My Ellie absolutely LOOOOVES Calico Critters! She plays with them non-stop, and has built up quite the collection! When she mentioned her idea for a Calico Critter party for her 8th, I did a little investigating to see what party inspiration I could find with that theme, and quickly realized that there wasn’t much! So, I got right to work finding my own inspiration within my daughter’s Sylvanian collection. After looking through all her toys, I came up with the idea of using her Calico Critter Ice Cream Van as the central visual for tying the whole party together. Because who doesn’t love ice cream?! It would be a Calico Critter Ice Cream Extravaganza! Read on to find out how you too, can host a Calico Critter/Sylvanian Families Birthday Party!
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Calico Critter Invitation Inspiration
To begin, my daughter and I design an invitation together. If you’ve read any of my Party Planning e-Book, you’ll know that my design inspiration always stems from the invitation! I also think it’s very important to include your kids in the party planning process, whenever possible. We searched around for a good invitation, but we really couldn’t find one we liked, so we just decided to come up with our own! We went with pastel colors of the rainbow – and cute critters holding ice cream cones surrounded by sprinkles. So fun! You can find this, and other Calico Critter Invitations I personally designed here on my Etsy shop! On our invitation, it said: “Meet us at the Ice Cream Van in Calico Critter Village!”
I print out these invitations (because I’m old-fashioned like that) and we tie bows around them using this lovely ribbon. We are so happy with how they turn out! If you’ve read any of my other party blog posts, you’ll know how much I prefer sending out actual invitations – not digital; it means so much more for kids to get something in the mail and serves as a beautiful keepsake for the birthday girl/boy. I frame all of our invitations over the years.
D-I-Y Calico Critter Ice Cream Van Photo Op
I had this idea to create a little ice cream van photo op that would resemble my daughter’s beloved toy, so I call up my mom who usually makes the character cardboard cutouts for my kids birthday parties. She’s amazing. She got right to work! The plan was to make the basic shape of the van and cut out the inside of the large heart shape so guests could take pictures together behind it! If you don’t have time or don’t want to make one and would rather purchase something, this might be a good option! This is a good backdrop. Or even this big ice cream cone!
Adorable Calico Critter Party Outfit for the Birthday Girl, Guests and even the Critters!
At our Calico Critter birthday party, the kids were absolutely adorable wearing their charming critter headbands! Each child arrives and gets to choose which critter they want to be for the day! (They also get to take home their headbands.) After picking an animal, they move on to getting face paint and fun shimmery ice cream tattoos! Even adults dressed as critters and had face-paint! I let my daughter do mine which creates a fun memory for both of us; I loved greeting our guests at the door as a jaguar!
Another fun party idea would be to ask guests to come already dressed as a critter!
Our birthday girl wore this simple yet lovely light pink dress, with a bear-eared headband. I face-paint a little critter nose on her to complete her party look. But kids aren’t the only ones dressed for the occasion! My daughter and I create our own little party hats for her Calico Critters a few weeks before the party! It’s a fun little project – she has so much fun doing it with me! I create this template that we fit to her critters, cut them out and hot glue-gun together with colorful little pom-poms!
Ice Cream Critter Party Decor & Atmosphere
I thought it would be fun borrowing my daughter’s critters and arranging them in different scenes around the house. Talk about super easy and affordable party decor! Placing a bunch across the mantel in our living room and other places, guests enjoy looking at them with their little party hats and fall in love with them!
I bring down my spring wreath to hang over our mantle. This adds a nice element of greenery to the Calico Critter look which sometimes has that country, outdoorsy aesthetic with trees and flowers on their packaging. From a Panda-themed birthday party years prior, we had a vine with these cute little stick on flowers leftover – so I pull them off and stick those up as well. We also have a cute “E” that looks very much like it could be the kind of lettering you’d see in a vintage-looking ice cream shoppe. I pull that out of my girls bedroom and display it along with our framed birthday invitation – perfect!
Twisted streamers along the ceiling in our color scheme look so sweet: pink, yellow, white and lilac. Pastel-colored balloons and fresh daisies on tables add to the vibe. I feel like Calico Critters are all about having picnics, so I go with these light blue gingham tablecloths for our craft tables! I also found this large pastel birthday banner which worked nicely above the craft area.
Calico Critter Hot Air Balloons
There was somewhere on Pinterest that I had seen a photo posted of Calico Critters in little DIY hot air balloons and thought this was just the cutest idea. I had to try making them! This became yet another fun and easy craft to do with my Ellie leading up to her party. I create a hot air balloon template (available HERE on my Etsy page) and go to the local art store to pick up some heavyweight pastel paper. Just cut out my balloon template, trace on thick paper, cut out, and glue together. Next make some small holes, attach strings and a small cup. In this case I use some of the paper ice cream cups I had ordered for our party so they would match perfectly! These of course could be color-coordinated and customized to fit whichever color scheme you go with!
Calico Critter Ice Cream Van Awning & Make Your Own Organic Ice Cream Sundae Bar
In our homeschool room, we have a long wooden slab of a desk that I decorate like an ice cream sundae bar. Wanted to make something similar to those popular frozen yogurt places where everyone moves through and chooses their own toppings! To do this I create an awning made out of simple cardboard, striped pink and white acrylic paint. You also could easily purchase these awning decorations for the same look without the hassle of breaking out the paint. I found it somewhat therapeutic to do. I know, I’m weird! Next, I write out an “Ice Cream Sundae Menu” on our school blackboard. We still have some cute white lights up from our Christmas blackboard so I leave those.
These adorable ice cream cups match our rainbow pastel theme. I figure it will be much less drippy and messy if we do cups instead of cones! To make the occasion even more special I buy these fun, color-changing spoons that the kids think are so cool! Kids definitely seem to love anything that changes color! Our favorite organic ice cream is the Alden’s brand. I bought basic sundae flavors, but of course couldn’t leave out one of my Ellie’s favorites: Mint Chip! If you want to create the feeling of being near an ice cream truck you could play this ice cream truck playlist! Though I wouldn’t recommend playing it for the duration of your party, or you may lose your mind!
Organic Desserts
It’s really important to me that all the ingredients of our desserts (for the sundaes and birthday cake) are organic, with no unnatural food dyes and preservatives, so I have to hunt around a bit but I am able to find everything – from sprinkles to gummy bears, even maraschino cherries that are clean! I always want to feel good about the foods we are serving to our guests. Feed others as you would want to be fed – that’s my motto! Actually, I just made that up, but it’s true! Below are some of the items I round up.
Critter Cupcakes
The day before our party, we have a long homeschool day out with back-to-back classes, and I know Ellie will want to celebrate with all the kiddos there. I design these sweet Calico Critter cupcake toppers just for the occasion! I use King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake Mix and my favorite go-to chocolate healthy frosting. For the cupcakes I use these natural sprinkles from Trader Joes, but my usual favorite company for natural vegan sprinkles is Supernatural.
The Most Darling DIY Calico Critter Birthday Cake
I am by no means a professional baker/cake decorator! I also love having my kiddos help me out in the kitchen with any baking for birthdays and holidays, and this cake was no exception. My 1 1/2 year old actually loves to turn on the mixer, so even he helped out as well! I always buy my favorite box mix, King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free Vanilla!
We baked a week in advance and froze the cake layers since I knew my week would be so busy leading up to the party. You would never even know it was frozen! Inside the cake I added strawberry preserves and then iced the cake with my favorite healthy vanilla frosting! Using the chocolate version of the frosting that I have leftover from making the cupcakes the day before, I make a “bike path” for the Calico Critter that I will use as a cake topper.
While searching through my daughter’s collection of Calico toys, I find this adorable little bike and immediately have the idea of incorporating it on the cake. Borrowing a few of the ice cream cones and scooper from Ellie’s Calico Ice Cream Van, I thought to have a critter pulling the wagon full of icy treats behind the bicycle!
I then snag a few of these plastic ferns that we have leftover from doing a shadow box for one of our book clubs, and actually use them to hide my crummy icing job! What I have going for me with this cake is that all of my mistakes kind of fall into the category of “rustic-looking”! The cake topper was an Etsy find! Last but not least, I throw a few pastel-colored sprinkles on there for fun and to tie it all together!
Calico Critter Party Craft
I want the kids to have fun making a craft that will help them to remember this day for years to come, so I come up with this simple and sweet photo frame activity. I buy small, unfinished wooden frames for them to personalize and decorate with these easy mess-less acrylic paint pens , glitter pens, and small ice cream wooden cutout shapes that they can color in and glue on. We add some pastel ribbon I find at our dollar store, (but a ribbon with sprinkles on it would also fit the ice cream party theme nicely) and insert a photo of the guest with the birthday girl before the end of the party. My oldest daughter and her friend love having the responsibility of snapping photos of all the kids at the party using her Instax camera! They use the photo prop of the ice cream van as the background.
Critter Dance Party
After ice cream and cake, we lead all the kids upstairs for a “Critter Dance Party”! This involved disco lights and lots of fun dance tunes. The kids had a blast!
One of Ellie’s friends was so thoughtful and crocheted her a Calico Critter dress and sleeping bag for critters! …Doesn’t get much cuter than this!
“Sweet Friend” Thank You Notes & Favor Bags
As with many of the other details from this party, I create a printable for the bags that kids will use to take home their craft as well as some leftover ice cream tattoos and color-changing spoons! You can find my Calico Critter Favor Tag printable HERE.
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed viewing our Calico Critter Birthday! I sure had a blast creating it! Hopefully it will give you some inspiration on how you can bring the magical world of Calico Critters to life for your party! From personalized invitations, easy and fun D-I-Y decorations, to critter-themed activities and treats! I hope you see that every element of our celebration can be easily tailored to make the day truly special and fitting for your family. Whether your child is a big fan of these adorable animals or simply loves a whimsical, imaginative party, a Calico Critter birthday theme is sure to be a hit with kids and adults alike!
So gather up all your critters, unleash your imagination, and get ready to create a unique Calico Critter bash that is sure to be remembered for years to come! As always, you can find more Fern party inspiration HERE. And don’t miss my new Children’s Party Planning E-Guide/Workbook! If you subscribe to my e-mail list, you will receive it to your inbox for FREE!
SHOP THIS PARTY POST:
Ice Cream Van Toy:
Ribbon for Invites:
Stand-Up Cardboard Ice Cream Photo Prop:
Critter Headbands:
Face paint:
Ice Cream Tattoos:
Birthday Girl Dress:
Gingham Tablecloths
light blue gingham tablecloths
Large Pastel Birthday Banner:
Pink and White-Striped Awning:
Pastel Ice Cream Cups:
Color-Changing Spoons:
GF Cake Mix:
King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake Mix
Healthy Frosting:
Supernatural Sprinkles:
Wooden Frames:
Acrylic Paint Pens:
Glitter Pens:
Wooden Ice Cream Cutout Shapes:
ice cream wooden cutout shapes
Ribbon with Sprinkles:
Instax Camera:
Check out some of the instant downloadable customizable invites, printables and other related items I created for my own party that are now available on my Etsy shop, Party on Fern!
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