Mardi Gras Party

This party is one of my favorites!  After Hurricane Katrina we wanted to celebrate my son's 4th Birthday - New Orleans style!  Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World was the perfect venue.  Everything was included in the package which made it easy for me being pregnant with my third child.

The invitations were provided by Mardi Gras World and I just had to print and mail them.

The perimeter of the den was lined with floats which was just beautiful and full of color.  Our backdrop was a huge dinosaur float with lights while purple, green and gold banner size streamers hung from the ceiling.  Several banquet style tables and chairs were set up with balloon centerpieces and matching table clothes.

We had a huge buffet of red beans and rice, fried chicken strips,

fruit and vegetable trays and finger sandwiches.

Activities included making Mardi Gras masks with glitter and feathers...

Trying on costumes and headpieces...

and face painting!

Instead of a traditional birthday cake we celebrated with king cakes.

And the birthday boy got the baby!

This was one of the best birthday parties we've had!

Speedster/Raceway Party

My oldest son is all boy!  And what do big and little boys have in common?  They like fast toys...so a Speedster/Raceway party was the perfect theme!

The invitation had to be a race car, of course, and I found a neat die-cut invitation by Julia D. Azar which I was able to print myself and then tear off the perforated edges to shape the invitation.

 



Vroom....Vroom!!!

The first activity was a Craft.  Tables were set up with wooden race cars, paints and decals (from Oriental Trading) for each guest to customize and take home.  The kids (and adults) enjoyed painting their hot rods!

This was the first party my husband was excited to get involved with.  He built a race track with lumber and taped racingng stripes on the course with a start and finish line.  A few orange racing cones and checkered flags, found at a party supply store, set the course.  The kids competed with remote control race cars. 

The winner walked away with the trophy!  However, I would suggest smaller trophies for ALL guests in lieu of 1 big trophy...there were a few tears at the end of the race!  Party City has a small 3 inch tropy that would be perfect for all participants.

We also had a Race Car Bean Bag Toss (Oriental Trading)...Winner with the most points won a Remote Control Car!

What else would you have for a birthday cake but the checkered flags...Simple - and the kids loved it!

Cowboy/Western Party

Sometimes the tiniest of things will spark a party idea...in this case my son saw some Pop & Snap Guns at the local toy store and fell in love with them, hence, planning for his 3rd birthday party was underway!  Cowboys and Cowgirls gathered at a Western style BBQ for pony and stagecoach rides.

After owning and managing an invitation and stationery store for several years and working as a party planner/coordinator, I can tell you the two most important components of any birthday party is, the invitation and the cake!  The invitation announces the event and stirs the excitement while the cake is what it's all about!  Everything else is lagniappe.

I purchased the invitation from one of my vendors, Julia D. Azar, which were large die cut cowboy shaped hats with a leather strap.  Most invitations are now laser or ink jet compatible and can be printed on your home printer.  General rule of thumb, purchase a few extra invites for mistakes and test print on a blank paper.  Invites should be mailed at least 3 weeks prior to your event. 

Most bakeries will customize your cake to match the invite so keep an extra for that purpose and another for your scrapbook or family album.  I wanted cowboy boots for his cake which the bakery was also able to put the cowboy hat on top!  Cake was awesome and as you can see some little fingers had already made their way into the cake before we could cut it.

We set up a buffet table of pistolet buns and condiments with bbq beef, pulled pork, baked beans and potatoe salad.  Yee-haw...that was some good grub!  We also scattered some snacks around the house like a fruit and cheese tray, a bowl of cheese & pretzel goldfish crackers and a tray of mixed nuts over at the saloon.  The Saloon was set up outside in old wooden barrels with water, soft drinks and juice boxes.

In lieu of candy or goody bags for favors, I opted for some precious straw cowboy hats trimmed in red and blue which were a nice keepsake and great for the kids to wear while riding the ponies and stagecoach.

Since I stated western attire on the invite some kids already had their hats, so I also had blue and red bandanas to tie around their necks or hang from their holsters.  The bandanas also made a great decorating accent around the cake and buffet table.  Both, the bandanas and hats can be found at most local novelty or party supply stores, if not, you can order online at Oriental Trading.

Hope these ideas helped with planning your next rodeo!  Yee-Haw!

Cowboy/Barnyard/Farm Party

My middle son wanted a cowboy party on a farm for his 4th birthday.  There is a petting farm about 20 minutes from the house that is ideal for younger children.  So immediately, I booked the party, began searching for the invitations and ordered the cake.  I definitely wanted invitations that were farm related and I found a precious barnyard invite with animals wearing party hats, from Cross My Heart, and printed them myself.  You might want to try My Expressions.com for a great selection of invitations and stationery.

The farm had so many activities for the kids we didn't need to bring anything to keep them entertained.
They were given bags of bread and carrots to feed the animals.  There was a mini carousel on site along with a playset and finally a tractor-style hayride.  Despite it still being quite hot and humid for October, the kids (and parents) loved it.

We had our own party room, which was an old converted stall in a barn and made a perfect setting. We were allowed to bring in our own food and served bbq beef on a bun, potatoe salad, baked beans, finger sandwiches and brownies. 

I fell in love with a cake I saw on the internet and was perfect for the occasion.  It was two tiered; the top layer was blue with mini horseshoes and red bandana icing trim and the bottom layer was a cow hide print with brown rope icing trim (not fondant).  It was so cute and delicious!

Again, instead of trinkets as party favors, I did individually wrapped cookie favors in the shape of a number 4 with red and blue icing.  Fun was had by all and we would certainly do it again!

Carousel Birthday Party

There's something magical about a child's carousel party.  And we fortunately have several beautiful carousels here in New Orleans. Many shopping centers have carousels and even parks, zoos or a mini carousel party truck may be available in your area and make great parties.

I chose a colorful invitation by Inviting Company and printed them myself.  If you're very crafty and would like to make your own invitations try a craft store such as Michael's or Hobby Lobby where the paper, stickers, stamps, appliques, etc. are endless (and are a great way to tie in your theme if you're a scrapper.) 

The food was simple since we had to pick-up and transport everything ourselves. Party trays of fruit and cheese, assorted finger sandwiches, chicken strips with dipping sauces and of course, cake and ice cream!

I found these beautiful carousel horses (a Wilton Cake Kit at Michael's) that I had to use!!!  They really stood out in the middle of the cake.  Similiar to columns on a wedding cake, the flying horses were used to support the top tier of the cake which was accented with balloons and flower icing in the same colors as the invitation. The large number two was made of styrofoam covered with matching icing that the cake shop, Swiss Confectionery, added for me. 




Waiting patiently for his cake!



When it was time to cut the cake, the horse columns were just snapped into

 grooves on the top plate and removed easily with the bottom plate.

The bottom layer was almond cake with strawberry filling and the top tier was chocolate cake with buttercream filling. YUMMY!

Number 2 shaped butter cookies with icing and sprinkles was an added treat!  Party favors were Carnival Boxes of Animal Crackers.  Other party favor ideas might include Large Swirly Lollipops, Bubbles (always fun) and bagged Cotton Candy, which can even be found at Wal-Mart or Dollar Tree.



LAST RIDE OF THE DAY...EVERYBODY RIDES!

THE BIRTHDAY BOY HAD A GREAT DAY!