Bookworm Party Prep

I have loved the idea of doing a "bookworm party" for Will ever since some cute party details in Family Fun magazine caught my eye awhile back.  It's perfect for him and his love of books and reading!

The actual party itself really wasn't centered around reading.  It was a beautiful (hot!) sunny day on June 9th and we kept the usual routine of birthday parties (food, gifts, dessert, playing) and took the kids outside for some water play to cool off.  But I wanted to include the little details of the party in a post just because I loved them so much.  (Actual party post to come next.)

About a month before the party, I picked up some white, textured cardstock and an old-fashioned rotary date stamper from Office Max and used this template from Family to print off our super easy invitations.

I then Googled a "library book card pocket template", printed off a traceable template and then cut them out of some red cardstock I already had (just because red is Will's favorite color) and followed the directions for folding and gluing.  Very easy.

We hand delivered our invitations just because our guest list is small and we see everyone frequently enough that it wasn't hard to just hand the invite to them.  So that saved a bit on mailing and didn't take away from the cuteness with a plain-old, basic envelope.  :)  Nothing wrong with envelopes, just might take away from the look.

I also used Family Fun's idea of stamped library book bags as party favors.  It was going to be a party craft for the kids to do while at the party... but I did Will and Sophie's ahead of time as a practice round and decided to just prepare them all in advance on my own.  So glad I did.  Would probably have been chaos otherwise.

To stamp the books, I took some corrugated cardboard and cut out different lengths and widths to create the shape of book binds.  I made a little "handle" on each using more cardboard taped down like a finger hold. 

Picked up some fabric paint at Hobby Lobby and used sponge brushes to evenly spread the paint onto the bind shape after squirting it on.

I also got smart after trialing Will and Sophie's bags by putting a piece of cardboard inside the bags to keep the fabric paint from bleeding through to the back.  I think they turned out cute!  Looks like books on a shelf with some leaning up against each other.

It was my intention to make these cute rice krispy treat "bookworms" as a treat to put in the favor bags, but I took an easier route and used gummy worms instead.

The gummy worm bags were a far less time-consuming treat, thanks to Pinterest and a wonderful blogger's thoughtfulness in sharing links to her templates for some super cool bookworm ideas.  I love her idea (and template) for a summer reading log and place to jot down what you liked about the books you read.  I'll remember that for when my kids are both efficient with writing skills and reading slightly longer books.

Anyway, from her blog, I used more of the white cardstock to simply print the candy bag toppers (I sized them to fit the bags I already had from Will's bouncy ball Valentine's) and a bookmark with Dr. Seuss quote on it.  Then I just tucked three worms into each bag, folded and stapled the toppers over the bag seal and voila!  Done!

For the bookmarks, I printed, cut out and used contact paper to laminate them.  Then cut them out for a sturdier bookmark.

I wanted to make bookplate stickers with "This Book Belongs To:" on the front, but decided that the above items plus a book for each child was probably enough. 

For the books, I visited a SUPER COOL... ahem... used bookstore on Westwood Avenue (1/4 mile south of Door... Douglas becomes Westwood) not far from my work.  It's called Ukazoo (pronounced You-Kazoo) and it's awesome.  Tons of gently used books at awesome prices.  Many of them were sold/donated by libraries, though some are sold by patrons as well.  The children's section is decorated so cute and I had so much fun browsing on my lunch hour for a book specifically selected for each of our littlest guests.  They're all hardcover and I just removed their slightly worn paper jackets and they look brand new!  But I only paid $2.49 per book!  Plus, they have a deal that if you buy three, you get a third for free.  So I chose one for Will and Sophie as well to total eight books and only paid for six.  Nice!  I definitely want to go back there to browse some more... for myself and the kids!

I knew Casey and Wes were fans of Jack Prelutsky, so gave this Me I Am book to one of the twins.  And here is what a complete favor looks like for each of our child guests.

I put little ring tags on the bag handles to label the kids' names since I'd chosen the books for specific kids.

Ta da!

In the dining room, I hung a scallopy strand of blank, colored, library book cards that I'd purchased from Etsy a long time ago.  I've done this same thing on the walls near our bookshelves in the play room... which you'll see if I ever get around posting about it.  ;)  And that's about all I did in the way of decorations.  Our house is small.  Too much is overkill.

I did have every intention of finishing these adorable yarn-wrapped letters from the Land of Nod blog.  I purchased the hollow cardboard (?) letters from Hobby Lobby to spell R-E-A-D and I am planning to put them on the bookshelves in the play room.  I liked the picture at the front of the bookworm party article when I first saw it in the magazine and they had the letters R-E-A-D on pillows on the floor of their reading nook.  So I did start them... but my goals were a little too lofty after I realized the letters I chose would be rather difficult to wrap.  There was no way I was going to finish them in time.  So I just botched that idea (for the party anyway... I'm still doing them for the bookshelves) and left my decor at these cute library cards.

I have delusional dreams of having these cards in pockets in all of our hardcover books.  :)  Why?  I don't know.  It's not like anyone borrows them.  I just think it's cute.  :)  On a more realistic fantasy, I dream of having "This Book Belongs To:"  bookplates inside of our books.  Much more practical.  Especially if I can do more free printables.  One day.

Will's party was a success!  And I'm working on uploading those pictures now.