You guys, my little man is four! And we celebrated with the coolest modern dinosaur birthday party. I had so much fun planning his ROAR dinosaur party with aqua, navy and coral colors.
This may be my most favorite party I’ve planned yet, mostly because Owen is so passionate about dinosaurs — his excitement provided lots of inspiration! We also kept his dinosaur birthday party super small with only close family, which totally takes off the pressure and makes party planning much easier.
I knew Owen’s party would have a dinosaur theme months ago; dinosaurs are his most enduring obsession. And I knew right away that I didn’t want to do the typical dinosaur theme colors – greens and browns. A bright coral dinosaur figure in Owen’s collection was my inspiration for the color palette, and I love how the colors turned out. In addition to dinosaurs, Owen really likes jungle animals. And being a wild and crazy little animal himself, I decided to go with a dinosaur jungle theme, adding tropical jungle leaves to the decorations. I also incorporated “ROAR” wherever possible, because Owen is the loudest child I know.
Since I took about a zillion photos of his party and there’s lots to look at, I better get to the pictures! Here are all the details for you to see. So check out all the photos and let me know what you think of Owen’s dinosaur party!
It took forever for me to design this invitation; I had a really tough time figuring out what I wanted to include. There are so many great ideas for a dinosaur birthday party! In the end, I made about 12 different versions and finally picked this one with Owen’s photo “in” one of the balloons.
I’ve seen the idea of spray painting toy plastic figures, so it was a no-brainer to paint plastic dinosaurs aqua, navy and coral for the party decorations. I also put tiny silver party hats on them, just to make them look extra festive.
I used dinosaur spikes as a motif throughout the decorations, including a paper dinosaur spike tail to display on our mantle. I jazzed up the spike tail with silver dots (envelope seals).
I created similar favor bags with spikes, “roars,” bite marks, and silver spots.
The bags were filled with a “dino” snack mix that I made to look like dinosaur eggs and bones.
If you’ve seen the other parties I’ve planned, you know that I love balloons and hanging decorations. I was sure to include both in this party. We even had the giant round balloons, which I am now obsessed with.
I made hanging paper pterodactyls, one of Owen’s favorite dinosaurs, with bright coral paper. They looked perfect with the giant aqua balloons that I decorated with silver and navy tassels.
The zig zag accordion streamers in the party colors were festive but also brought in the dinosaur “spike” element.
I admit that I went a little overboard with the table decorations. But I realized how awesome paper leaves and flowers are and I couldn’t resist making a bunch of jungle leaves with teal and aqua paper. To give it a modern twist, I set the paper jungle leaves on a navy striped table runner.
Each place setting had aqua plates with dinosaur “bites,” a little ROAR sign, navy napkins, and dinosaur spike party hats that I crafted.
I also decorated the aqua paper cups with silver washi tape. And since I’m a sucker for paper straws, I couldn’t resist these silver straws that I found at HomeGoods.
Spray painted dinosaur figures were scattered among the jungle leaves on the tabletop.
Inspired by a party backdrop that I saw made out of watercolor squares in a rainbow of colors, I made a jungle watercolor backdrop for the sweet treat table.
I found glass jars at Hobby Lobby on sale and they were perfect for treats. I glued small plastic dinosaurs on each lid and then spray painted them in the party colors. So cute!
The cake turned out just the way I wanted it to! The vanilla cake with a chocolate chip cookie dough filling tasted as good as it looked. And the cake decorations were super easy – a spray painted plastic dinosaur, a paper number 4 cake topper, and a dinosaur “spike” trim around the cake plate.
In addition to the cake, I also decorated cupcakes with dinosaur “spikes.” The “spikes” were simply square crackers dipped in navy blue candy melts.
I loved the t-shirts that I ordered from Etsy for Owen and Carmendy to wear for the dinosaur birthday party. I sewed a spinosaurus fin made from felt on the back of Owen’s t-shirt and stegosaurus spikes on the back of Carmendy’s shirt. Adorable!
Happy birthday, Owen!
Looks like the coolest party ever! I live live the decor! You are one hardworking and talented momma!!! Pics are beautiful as well!
Happy birthday owen love and miss u louisa everything looks amazing as always your the coolest
Adorable!! You are so talented Louisa!!
where did you buy your dinosaurs figurines and did you spray paint them?
How did you make the pterodactyls? Do you have a template?
Yes, I used a template from Parents magazine: http://www.parents.com/fun/birthdays/ideas/neon-dinosaur-birthday-party/#page=6. However, I found it a bit confusing to use and I made some adjustments to it. Feel free to email me at icecreamoffpaperplates@gmail.com if you need help!
I’m preparing things for my little guys Dino birthday bash in about 3 weeks! I love everything you did, it looks awesome and less stressful than a lot of others I’ve seen. Did you use a template for the jungle leaves?
Happy Birthday to your little guy! Sorry for the delay in replying…just getting back into the swing of things after the holidays. I just cut the jungle leaves out by hand. I taped and stapled sheets of paper together to make larger sheets and then I sketched a leaf and cut it out. But there are patterns and templates on Pinterest that you can find pretty easily. Good luck with the party!
This is amazing! I am so glad I found this as I am planning my son’s 3rd birthday in a cee weeks and this is definitely my inspiration. Do you mind me asking what your menu was? Also, did you find a stencil or something for the bite marks on the plates and candle?
Thanks so much! We kept the menu simple – pizza, chips, snacks. I made a chocolate chip cookie dough cake and chocolate cupcakes decorated with “dinosaur spikes.” We also had a dinosaur treat mix (white chocolate covered pretzel pieces and marshmallows to look like dinosaur bones and candy-coated nuts that looked like dinosaur eggs). I didn’t use a stencil; I just cut them out by hand. 🙂
Everything is beautiful! Where can I find the birthday invitation? They are perfect! Thanks
Thank you so much! The invitation can be found in my Etsy shop, although it is a slightly different version. But if you’d like to order the one seen here, just send me a message through Etsy.
Love this…doing something similar in a few weeks…how did you do the R-O-A-R letters? I want to DIY that for myself but need a perfect template. My son is turning 3 but would I would love to do a number as well. I could aways print them and trace but if you have an easier solution, let me know!
Thanks so much! I used a Silhouette Cameo to cut out the letters from 12×12 card stock. I picked a very bold font and, for the banner, I sized the letters to fit the entire page, so they were as large as possible. Then I cut the bite mark into the letter by hand. Let me know if you need more info or help!
Did you use all cardstock for the paper leaves? I love this idea btw!
Yes, I did! Thank you so much.
Hello!
Your amazing decorations have inspired me to do a theme like this for my sons 1st birthday! However, I’m having a hard time finding dinosaur figurines. May I ask where you purchased yours from?
Thank you!!
Thank you so much! The dinosaur figurines are from Amazon (the small ones) and the larger ones are from Walmart (they were a dollar each, and I’ve also seen similar ones at dollar stores).
[…] Take the jungle theme a step further by adding fake plants and other nature-inspired elements into your decor like this Jurassic World-themed party from Catch My Party. Ferns, ivy, and palm leaves are great plant options, while twine and bamboo make great natural additions. Looking for a more modern approach? Check out these paper jungle leaves from Ice Cream Off Paper Plates. […]
Could I have the cake and filling recipe?
Sure! I used this recipe: http://www.bitememore.com/feedme/209/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-cake-recipe.
Thanks so much!!
This is amazing! How did you create the tassels on the balloons? And where did you purchase these cool large globe balloons? Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Thank you so much! I made the tassels with a silver fringe table skirt that I cut up into pieces and with navy tissue tassel garland that I found at Michael’s (http://www.michaels.com/recollections-craft-it-tissue-tassel-garland-light-pink/10398761.html#q=tissue+tassel&start=2). I just stapled them together to the balloon string. The giant balloons are from Party City. (I used the Balloon Time helium tanks to blow them up, and it took nearly an entire tank to fill two balloons.) Let me know if you have any other questions!
Hi! Did you use cardstock for the dino spikes on the hats?
Yes, I did! Most of the cardstock paper I used was from Michaels (Recollections brand).
Your dinosaur party is so cute. I really love the paper jungle leaves! I mentioned them on my blog here: http://www.hunnyimhomediy.com/party-planning/dinosaur-party-inspiration/
Thank you so much for including me in your blog post!
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Hi – love everything about this! What kind of paper did you use for the streamers?
Thanks so much! I used Recollections cardstock paper that comes in packs from Michael’s arts and crafts stores.
First off So cute! I love all of it! On your jungle leaves.. how did you do them? Did you use a template or something to go off of? I’m kinda at lost where to start. Haha thanks in advance!
Thank you so much! I looked up “paper leaves” on Pinterest, where there are thousands of DIY instructions for them. I checked out a bunch for inspiration and then sort of put them together without following any specific instructions. For most of the leaves, I just cut them out of paper and did some folding and bending; to create larger leaves, I stapled pieces of paper together. I also used hot glue to attach some small leaves to wood sticks.
Hi! The party was adorable!! Where did you get the stripped table runner?
Thank you so much! I got the table runner from Amazon, here’s the direct link: http://amzn.to/2z9wAWD.
This is PERFECTION! What vendor did you order the t-shirts from on Etsy? I’m having a hard time finding ones styled like these.
They were a custom order from Essentially Moms on Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/shop/EssentiallyMoms?ref=l2-shopheader-name). The shop owner is so, so nice!! I don’t think she has these t-shirts listed anymore, but I know she still makes them for custom orders.
Hiiii!! I love it!!!!! Please tell me how can i do ROAR sign I mean how can I do letters to be perfect?? You are very very talented
Wow!! The colors go together so perfectly. I’m in love with the watercolor backdrop you made too.. how cool is that?
Thank you so much! 🙂
How did you get the spikes to stick to the party hats?
I’m sorry I’m only seeing your comment today – for some reason it went to my spam. I used hot glue to attach the spikes. I use hot glue for almost everything, haha!
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Where did you get the party favor bags from? I’m having a hard time finding the navy blue with silver polka dots.
I purchased plain navy gift bags from the craft store Michael’s, and then decorated them with round silver labels that I purchased through Amazon – here’s the link: https://amzn.to/2Lt9L6S.
[…] Plates” and fell in love with her take on a modern dinosaur motif. Want to see more? Click here. And while I didn’t do everything she suggested, what I did get from the site is I […]
I love your party decor! I am using a lot of your ideas for my son’s upcoming party. Thanks so much for sharing your images and sources! I love the orangey red color you use for the party products as well as spray paint. I am having a hard time finding something that isn’t too red. Do you by chance know the color spray paint you used for the coral/orange? Did you get at Michaels? Thank you for your help!
I actually got the coral spray paint at Walmart!
[…] Modern Dinosaur Bag […]
I love your leaf centerpiece!! How did you get them in such a nice pile?? Love this for my baby’s 1st Birthday!
I used cardstock paper so they stayed in place pretty nicely since the paper was heavy. 🙂
This might sound silly, but how did you make the little party hats on the dinosaurs? Thanks!
I drew a template for the mini hats, but you can find one already made if you google “mini party hat template.” Then I just cut them out and used hot glue to put them together, and I used hot glue to keep them on the dinosaurs. 🙂
[…] A Modern Dinosaur Birthday Party from Ice Cream Off Paper […]
[…] Photo from: icecreamoffpaperplates.com […]
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