Monkeying around

My youngest son turns 4 next month, and he's having his first ever birthday party. It's a classic case of 2nd child syndrome. My eldest had a party every year up until he was 6 or so, before it turned into taking him and a friend out for a treat day somewhere. Unfortunately, a trip to the cinema followed by  pizza is not the treat it was when I was a child. I think I went to the movies 3 or 4 times a year. My eldest must go at least once a month. Anyway, I digress...

Youngest wants his party at a monkey themed soft play centre. I've already booked the party and paid the deposit and now I'm casting my mind to the fun things. In theory, I don't have to do anything beyond providing a cake. The venue provides invitations and party bags. But where's the fun in that? I want to do them myself.

I've been partially inspired by my friend Leonie over at Just Call Me Martha. There's no way I'm even remotely in her league when it comes to style, but her blog is full of goregous ideas, stunning cakes, and useful links. To fit in with the soft play place I've decided to stick with a monkey theme. I really liked the Sock Monkey party goods from Oh My Gluestick. I decided against them because I've only got a limited amount for extras, most of the budget for the party going on the venue. In the end, I decided to go for a brown, yellow, and green theme, choosing these stickers , plain gatefold cards to print for the invitations, and plain lime green paper bags for goody bags.

I'm not yet sure what I'll put in the goody bags. I've ordered some of these monkey bars from A Quarter Of, but am also tempted by this inflatable monkey.

The big question is the cake. I like to bake, but my decorating skills leave a bit to be desired. I'll probably end up leaving it until the last minute then make plain cupcakes with some sort of monkey sweet on the top. I'm full of good intentions, but cursed with laziness.