Wild, Wild One: Cowboy Themed First Birthday Party

It’s been a year since I threw my first party -  a “Wild About Cole” safari baby shower.  Well lil’ Cole just celebrated his first birthday and we threw him another wild, wild bash.  Cole was more than happy to dress up as a cowboy for his “Wild Wild One” birthday hoe-down.

My stepdad built this directional sign that served as a beacon for guests coming from all over town. I used letters I cut with the Cricuit so that I can use this sign again without having to repaint it.  Isn’t it great? I can’t wait for the next reason to tell people where to go.

I used straw to display a cow skull and this tissue paper numeral one.  (I got the idea for the tissue paper number one from this tutorial.)

Straw is officially on my do-not-ever-purchase-again-no-matter-what list.  What a mess!

Just like I did for the safari shower, I made a burlap banner to announce the theme.  This time I used clothespins instead of stringing it through the rope. This was so much faster!

The birthday boy and his parents were ready to greet their hoe-down guests. Have you seen a cuter cowboy? I seriously doubt it.

We displayed the birthday boy’s cake on a red plaid table cloth Cole’s grandma owned and we topped it off with the no-sew burlap runner I made last week.

I used flowers in mason jars on the cake table and elsewhere around the house.

To create consistent signage, I used picture frames wrapped with rope.  (Gotta love that hot glue!)  You may recognize these dollar store frames from my past parties.  I used them to display vintage New Zealand travel posters here, to show off Alvin and the Chipmunks here, to name a bar here, and to show of all of one family’s little sunshines here. That’s a lot of mileage for a $1 purchase!

In case the glare in my painfully-amateur photo prevents you from reading it, the outhouse sign says “Don’t squat on yer spurs.”  I crack myself right up over that one.

I’m totally in love with these paper straws. (I used the blue and white ones for the “Time Flies” 1st birthday party a few months ago.)

I purchased these straws on Etsy from Pebbles in my Pocket, which included the PDF for these straw tags.  It was perfect!

I made a ribbon banner with red and white plaid paper and a blue starry paper.

The birthday boy’s picture was republished for his wanted posters. (Seriously! Have you ever seen a cuter 8 tooth grin?)

I also bought a wanted poster to leave blank.  I cut out the middle, passed out a few faux mustaches and voila! An instant Kodak moment.

It turns out that even the birthday boy’s proud papa is a wanted criminal!

We decorated Cole’s high chair with a small banner using the same paper from the “Cole is 1″ banner.

This is one baby boy who did not hesitate to sink his hands into that frosting!

Cole did not stop until he had cake on the floor, on his bib, on his face, and in his hair.  That’s how it’s supposed to be done big boy!

Cole’s youngest cousins were listed on the chalkboard to make sure they picked up their favors.

Each little favor bag included root beer barrels and wax mustaches.

Every one else could take a dum dum from this lollipop flower I made from this tutorial.

Cole bid farewell to his party guests by wishing them “Happy Trails”!

Yee-haw!

Who remembers the wax lips from the 1980s?

Two Sticks – Endless Possibilities

One of my favorite party planning supplies is a set of two wooden sticks.  They are about one inch thick and are about five feet tall.  (They’re built on an X so they stand up on their own.)  You might remember seeing them at the Our Lil’ Sunshines party holding up the banner.

I used them again last weekend.  My brother recently eloped and my family threw him a big fat party.  Because he’d eloped, much of our extended family hadn’t met the bride.  I clipped tags of fun facts about her on ribbons strung from stick to stick.

I spray painted the clothespins and adorned them with stickers I found in the scrapbook aisle of the craft  store.

I used the Cricuit to cut the pink tags.

Any other ideas for these sticks?

“Time Flies” Airplane-Themed First Birthday Party

Last week I had to give you a sneak peak of this first birthday party I decorated for one airplane-loving toddler.

This may be the most adorable pilot the world’s ever seen – so it was my job to make sure his party was as smashing as he is!

The invites, photographed and designed by the birthday boy’s mom, set the “Time Flies” theme for his birthday.

The birthday boy came ready to party in his aviator outfit and he invited his friends to do the same.  (It was, after all, the day for trick or treating!)

Even Weston’s parents came in aviator gear.  His Mom was a striking Amelia Earhart and his Dad was one killer Ice Man from Top Gun.

For those adults that didn’t dress up (myself included) I provided TSA agent lanyards.

Upon entering, guests were instructed to fasten their seat belts for this rockin’ party!

A photo of Weston awaited his guests in the entry way.

Guests were also able to quickly check their “baggage.”

The paper products for the party used the same map-style paper from the local scrapbook store.

I designed one of the tables using salt and pepper shakers from the dollar store.

For the cake table, I made paper airplanes that hung alongside tissue pom pom clouds.  (I’ll know next time to hang the airplanes closer toward the back so they hang level. Who knew?)

I made the cake stand from boxes wrapped in packing paper and tied with baking twine.  I offered peanuts in both the roasted and salted varieties.

The cupcakes were delicious! These clever cooks used an Oreo cookie in the bottom of each cupcake liner.

I incorporated the theme on the straw flags.  These straws are my absolute favorite.

I also used paper airplanes for other table decor.  (By the way, paper airplanes are not easy to make!)

I hung several vintage travel posters for New Zealand, where the birthday boy’s grandparents are from.

I also created a photo booth that was intended to look like an airplane.

Each child received a wooden kit to make and paint their own airplane.  I displayed each favor in sacks adorned with vintage travel labels.  I lined them up in old suitcases I bought from the thrift store.

I think the birthday boy had a good time!

Sneak Preview: “Time Flies” Airplane 1st Birthday Party

This past weekend I had the privilege of throwing an airplane-themed first birthday party.  Pictures are coming but I couldn’t contain my excitement!  So in the mean time, salivate over these clever invites created by my favorite photographer, who just happens to be the birthday boy’s mom.

Feast your eyes on this masterpiece!

Could this boy be any more adorable?  Stay tuned for all the fun details!

Even a Man Can Party Plan

A few weeks ago Doug’s niece celebrated her 7th birthday in a Hannah Montana-inspired pink rock star birthday.  (Remember the cake stands I made here? This party was their debut.)

I was out of town for the party so Doug stepped up to the party planning post. I gave him the materials and here’s how he did.

Inside these pink favor boxes were audio CDs full of kid-friendly pop songs.

(By the way, Doug had no part of making such a beautiful cake. Katie’s Dad is an excellent chef!)

The banner says “Katelyn Rocks!”

How’d Doug do? (I think he rocked.)

Lil’ Sunshine Baby Shower Brunch

Last weekend I had the privilege of decorating a brunch celebrating the upcoming birth of my newest nephew.  I was very inspired by a “My Little Sunshine” baby shower on Hostess with the Mostess.

Our celebration was not a typical baby shower – it was a family brunch with only a few gifts.  In addition, it is my brother and sister-in-law’s fourth child and I didn’t want my other three nieces and nephews to feel any less wanted.  For that reason, I tweaked the theme to “Our Lil’ Sunshines.” (Read: plural sunshines.)

Before I delve into the details, let me give you an overview of my second ever dessert table.  (The first was at my niece’s Alvin and the Chipmunks party.)

Isn’t all that sunshine happy and uplifting?

We ate at three dining tables with coordinating yellow flower arrangements.  (The flowers are fakes I bought for half off at Hobby Lobby.  Love that Hobby Lobby!)

The placemats are individual pieces of paper (already scalloped) that I bought at the scrapbook store.  It was perfect!

On the food table, I displayed photos of each of the four kids (with a cartoon baby in the fourth frame) in matching dollar store frames with yellow scrapbook paper for matting.

Pardon the flash.

I mimicked an orange tier I saw somewhere online.  I would have loved to have another cake plate to display it on, but since I didn’t I used a white ceramic pie plate.

To hang the banner over the dessert table, I painted two regular old wood poles to flank either side of the table.  I made a banner out of scrapbook paper that coordinated with the other accents.

I stacked two different cake stands on top of a box wrapped in yellow wrapping paper for the centerpiece.  I purchased sunflower cupcakes and displayed them on the cake stands. (I also put a little bee on the corner just for kicks.)

Do you remember my love for spider mums?  I was really happy to find some yellow spider mums to display on the left side of the table.  The name of the flowers on the right will remain nameless because, well, I have forgotten their name.

As you might expect, I used lots of yellow candy.  Thankfully I found many options at the dollar store.  In the candy jars I used lemon heads and butterscotch candies.

I also displayed Martinelli’s sparkling cider for toasting.

In the front, I wrapped yellow taffy in individual cellophane bags.  I created tags from the template I found here.  With two hole punches and a short piece of orange ribbon, the bags were perfect to bring some color to the table.

On the right side, I displayed rock candy and yellow star-shaped suckers in votive candle vases I found from the dollar store.  (I used dollar-store lemonade candies to fill the vases and hold the stuff up.)

The three kids received Toy Story sun catchers from the dollar store that they painted immediately.

My sister-in-law sat in the chair of honor.

I was really, really happy with the way this party turned out!  I can’t hardly wait for the new lil’ guy to be born any day now.  I wonder how my oldest nephews are holding out on the wait – after all, they’re very eager to train their new “apprentice.”

Here’s to a smooth birth and a healthy baby boy!

Alvin and the Chipmunks Birthday Party

My niece’s Chipmunk-inspired fourth birthday party was a big hit.  I based the décor on the colors of the characters – red for Alvin, blue for Simon, and green for Theodore. (Surprisingly, the birthday girl didn’t have a lot of interest in the Chippettes.)

For an exciting entrance, I propped the movie poster on an easel I bought off Craigslist for $5. A little gold cloth (on sale!) added a movie theatre feel.  The kids were just astonished that the poster was so big.

Next to the movie poster I displayed a table full of party favors for each of the kids: microphones, VIP passes, Simon-like glasses, and mouse ears.  I got the glasses from the costume shop in the Harry Potter aisle.

It says “Get your munk on here.”

I made this VIP pass for each of the kids:

The favors were a hit and were a perfect accompaniment to the kids’ attire.  Of course, the birthday girl was Alvin.  My oldest nephew was Simon, hence the blue shirt, and my youngest nephew was Theodore (in green).  I think he protested since he had to wear three layers of down clothing to add some weight to his physique.

Do you see “Uncle Ian” at the bottom right? I hope the birthday girl knows what a loving father she has to shave the top of his head to look just like the balding producer.

Inside, I created a “dessert table.”  Dessert tables are all the rage these days, but who can honestly eat all that dessert? And that candy must be so expensive. So I included only popcorn and peanuts, foods  that were theme-appropriate.

Apparently, the “r” fell off.  It was there at one point, I promise.

We created the banner using the Cricuit to cut the yellow letters.  It boggles my mind how easy that tool makes things.

I love these treat cones below.  I got the inspiration from the Hostess Blog here. First I bought shadowboxes on sale at Michaels.  Then I cut craft styrofoam to fit inside each box.  Next I spray painted the styrofoam to match the gumballs.  With lollipop sticks as support, I propped the cones on each stick.  The cones were perfect for the popcorn but the peanuts were a little heavy.  Nonetheless, it worked just fine.

Mama Judd made a cake in the shape of an “A” for the centerpiece of the dessert table.

I flanked either side of the table with a little color.  All the colored vases I bought at the thrift store for a dollar or less.

Outside, we hung beach balls from the rain gutter.  The party was initially a pool party, but when the venue changed I had to reincarnate them.  A friend was able to cut vinyl As to adorn them. (Word is the Cricuit can cut vinyl, too.)

Each of the dining tables was inspired by one of the characters.

The whole party turned out great! My brother told me that each of my parties are getting bigger and better.  My 8 year old nephew said, “I’ve gotta admit, Tasha, you throw a good party.” And even though those compliments were so sweet, just seeing the look on my niece’s face was the best reward.

Alvin and the Chipmunks Party Preview

You might recall that my sweet soon-to-be four year old niece wants an Alvin and the Chipmunk (the Squeakuel) birthday party. With the party only one week away, I am immersed in all things chipmunks. It is very a strange place.

It seems I am among the few bloggers to throw an Alvin and the Chipmunks birthday theme.  I’ll tell ya – It’s a lot easier when others have developed a starting point!  I’ll be incorporating the basics: mouse ears, nuts, and yellow letter “A”s. I’m also hoping to do a few more unique things, including one project with beach balls.

After some research, which may or may not have included actually viewing the movie, I’ve created this decor board:

Images here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

My apologies for losing the others!

So start singing and come back next week for all the exciting party details!

A special thanks is owed to Mama Judd, who is paying for a themed birthday party for all of her grandkids this year.  It’s also a way for me to exercise my hobby and learn to throw a classy party on a shoe string! Love ya Mom!

Update: The Alvin and the Chipmunks party was a big success!  See it in all its glory here.

What Might Have Been: Fancy Nancy Birthday Party

My beautiful niece is celebrating her fourth birthday this month.  And, technically, she’s celebrating a birthday for the first time.  My brother and sister-in-law adopted her from Ethiopia where she was orphaned without any identifying information.  When the government drafted her birth certificate with her new parents it simply chose a date of birth at random.

I know ya’ll cringe when I say that I want to make her birthday extra special.  I know, I know.  I do too. It’s not fair to the other nieces and nephews that I love oh-so much.  But it is her first birthday ever.  It will probably be the first day anyone has celebrated her existence.  (Except for the day when she arrived in Salt Lake City.  But the poor girl had big-time jet lag and was obviously thinking: “Why are all these strangers standing at the bottom of an escalator waving at me?”)

Having never thrown a big, fancy, girlie-girl party, you could color me happy when the first mention was a Fancy Nancy theme.  Have you heard of this Fancy Nancy? Neither had I.  Fancy Nancy is a character in childrens’ books that likes everything fancy, i.e., her favorite color is fuchsia because it’s a fancy way to say purple.  She enjoys parfaits because it’s a fancy way to say ice cream.  You get the idea.

I envisioned tea parties, top hats, fuchsia flowers, and dainty tea cups.  An ice cream buffet perhaps? Yes, please!  I created this decor board:

Images here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

My apologies for misplacing the location of the napkins and cupcakes.

While I was still doing the happy dance the birthday girl changed her mind.  Said niece has developed an infatuation with Alvin and the Chipmunks.  Specifically, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.  My first instinct? This must be a joke.  Surely there isn’t a word spelled the “Squeakquel.”

I started to think about bribing her to churn my creative juices. It is after all her first and fourth birthday and if she wants Alvin we’ll give her the biggest Alvin birthday party ever! I’ve made progress with the Chipmunk-themed plans – which I’ll disclose soon enough.  But, be forewarned, Alvin doesn’t really spark much of my fire.

Wish me luck.

Oy vey.

Update: The Alvin and the Chipmunks party was a big success!  See it in all its glory here.

Past Party: Thing 1 Thing 2 First Birthday Party

My sister has beautiful twin girls who just turned one.  Props to her for surviving their first year! The girls have oodles of loving family and friends, all of whom my sister wanted around to celebrate their big day.  I gave her suggestion boards of all the ideas I’d put together and she whittled it down to one:   Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss.

Now, in all fairness, I’m not the first person to use this theme.  Several party planners had rocked it and showed off their images.  But I was so excited she picked this theme because I am loving the combination of light blue and red in all contexts – parties, weddings, clothing, etc.

My sister tackled the invites all on her own.  Using Mama Judd’s scrapbook tools, she created the invitation.

Pardon the poor quality of this iPhone photo.

The girls, of course, had to be dressed to kill.  I used iron-on fabric paper to create a Thing 1 and Thing 2 logo for the front of basic white onesies.  My sister decided that Thing 1 would be the first baby out – so as to prevent any arguing when they were older.  (Thinking ahead, that one!)  I ordered iron-on appliques of the Cat in the Hat for a little flair on the buttocks.  The tutus I made during a long road trip.  They weren’t as pretty as they could have been – oh, if I could only sew! – but they definitely had an impact.  Those stinkin’ kids are adorable.

Sewing would have also helped me create those crowns.  I can embroider, which was sufficient for this project, but I can see how a sewing machine could really go above and beyond.  I created the crowns using two pieces of felt, ironed together with fusible backing, and stitched around the edges.  I also used that fusible backing for the letters on the front. You can find a template here.

Apparently the girls didn’t think the crowns were as fabulous as I did.  We couldn’t keep them on their heads.

I wanted to make an impact from the moment the guests arrived so I created pinwheels for the entrance to the party.  There are several tutorials out there but I chose the easy way out.  I didn’t drill a hole through a dowel or anything fancy like that.  I just wrapped the pin around the dowel. Voila.  The pinwheels didn’t spin but I was more concerned that they were pretty. It wasn’t windy that day anyway, so it must have been meant to be.

In the foyer we displayed a memory board of pictures of the girls’ first year.  I bought an old cork board at the thrift store for $4 and covered it with fabric.  Around the board we displayed photos of the girls’ first birthday professional photo shoot.

I covered the tables in aqua blue cloths and adorned them with red spots of all different sizes.  Mama Judd really comes in handy with her scrapbook tools for anything using paper.

I did different centerpieces for each table. One used ostrich feathers and another used fake Gerber daisies.

I found some unique inspiration for the third centerpiece. These hip-looking orbs are actually Christmas tree ornaments that were 75 percent off at a closing Roberts’ store.  I balanced them (poorly) on Ikea candle holders.

Sprinkled throughout the ceiling were clumps of tissue paper pom poms.  We also had a banner we made using Mama Judd’s Cricut.  It said: “We are 1!”

On the fireplace we displayed a hat I created from poster board and wooden letters of the girls’ initials from the craft store that we painted to match our color scheme.

In the corner we played the original movie version of Cat in the Hat. (Doug’s technological brilliance is also key to my party planning success.)  If you haven’t watched the original film before, sit down and enjoy.  It’s 20 minutes of pure hilarity.

Each of the cousins received party favors.  I wrapped kites in aqua blue paper with red initials for their names.  The kites were inspired by the part of the book where Thing 1 and Thing 2 fly their kites throughout the house and make a big mess.

I placed a lollipop display near the food spread.  This cool red vase was also a Christmas section discount item.  Score!

Guests ate pretty cookies, but the birthday girls needed cake! Each got her very own cupcake, which was topped with cotton candy to resemble the crazy blue hair of Thing 1 and Thing 2.

To date, this is the party I’m most pleased with.  It is also, however, the party on which I’ve had the most time to plan.

Which is better: the original or Mike Myers Cat in the Hat film?