Horsin' Around

In addition to the actual pony, there were homemade stick horses for races... it was totally fun.

At one point during the party, the known present thief, Senor Havran, was seen lurking about...

After he snagged the gifts, all the kids jumped on their horses to catch and retrieve the stolen presents.

 

 



The party was so much fun. The kids had a great time and I think they will remember it for some time. And I think Jeremiah's face says it all.

 



The Chuck Wagon

I love to prepare food for people. For this party, I wanted to prepare food that I immediately thought of "Western."

Let's start with drinks... We drank from "The Water Hole." We had water, lemonade, and chocolate milk.

For lunch we had a meal off of the "Chuck Wagon" of chili and cornbread, sheriff badge cookies, s'more pops, and, of course, cake.

 

 

Next time, I will talk through some of the details and games.

 

Little Touches Here and There

The Western themed party was a huge success! This was such a fun party to put together.

Where to start, where to start. Let's look at the party decorations...the little details...

One of the standout details was our WANTED poster. Every child {and adult} posted with the mustache of his or her choice and struck a pose. The reward was, of course, 4000 because our birthday boy was turning 4.

 

 

 

The party favors were also to theme. My fabulous Mother-in-Law put these together...and oh they were sweet. Little brown bags, with scrapbooked boots on the outside...they were adorable and all the kids couldn't wait to get theirs.

 

 

Remember when I said that I try to have one standout detail for every party? This party was no exception. It was kept a secret until the very last moment. I pulled all the kids together and said, "Tell me about cowboys." I got answers like, They have guns, they get the bad guys, they wear hats... Then I said, "But what do cowboys ride?" All at once they said "HORSES!!" To which I answered, "But do we have any horses?" With many a sad face they said, "No." It was at that time that I said, "Oh yes we do!"

 

 

The look on their faces was priceless. I think they will remember this for years to come.

 

Next time, we'll take a look at the food. 

 

 

 

Howdy

Over the weekend we had a fantastic party... It was a western theme for my son's 4th birthday party.

For the next few posts, you're invited to share in the fun!

We'll go over decor, food, games, and more!

 

Fold on the Dotted Line

One little detail that is simple and fun is napkin folding... and it doesn't have to be only for formal parties.

Say you are having a Hula theme... you could fold your napkins into t-shirts as seen right here.

Oh how I wish I had found this fish fold for the Under the Sea party!

And how cute is this adorable bunny for a Spring time or Easter luncheon?

 

 



As I was saying, folding napkins can be fun and add a little extra touch to your party!

An Easy Money Saver

One of the areas that I save on my party budget is on the invitations. Now you might be thinking, "Wait a minute, invitations can really add up!" And that is totally true...invitation costs can sneak up on your budget very quickly.

What I like to do is this: make my own. I have found quite a few free digital scrap booking kits {and I have purchased some as well} that have fit my party theme. Then, in an editing software {I use Photoshop Elements} I create my own. This is fun and I get to make the invitations exactly how I want them.

But where is the money saver? Walgreens. Target. Or any other place that has a 1 hour photo lab. For 19 cents a piece, I get 4x6 invitations that are completely unique, just how I want them, and for a killer price. Sometimes I will have the invitations printed for me on cardstock, which also looks very nice.

So there it is, one of my best kept money saving secrets.

It's Time to Play

Just about any party needs a game or two. Something fun or exciting to pass the time.

Now, with all the picture taking I did for the Under the Sea party, I somehow managed to *not* take a picture of the crafts {which were a hit with the kiddos.}

Here was one:

You can find it here on my pinboard.

I made a few changes to make it easier for the kids. I had prepared the plates before hand - both painted and glued them together. Also, instead of scrapbook style fish I used these from Oriental Trading Company. The other change I made was to not do the clear plastic over the top...it was going to need to much involvement from me and I wanted this to be all about the kids.

It was fun and the kids got to take something home other than candy.

All in all the party was a ton of fun for the kids and it was a blast to put together!