YOU TAKEOVER TUESDAY: Black & White & Fun All Over!

I've been getting quite a few e-mails about birthday parties and theme ideas lately, so for the next few weeks, I'm going to try to tackle all of them.  Up first, is a question from Jaime:

Dear AFOMFT, I'm throwing a penguin themed second birthday party for my twin boys Connor and Logan in July.  Any thoughts for me?

I love the idea of a penguin party!  There are so many fun things you can do with that theme, like this amazing ice igloo invitation that Mandy from Gourmet Mom On-the-Go made for her little one's birthday bash.

Yes, that's real ice!  Mandy took an igloo-shaped cake pan, filled it with blue water and put an invitation and toy penguin in a Ziploc bag inside before freezing it.  Then they delivered each of the ice blocks to friends' houses.  Talk about setting the tone for a party!  Guests must have had high expectations and from the pictures I've seen, there's no way they were disappointed.  Just look at like this fun igloo cake decorated with penguin cookies.   

Aren't those cookies adorable?  Well, guess what?  They're chocolate covered Oreos!  Get the scoop on how to make them here.

The party goers also feasted on penguin shaped sandwiches.

And "ice blocks" make from blue Jell-O.

There were so many darling details from this phenomenal party, so be sure to visit Gourmet Mom On-the-Go to see them all.

Mandy said she got a lot of inspiration from Betty Crocker, where you can find a bunch of great recipes for food inspired by the North Pole.  From cheese igloos guarded by olive birds. 

To meatball penguins.

You'll love all of these fun dishes.  {Download the recipes at Betty Crocker}

Another fabulous penguin party was thrown by Nicole from The Party Animal for her daughter.  Signs pointed the way to Antarctica and the Arctic Circle.

Black-and-white bird balloons decorated the yard.

And she came up with games galore! Love the ice fishing.

For this activity, Nicole cut out fish shapes from poster board and then had her kids color them in fun colors before attaching a paper clip to each one. She made a fishing pole by taping yarn with a magnet at the end to a stick she had lying around and added a piece of Styrofoam with a whole in the center to the top of a bucket to mimic ice. 

Kids then tried to catch fish from the ice hole and the one who caught the only catfish in the bucket won a prize.  Another great game was "feed the penguin."  Kids tossed this fish Nicole stuffed with popcorn kernels:

At this penguin she drew on a giant piece of poster board.

So fun! And I'm sure guests at this party loved their favors - chocolate covered Rice Crispie treats shaped like penguins!

The saying on the favor tag is so cute! You can see more of The Party Animal's penguin party here and buy the Rice Crispie favors in The Party Animal store.

Want more inspiration?  How about this igloo and penguin cake from Hostess?  Appropriately, it's made from Snoballs!

Martha Stewart has a cake for everything and penguins are no exception.  I love this sugar-coated confection!

Some other fun food options are these olive penguins from Once Upon a Plate.

And these cute cupcakes from Family Fun.

Since penguins love fish, why not offer some candy sushi?

Random Thoughts of a Supermom has a great tutorial on how to make it from Rice Crispie treats, gummy worms and fruit rollups.

And Gourmet Mom On-the-Go also served some with Swedish fish on top.

When it comes to decorations, take a page from Martha Stewart and make some of these super cute gelatin fish bowls for centerpieces.

And cut up some fish-shaped napkins. {Find the directions here}

A few of these pipe cleaner penguins to set up on Styrofoam ice floes would be another great option for your tabletops. {Learn how to make them here}

Some black and white polka dot balloons like these from Polka Dot Market would be perfect to put up throughout the party space.

And a few of these Portly Penguins from Family Fun would be so cute strung along a garland or sitting on your table.

Last, but not least, these Perky Penguin costumes are so cute and easy to make. 

You could craft one for each of the guests to wear while playing musical icebergs:

Both The Party Animal (above) and Gourmet Mom On-the-Go (below) played a version of this game by creating icebergs from pieces of foam that kids had to sit on when the music stopped.

So, Jaime, there you have a round-up of all things penguin! I hope this helps inspire you for some fun projects you can tackle for Connor and Logan's second birthday party.  Be sure to send us pictures of the bash once it's over!

If you'd like help from A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS or want to share something fabulous you've found, we want to hear from you!  Have a party theme but want help finding decorations?  Just redecorated your kid's room and want to show it off?  Shoot me an e-mail at afomft@gmail.com if you're on the hunt for the perfect product and just can't find it or if there's something you love and want to share. We'll do our best to help out and every reader featured on YOU TAKEOVER TUESDAY will receive a special gift from AFOMFT. What are you waiting for? Hit us up!

Images: Gourmet Mom On-the-Go, Betty Crocker, The Party Animal, Hostess, Martha Stewart, Once Upon a Plate, Family Fun, Random Thoughts of a Supermom & Polka Dot Market