Mother's Day Teddy Bear Picnic Party

The day before Mother's Day my family and I were at rowing regionals, so I didn't have time to prepare anything for Mother's Day.  But Mami does so much for me, so I really wanted to do something special for her!  That's why I threw her a "teddy bear picnic" themed party a few days after Mother's Day to celebrate!

With Mami and my little sister out of town one day, I thought that it would be the perfect time to get everything set up.  That is, preparing the food that I planned on making.  This way I would take my time without worrying that Mami might see something that would ruin the surprise.  

Mami and my little sister

So with plenty of time to work, I could also take my time and make sure that I did everything well.  

I'd already planned the menu and ordered decorations about a week ago, so all that was left for me to do was actually go through my checklist and make everything as I'd planned it.  For the menu I thought that traditional picnic snacks would be a good idea.  Then some teddy bear themed treats as well! 

For dinner I made some cheddar broccoli soup which had nothing to do with the theme but is a dish that Mami really likes, so I made it anyways!  And to go with it, some homemade French bread!   

But that wasn't quite the first thing that I got to work with.  What I made first was this Straw-Bear-y Pie!  


Mami is a big fan of my fruit tarts, ever since I made one for her birthday last year, so of course I had to make one for Mother's Day this year!  Especially since I could easily make it tie in with the whole Teddy Bear Picnic!   

What's another great picnic food?  Muffins!  One of the best picnic foods has to be muffins!  They're tasty, have a ton of options, and are pretty easy to take on a picnic. 

The ones that I made wouldn't have to handle a long trip to the woods, seeing as the only journey they'd make would be from the oven to the kitchen table.  But they still looked like they'd be right for a real picnic, and that's what mattered. 

So, what muffins did I decide to make?  Banana bread muffins!  They're really tasty and easy to make!  Even better, my family had a lot of bananas that were on the verge of going bad, so this recipe made use of them and prevented them from being wasted! 

Tasty muffins that prevent waste?  It's a win-win!

Sorry for the poor lighting

Another great treat for a picnic in the forest are, of course, s'mores!  Camping and s'mores go together like peanut butter and jelly!  Even though this wouldn't be a camping theme, I thought that it still went pretty well with a teddy bear picnic. 

But I wasn't about to make actual s'mores.  Mostly because I wasn't sure how well they'd hold up if I made them ahead.  They're the kind of food that you make and eat within minutes. 

Then there's also the fact that I wasn't about to start an open flame indoors!  I love s'mores, but I'm not about to literally play with fire to get them!

So instead, I decided to make some s'mores brownies!  A combination of two great desserts!  All I did was make some double chocolate brownies (a recipe that I've made several times before) and mix in some Dandies mini marshmallows!  

It wasn't until later that I discovered that the marshmallows on the inside completely melted and disappeared into the brownie itself.  But the ones that I used to top the brownies remained intact and added a little something extra that I really enjoyed!

Regardless, the brownies turned out great and everyone loved them!

And last but not least, I also made these cute rice crispy teddy bears!  

The rice crispy treats that I make only need three ingredients and are as easy as melt some ingredients then mix in the others.  Because of this I enjoy making them and make them more often than most other desserts. 

It's also one of the reasons that I added them to this party's menu.  With them being so easy to make, they'd add to the dessert options without me having to bite off more than I can chew.  

Making the rice crispy treats themselves was really easy, as I'd expected.  The only thing that was an issue was the fact that I was a little impatient and tried cutting them before they'd had a chance to cool, so it became a little messy very quickly!  

Other than that, it all went smoothly!  Aren't these cute?

And with the baking done, it was time to decorate!

Setting the table was pretty simple.  Laying out a red and white checkered tablecloth was a big part of it, as it looks exactly like a traditional picnic blanket!  

Then I used some wood slabs that I'd purchased a few years ago for a "woodland Brunch" that I'd thrown for Mami on another Mother's Day.  They would hold the food! 

And that's really one of the most important things when planning an eco-friendly party.  It's best to purchase things that you can easily reuse!  The wood slab serving trays, for example, are something that I've used a few times already and plan to use a lot more!  They aren't single-use and are good quality, so it isn't being wasteful!

But back to the party...other than setting the table itself, I also made sure to decorate the surrounding area!  A little red triable banner really made it seem like a party!  

And in the corner of the room, placed on top of our beverage cart, I placed this picnic basket with a teddy bear in it!  

It was a nice little decoration, and also part of my present to Mami!  The actual wrapped gift was from Ariana though.  My gift to her was the party itself and all the decorations involved in bringing it together!

And on the bottom shelf of the cart, I had these cute bear ear headbands.  Or our disguises, as they can be better described.  We still haven't used them though...I kind of forgot about them during the celebration :)  My bad!

And what's a teddy bear picnic without some teddy bears!

I know I already showed you one, but is one really enough?  No way!  We need more teddy bears!  And a lot of them!  

So, I did get a lot of them, and I made sure to set them out being a little mischievous! 

​They were climbing on the TV....they were writing on my sign...

...they were sneaking a few snacks...

...they were watching TV and they were hiding by the table!  Mami seemed to enjoy finding out what they were up to!

And for a final detail, these cute bear-shaped jars!  It took a while for me to find these, since most of the options that I could find either weren't really cute or were made from a cheap-looking plastic.  Nevertheless, I kept up with the search and eventually found these!  

Perfect to use as a drinking glass, I filled them up with apple juice, and everyone thought that they were super cute!  

It wasn't long after I'd finished that Mami and my little sister returned from their day trip!  When they did, Mami saw what I'd planned for her and really loved it!  Turns our she'd actually hoped that I would choose the teddy bear picnic theme, so I guess that I did well! 

It was late at night, so we mostly just had some soup and fruit tart while we watched a movie, but the next morning we enjoyed some more of the treats!