And so last weekend it was time for yet another birthday at our house. Our little guy was turning 5! And as it seems to go for the poor third child, he had never had a real birthday party. So this was the year. And we decided to have a big backyard birthday party like we used to do before, well, before we had three kids! We love having our kids’ friends AND their families over, so we were excited to do it again. It’s such a good opportunity to see friends we don’t get to see as much as we’d like and it’s a great way to meet our kids’ new friends and parents. So as it goes, our party of a few of his closest friends and family turned into a party of 50!
I’m not complaining – it was great fun. But the elaborate party set-up I envisioned had to be edited a little bit as there were many other things to get done. Luckily, the entertainment was taken care of. He really wanted a “bouncy house” (that’s what he calls large inflatables), so between that and just playing in the backyard, the kids were pooped by the end.
Instead of trying to come up with a birthday party theme, I decided to just go with “birthday” as inspiration for my set-up. I wanted to make everyone a party hat, but as my time became limited, I decided to just make hats as a centerpiece and use hats from the store for the kids.
All of my hats turned out differently. I just decided to try a different design on each one. The hat above though, was my favorite. To get started, I made a cone out of a half-circle cut out of cardboard. I did not do any precise measuring, so it took a little tweaking until it was the size I wanted and it was even. To make the cone, just roll up the half circle until it’s the size you want at the bottom and then attach (I stapled mine). To make the tissue pom pom on the top, I cut tissue at a few different lengths and stapled them to the inside where the cone would come together. For the outside, I glued craft paper onto the cardboard and then for kicks I glittered around the lines. I figure a little glitter can never hurt! At the bottom, I glued three different layers of tissue around the inside starting with the shortest pieces and then finishing with a layer of the longest pieces, alternating colors on each layer.
Because I was just using plain pre-made hats that I found at Party City, I decided to embellish them a little by glueing pom pons (from Hobby Lobby) to the top. The extra pom pons were scattered around the table for color and interest and the kids loved playing with them. The fabric for the table cloth came from one of my favorite new stores in Tulsa, Owl and Drum. They have a fantastic selection of fabrics, crafts and hand-made gifts! The fun orange napkins came from The Inviting Place and the plates are from Target.
And finally, each child took home a little bag with orange and blue rock candy that I found at Sweet Tooth. Almost every kid loves rock candy and it comes in so many fun colors – such an easy way to tie in your party colors AND send home something they’ll like!
Overall it was a fun party! The set-up was easy, but it was fun and festive – just what it needed to be. Because really, five year olds don’t care about the decorations and although it’s fun to make it look great for your guests, there’s still food to cook and a house to clean, so it’s got to be realistic!
Happy Partying!
