It's My Party

Well, actually it's Savannah's 3rd birthday party but I will be doing all the work so I've been looking for ideas and inspiration.  I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by kid's birthday parties these days.  Growing up at my house, things were pretty simple.  You invited your besties over, gorged yourself on some cake and ice cream, opened your gifts, took some awful, awkward birthday photos, and ran around screaming and playing until the moms said it was time to go home.  That was about it, but that was good enough. 

 

Nowadays you have this stuff going on:

 

 

This is the birthday party for Emily from The Bachelorette's daughter.  You can check out the details on Emily A. Clark's blog.  Of course I think this is fabulous if you can afford a party planner for a kid's party.  Otherwise, it just stresses me out.

 

So, I was relieved when I saw my friend Cindy's birthday party for her son Harrison.  So many cute, simple ideas that, yes, took some effort, but were not completely, ridiculously over the top.  Here are the details:

 

Theme:  Cowboys and Indians (pretty simple, right?)

Harrison sporting his cowboy hat and vest.

 

 

Location:  Hayes Nature Preserve, a local park with a great playground that includes Indian tee pees, a wooden fort, a swinging bridge, and archaeological dig pits (aka sand boxes).  The best part about this:  no house cleaning required!

Addison posing in front of a tee pee.

 

The Goodies:

Goody bags made from bandannas tied with raffia and cowboy masks attached

 

 

Cowboy hats, sheriff's badges, toy pistols, and bows and arrows from the dollar stores

 

Indian headbands made with strips of faux suede and feathers

 

The Decorations:

Cow balloons (every kid's party needs balloons, right?)

 

Bandanna plates and napkins, plus Wanted posters, cactus tree and snake cutouts

 

The Eats:

Cow cupcakes in bandanna cupcake liners from Cakes Etc. and juice boxes (shown in photos above)

 

Chocolate tee pee treats (yum) and ('cause she's a good mom) the usual semi-healthy chips and sandwiches that moms are supposed to serve at parties like this to cancel out the sugar intake from the cupcakes and chocolate

 

Cindy did a fabulous job creating a fun, memorable party for her son's birthday!