Cowboy Birthday Party

What a week...shew! I am so glad that last week is over. It was a great week, but I am Fo-Evuh-Mo Tired! Yesterday was the big celebration. E's birthday isn't officially until next week, but we went ahead and had the party so that everyone could make it. 

There were 40 people in our house at once. It was loud, it was crazy, and it was a BLAST!

E had a FABULOUS time and was loaded down with gifts.

Here are a few shots of the party. I am terrible about getting pics once everyone starts showing up, so here is what party central(a.k.a. my house) looked like before the guests arrived.

I had a table set up for cowboy gear.

Each child got a horse on a stick. These were a Dollar Tree purchase

cowboy hats(from Oriental Trading), red for girls, blue for boys.

Deputy badges from Hobbly Lobbly. I made twine necklaces to hang the badges on since they didn't have pins on the backs.

There were also guns and bandanas for the little ones. 

When everyone arrived they went outside and played in the back yard. A nasty storm hit, so all of our outdoor activities were cancelled. I had some games ready to be played, but since the monsoon hit, we couldn't do it. I made a horse and lasso(sis-n-law helped with the lasso) for Lasso the Pony. There were horse shoes for adults and kids to play, and panning for gold. The games didn't get played:( This is the 2nd year in a row that it has poured down rain on the day of E's party. Thankfully our house was just big enough to hold everyone. 

These boots were mine when I was a little one. 

A few more "vintage" cowboy items I had on hand. 

I didn't get a shot of the table with all the food. Here's the menu though:

Hot Dogs

BBQ

Chips

Baked Beans

Mexican Corn Bread Mini Muffins

Chex Mix

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeños (Huge Hit!!)

Cow Patties(Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies)

Hay Stacks

Cupcakes 

Ice Cream

The banner I made out of quartered bandanas. You can see at the bottom of the picture the bowls that we used to serve chips and buns in. These were a 4th of July clearance purchase from H.L.

E's cake. My attempt at a split rail fence:o) Found the horse in the dollar section at Walmart.

I had cupcakes for everyone else. It's super quick and less mess. The boot cupcake toppers were from H.L. as well.

Party Favor Table...(found this antique table at a yard sale for $15..score!....gotta strip some paint:o))

The little paper buckets were from the Dollar Section at Target. They were a quarter a piece when I bought them. The wooden cutouts came from H.L. as well:o) I just added their names to the cut outs and my mother hot glued them on the buckets....speaking of my mother.....I would have NEVER been able to pull the party off without her help!! She showed up on Friday and worked like a mule (and kept me on track). Hubs is still out of commission from his surgery, so he couldn't do much...well, he did dust the whole house and that was a major task;o) My dad and my mother-in-law helped out a lot as well. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family!

Pre-party festivities....football:o)

Centerpieces on the card tables. I added peanuts with the shells on top of the raffia. Just took the pic before that happened:o) The "gold nuggets" in the bottom of the mason jars are rocks spray painted gold. I found the pie plates at Dollar Tree. The table cloths came from Ross. There were only two, but one was a long table cloth. I just split it in half and zig zag stitched the edges. Quick fix:o)

For the craft, I found some foam cowboys and cowgirls that they could dress up. The kids seemed to enjoy this part. I found those at H.L. too.....do you see how often I visit H.L.????

We had story time as well. Do you know how hard it is to find a cowboy picture book? My sister read Diamond Jim Dandy and the Sherriff.

We had a wonderful turn out and have a great family and awesome friends. I am so glad that they were able to share in the celebration of our little man!!

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