Sofia is obsessed with Maya the Bee.  It was no surprise when she asked for a Maya the Bee themed party for her 4th birthday.  Maya the Bee party decorations are very limited outside of the products offered on Etsy.com.  When I can’t find the products I want, I start pulling inspiration from Pinterest and make a list of the projects that will make the party feel special and personalized.  Here are 10 Maya the Bee party ideas you can craft for a birthday party or bee-themed baby shower.

1.  Maya the Bee Cake & Cupcakes

For Sofia’s birthday cake, I wanted Maya the Bee sitting in the grass surrounded by flowers.  I ordered a 9″ round cake with green buttercream frosting from Whole Foods.  I asked the baker to make the sides smooth and pipe the frosting on the top to look like grass.

Once I had the base, I made a fondant Maya the Bee.  As I was molding Maya, I used a 9″ plate to gauge how big she should be.  I followed a Pinterest tutorial and used Sweetshop fondant from Michaels.  The Sweetshop fondant is available in 20 colors and sold in 4oz containers, so they are great for creating smaller decorations.  It was my first time working with fondant but I think she came out pretty good.  Let’s just say Sofia and the kids recognized Maya the Bee.

The flowers are made from the same fondant pressed into silicone fondant molds.  I made a variety of sizes and colors.  To keep the fondant from sticking to the mold, dust the cavities with corn starch before you press in the fondant.  The corn starch residue will dissolve as the fondant dries.  You can make the molded fondant decorations in advance.  Store them in an air tight container until you’re ready to use them.  The bees are Wilton icing decorations.

For Sofia’s class party, I made cupcakes and decorated them with white and yellow frosting using the Wilton Color Swirl Decorating Set, mini fondant flowers and candy bees.  The cupcakes tasted good and were very cute.

2.  Bee-Themed Party Supplies

I ordered the Honey Bee party supplies from Amazon.  The design is cheerful and simple so you can mix in other elements.  You can also use solid yellow and black party supplies from Dollar Tree.  It really depends on how fancy you want to get.

3.  Flower Lollipop Holders

For the cake table, I created flower lollipop holders.  They’re made from crepe paper and a Giga Pop.  To make these flower lollipop holders, read my tutorial – How to Make a Flower Lollipop Stand.  This is a great way to upcycle Giga Pop packaging and is versatile enough to use for different party themes.

4.  Happy Bee-Day Banner

I used my Cricut Create machine to cut out a yellow and black banner from card stock paper.  I used black and white bakers twine to hang the banner.  This banner and alphabet are from a Martha Stewart cake cartridge.  My Cricut machine is several years old but it works well, so I haven’t felt compelled to purchase one of the newer models.  If you’re thinking of getting a Cricut, check out the options available on eBay.com. You can get an older less expensive model and cartridges to try out.

Use the images of Maya and Willy on page 2 of this free printable PDF for the banner.

5.  Maya and Willy Balloon Centerpiece

Every birthday party needs balloons.  Unfortunately, my favorite balloon place closed so I had to improvise.  I purchased the helium filled mylar flowers and latex balloons at Dollar Tree.  They have a great selection of colors and sizes to coordinate with your party theme.  To make the balloon centerpiece, you need to:

• Punch two holes into the center of a 10″ cake circle
• Tie the ends of the 4 green balloons to each other, then use twine to attach the balloons to the cake circle
• Twist the ends of the 2 green tubes to each other, then use the same piece of twine to attach the tubes to the base
• Attach the flower mylar balloons to the ends of the tubes
• Print Maya and Willy onto card stock, cut them out, and affix them to the balloons with double sided tape.

Use the images of Maya and Willy on page 1 of this free printable PDF for the balloon centerpiece and pinata.

6.  Flower Piñata with Maya and Willy Cut Outs

Pinatas are a must at Landaeta birthday parties.  I purchased the flower pinata from Michaels.  I printed the same images of Maya and Willy from the balloon centerpiece onto card stock.  Then, I affixed them to the pinata with Mod Podge.  Creating a custom pinata to fit your theme is easy.  Just think about a shape that fits your theme and apply characters to tie them together.  See another example of a custom pinata I made for Lucas’ Ninjago birthday.

Use the images of Maya and Willy on page 1 of this free printable PDF for the balloon centerpiece and pinata.

7.  Maya the Bee Sugar Cookies

Before Sofia’s birthday, we went to a town fair and met a local baker, Michelle, who makes decorated sugar cookies.  We liked the taste and look of her Emoji cookies so much we approached her about making Maya the Bee cookies for Sofia’s birthday.  I sent her a picture of Maya the Bee and this is what she made for us.  The cookies are a nice size and are individually wrapped.  We gave them to the kids as party favors and had some extras for snacking during the party.  I was impressed when her husband delivered the cookies to my home.  She is an artist and her cookies are delicious.  You can reach Michele through her Facebook page – Michele’s Custom Cookies.

8.  Maya the Bee Favor Bags

For the favor bags, I made stickers by printing the artwork onto sticker sheets and punching them out with a circle punch. You can also cut them out by hand with scissors by following along the yellow border.  To make the stickers a little more special, I used gold glitter glue to outline the Maya the Bee image.  I applied the stickers onto small craft bags from Dollar Tree.  They were the perfect size for the Maya the Bee sugar cookies each child received as a favor.

9.  Slime Cups

In addition to the pinata, I always try to incorporate a craft into the kid’s birthday parties.  For Sofia’s birthday party, we made slime using the Elmer’s Glue 3-ingredient recipe.  I like this recipe because it doesn’t include Borax.  To make the slime, you’ll need 5 oz Elmer’s Color Glue, ½ tbsp of baking soda and 1 tbsp of contact lens solution

Slime Instructions:

1. Pour contents of a 5 fl oz Elmer’s Color Glue into a bowl
2. Add ½ tbsp of baking soda and mix thoroughly
3. Add 1 tbsp of contact lens solution. Mix until mixture gets harder to mix and slime begins to form
4. Take the slime out and begin kneading with both of your hands
5. If it’s too sticky, add ¼ tbsp contact lens solution and knead. Keep adding ¼ tbsp contact lens solution until desired consistency

To personalize your slime, you can add glitter, confetti or mini plastic figurines.  I purchased the condiment cups from Dollar Tree and attached the Maya the Bee stickers to the lid.  We made one large batch of slime and each child took home their personalized slime in the Maya the Bee cups.

10.  Bumble Bee Tutu Dress

Sofia is a girlie girl and loves to dress up.  For her birthday party, she selected a Bumble Bee Tutu Dress from Belle Threads.  The dress bodice is a leotard with flutter sleeves and a knee length tutu skirt.  The skirt is sewn into the leotard so you don’t have to worry about it shifting as your girl plays.  Normally, the dress has a black tutu skirt but Tannia accommodated my request to change it to yellow and black to fit my bee theme.  She was great to work and delivered the dress just in time for Sofia’s birthday party.  This Belle Threads dress was comfortable, easy to wear and fit the party theme perfectly.  If you have a special occasion and want a pretty yet comfortable dress for your girl, I encourage you to check out BelleThreads.com.

For me, this picture perfectly captures Sofia’s mood on her birthday.  She had fun, was surrounded by family and friends, and got to eat her favorite cake.  We crafty moms tend to go a little overboard with our projects but it’s all worth it to see our kids smile.

If you have any questions about the projects in this post, please leave them in the comment section below.  If you try any of these crafts, please tag your pictures with #latinamominnyc.

Happy Crafting and Happy Birthday to your little ones,

Jackie

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