepperoni and the other Eggplant

Very Hungry Caterpillar Watermelon Bug Juice (Fresh watermelon puree strained, Cran-Rasp and Fresca)

Fruit and Cheese Trays a la Very Hungry Caterpillar (with grapes as stand-ins for plums)

Fruity Pebbles Marshmallow Krispies, meant to be in butterfly shapes but couldn't find a sharp-enough cookie cutter to do the job...

Our two Caterpillar Cakes, using the Nordic Ware Caterpillar Cake pan.  One was a Snickerdoodle Cake with Snickerdoodle Frosting (recipes can be found here ) and the other was a lemon cake with lemon frosting (made with fresh lemon juice and zest).  Creatively decorated by the Aunties!!

Cupcake display with the Eric Carle-inspired letters that I posted about previously to spell out the kids' names

Grape caterpillar skewers made a cute bouquet in a re-purposed Edible arrangements basket.  I decorated the basket by placing a half round of green foam in the basket and sticking squares of red tissue paper into the foam, to make a red flowery base.

As for decor - we did a paper lantern Caterpillar.  I made the face by glueing felt to the red lantern.  I also had an Eric Carle Happy Birthday Banner (that no-one took a pict of - but it is store-bought anyways)

And for favors, you may remember I posted a WHILE back about these bug jars favors made from baby food jars.  Well, I made a few changes. First of all, I scratched the chalkboard paint.  It didn't stick really well to the glass and started to peel.  I ended up printing the kids' name in Eric Carle-inspired letters and modge-podged them to the jars.  It ended up much cuter than chalkboard.  I also glued a piece of white felt to the inside of the cap to cover the jagged sharp edges of the bug breathing holes.  I just made sure to not obscure the holes with glue in case anyone actually uses it as a bug jar.  Each was filled with one packet of Sour Patch Fruits and some sour gummy worms.

I also had the caterpillar bubble jars that I posted about a while back.  The kids at the party seemed to like them.  In addition my husband MADE a set of cornhole boards (decorated in Steelers colors, gag) and I made two sets of bean bags from duckcloth that my artsy sister Wendy decorated.  Can you figure out the symbols?

Greyson seemed to approve: