Chuga Chuga Choo Choo – Train Party

This year my adorable nephew Blake, turned 1. My sister decided on a train theme at the park. Take a peek at all the party highlights.

Invite – Train Ticket invites were created with a matching train ticket directions card.

Train Party Centerpiece Idea – I purchased an unfinished wooden crate from Michael’s and painted each side a different color. I also found some already painted wood figures in the shape of a train and hot glued one on each side. Initially, the crate was going to be used as part of his birthday gift, but in the end the gift did not fit, so we used the crate on the gift table to hold the adult goodie bags.
Train cup Goodie Bag for kids – It is amazing what you can do with a plastic flower pot! I headed over to Lowe’s to see about purchasing some small plastic planting pots. Lowe’s has a program where you can return your used plastic pots and they will either recycle or reuse them. So I was able to get 12 plastic pots for free! I spray-painted 4 pots in red, 4 pots in blue, and 4 pots in yellow (matching the color theme for the party). I then bought a package of multi-colored buttons. I hot glued two buttons on each side for the wheels, and then completed the look with a label thanking the guests for coming. My sister filled each cup with some play-doh, candy, fruit snacks, and other little toys. We placed the pots in a large circle on the gift table. Inside the circle was the train crate as mentioned in the centerpiece idea above.

Adult Goodie Bag – Since there were many adults at the party, some of which did not have children, we decided to also make adult goodie bags as a thank you. I created a plastic bag topper as shown below. Each bag was filled with chocolate and then the topper was placed on the baggie and stapled on each end.

It was a great day on the Blake Express! Now we are focusing on his 2nd birthday, contemplating a WANTED, Wild West Theme. Follow us for upcoming details!

Let's Picnic!!

As a brief get to know me, I have been married for almost 7 years to my best friend and we have a wonderful 3 year old daughter named Tatum. Each year plans begin in early summer for her big birthday in August! This year plans were a bit disturbed as our family moved in the middle of the birthday planning...wah wah wah. I was able to pull it all together in the end with my wonderful blog cohorts. Wanted to take the time during the first blog to share some of the party highlights with each of you along with the pictures from the event.

1. Each child was provided a personalized placemat. Extra placemats were created with the verbiage “Preferred Picnic Partygoer” for those guests we were not sure were attending
2. Each picnic partygoer was provided a decorated lunch sack with a chicken sandwich and bag of chips. A condiment buffet was set up with lettuce, tomatoes, and all that good stuff!
3. Napkins were rolled pre-party and secured with coordinating craft paper…XOXO!!!
4. Each child was given a picnic basket goodie bag which included a personalized coloring book and crayons, a Frisbee with a picture of Tatum, a large lollipop, crackers and cheese snack, a plush ball, a kite and bubbles
5. A cupcake centerpiece was used on one of the tables made from a watermelon shell and some silk flowers…a big hit at the party!
6. Photo DVD – Each year since my daughter was born I have made a photo DVD slideshow with all of the photo memories for the year with coordinating music. This DVD plays throughout the party and guests can watch as they please. Please stay tuned on this one, as next year I am looking at changing this up a bit…more to come!!!
7. Activities – Since most of the kiddos were under 3 years old, a “Family Challenge” was provided for those families willing to participate. Activities included:

a. Roll the melon – roll a melon across the yard and back
b. Egg on the spoon – walk with an egg on a spoon across the yard
c. Puzzle Time – I turned a picture of my daughter into a puzzle. Adhered it to cardboard with modpodge and cut it out
d. Bean Bag Toss – throw bean bags into coordinating buckets
e. My Favorite Memory – cards were provided for families to write their favorite memory of Tatum along with a birthday wish for her