At the end of the day, it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished. It’s about what you’ve done with those accomplishments. Its about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It about what you’ve given back.

-Denzel Washington

Anyone who knows me well would associate me with how much I love a reason to gather with friends and family to celebrate. Hosting and planning parties has been a huge part of my life since I moved out and had my own space to host and I love any excuse to celebrate an occasion, especially with the ones I love. Christmas gatherings, some epic Halloween parties, themed birthday bashes – I truly love to do it all! When it came time to plan my son’s second birthday party initially I wanted to do something very small and low key, as we did a royal prince theme for his 1st and it was of course a little bit extra. This time around we were trying to think of themes and gifts ideas for him, and realized that Noah truly does not need a thing in the world – literally not one thing. As I discussed in my blog talking about my quest for minimalism, we are trying to downsize and work on the ‘less is more” model around here and teach him the same. He loves his cheap little Hot Wheels more than anything else, has a closet of clothing bigger than mine, a full tummy,  a roof over his head, and is truly a very content little boy. Unfortunately not everyone is as blessed as Noah, and with the summer weather winding down and the cool fall air slowly creeping its way in I decided to do something a little different this time. We planned Noah’s birthday this year with the theme: “It’s Cool ‘2’ Be Kind”- so we could give back to those who aren’t as fortunate as our family was this year. I teamed up with the local branch of Coats For Kids, set the event date and asked that guests bring jacket donations or canned goods in lieu of gifts for the organization. I then decided that I would make the donation drive public, with drop off times available, so local people could bring over any donations they had for Coats For Kids as well.

I was so excited to start planning this duel celebration and donation drive, so I started with deciding on decor from some amazing shops. Party At Your Door created half of the adorable cupcake toppers that said “Noah is TWO Cool”; his personal cake topper; the “Happy Birthday” and “Noah” banner and the “It’s Cool 2 Be Kind” banner we used above the donations for Coats For Kids.

I wanted to make sure our generous guests were well fed and had some treats to enjoy the party, so on his sweets table to display the theme I used an adorable banner from The Paper Fox with “It’s Cool 2 Be Kind”, and also had a “Noah is 2 Cool” banner outside to greet our guests as they came in as well.

On the favors table, for decor I had two signs by the talented Sugar Crush Co, greeting guests and displaying the theme; also from them are the other half of the cupcake toppers and the adorable center piece decor on each table. The “Two Cool” cactus was such a hit with everyone on the favors table as well, made by The Knotty Boss. Next I needed the perfect party favors to fit the theme. I found these Two Cool sunglasses party favors from Hometown Creative; the kids (and adults) adored them!

I wanted to create a special spot for Noah to enjoy his cake and for us to sing him happy birthday; so on Noah’s “throne” we used a graffiti print banner from SamJam, as well as their peace sign /”2 “pendant to decorate an Ikea highchair perfectly. His silver platter, cutlery and mug are from Kiddo Bloom.

We also wanted something sweet to send our guests home with! We gave out these adorable and delicious cake pops and custom hand made chocolate favors by From Hand 2 Heart Co. who designed them perfectly fit to the theme, leaving everyone with a good taste in their mouth and a little reward for being so generous themselves! Sunglasses, peace signs and “2”‘ cookies made by Sweets by Marisa.

And finally, Noah’s outfit had to be perfect for his big day! His Two Cool shirt is from Hey Baby, shorts are from The Young Nest, and the custom birthday crown is from Avalon Sunshine. Mama’s super soft duster sweater is from Pink Blush, and comfy but trendy marble tights are from LegArt.

Overall, it was a huge success! We ended up acquiring over SEVENTY (70!!) coats; snowsuits, snow pants, toques and mittens in total to donate to Coats For Kids, and a ton of canned goods and food donations as well. As expected Noah spent the party playing with his little cars, running around smiling with his guests and enjoying some cake – we wanted this day to be about kindness and giving back and not about gifts that he doesn’t need – and we definitely succeeded. I’ve included the names and links to all items we used for the party at the end of this post – I loved working with each and every one of them! They were each amazing to work with, and helped me achieve my vision for the party perfectly.

This experience was amazing for our little family to plan, and we’re so grateful to everyone who came and participated. No act of kindness – no matter how small – is ever wasted, and my goal is to continue to pay it forward with opportunities like this, using my blog and social media as a platform to spread the love, joy, good energy, and help others. I will never stop believing in the magic of kindness because no matter what your situation it’s the gift that everyone can afford to give. And the gifts we are blessed with in life aren’t meant to be paid back, they’re meant to be paid forward. Happy 2nd birthday to our beautiful little boy – my prayer is that the universe sends all the good karma from this experience entirely in your direction.

Party Decor

Party At Your Door: ‘Happy Birthday Noah’ and ‘It’s Cool 2 Be Kind’ Banner; Cake Topper, Cupcake Toppers

The Paper Fox: ‘Noah Is 2 Cool’ and ‘It’s Cool 2 Be Kind’ Banner

Sugar Crush Co: Cupcake Toppers, Framed Birthday Signs, Centerpiece Decor

SamJam: Graffiti Banner; Peace Sign Pendant

The Knotty Boss: Too Cool Cactus

Hometown Creative: Sunglasses Party Favors

Kiddo Bloom: Flatware/Utensils

Noah’s Outfit

Hey Baby Clothing: Two Cool Shirt

The Young Nest: Two Cool Shorts

Avalon Sunshine: ‘Noah’ Birthday Crown

Sweets

From Hand 2 Heart and Co: Hand Made Cake Pops, Chocolate Favors

Sweets By Marisa: Dessert Cookies

Mom’s Outfit

PinkBlush: Duster Sweater

LegArt: Marble Tights