Circus Party Photo Booth

When planning Owen’s circus birthday party I decided that a photo booth would be a fun addition!  Creating the photo booth area was so super easy.  I simply covered our patio sliders with a couple of festive, thrifted sheets and invited everyone to “step right up” with a circus-y message written on the nearby outdoor chalkboard!  Props for the photo booth included a thrifted and painted picture frame, an inflatable elephant (you know… because a circus is never complete without an elephant), clown hats and noses, silly glasses, a top hat and stick-on mustaches (for the ring master), a feather boa and so much more!  Many of the props I was able to borrow from Bailey’s dress-up box.  The other items I was able to purchase inexpensively at either the Dollar Tree or the local party store.

I had no idea that the photo booth I created on the patio would be such a big hit.  I mean, don’t get me wrong… I knew it would be fun and I figured the kids would really enjoy it, but I never imagined that I would actually get all of the grandparents to participate.  Amazingly, though, they did!  And I’m so glad to have gotten so many fun pictures of the whole family!

Things started off sweet… and then they got silly!

Notice how Owen was eating his stick-on moustache in the picture above?  Classic!

Circus Themed 1st Birthday

I can’t tell you just how excited I was with the way Owen’s circus themed, first birthday party turned out!  The food and decorations… the favors, friends and family… everything was perfect! 

The menu for the party consisted of hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, animal crackers, cotton candy and of course clown cupcakes… all of which were very kid-friendly and circus themed!

With this being the first ever summer birthday party at our house, I was insanely excited to include the outdoors in the entertainment. 

In an attempt to draw people outside, I created a photo booth area on the patio… complete with circus themed props (The photo booth was so much fun that I’ve devoted an entirely separate post to it… so check it out to see all of the madness)! 

After eating and goofing off in the photo booth it was time for the cake!  I baked a small smash cake, which Owen had no problem diving right into.

One very quick bath and outfit change later, and it was time for Owen to open his presents.  Of course, the most exciting part of this was rolling around in the floor with all of the paper!

It was definitely a busy, whirlwind kind of day… but more fun than I could have imagined!  Happy birthday sweet boy!

Circus Themed Party Favor Bags

I was so excited to celebrate Owen’s first birthday this past weekend!  But before I get to the details of the party, I want to share the super simple favors I put together using these circus-themed goodies. 

To contain all of the treats I used popcorn bags purchased from the Dollar Tree and upgraded them using ticket-shaped invitations found at a local thrift store.

I cut the invitations in half and used double-sided tape to stick the invitation to the front and back of the popcorn bags.

Once that was done I just dropped in the goodies and called it a day. 

Super cheap, super easy and most importantly super fun!  What more could any circus party need!

Bailey’s Rainbow Birthday Party!

This past weekend we celebrated Bailey’s third birthday (check out her first and second birthday parties too)!  I tried to keep things as simple as possible by sticking with a rainbow theme, where pretty much anything bright and colorful would go. 

I whipped up these cheerful invitations to go along with the rainbow theme and then printed them on card stock left over from my sister’s bridal shower earlier this year.  Waste not… want not, right?

The foyer, dining room and kitchen were all decorated with these fun, rainbow-colored streamers that I made (thanks to a little inspiration from my friend Holly).  They were so super easy to make and I plan to reuse them at future celebrations.

Since the most important people at the party were going to be two and three year olds I tried to have a few different play zones scattered throughout the main living areas (you know… to try to keep the kiddos from destroying playing in Bailey’s room).  I pulled out the rainbow-colored blocks and set them out in the living room.

In the dining room I covered the table with white craft paper, which the kids were free to color on.  And color they did!

The food at the party consisted of pizza (requested by Bailey), rainbow-inspired fruit and veggie trays, and rainbow tie-dye cupcakes (recipe found here)! 

The kids all seemed to be BIG fans of the spread, especially when it came to the cupcakes!

After eating the kids were invited to make a toddler-friendly tie-dyed t-shirt following this tutorial. 

They all seemed to enjoy the activity, but it proved to be a little more time-consuming than their two and three year old attention spans could manage.  So, we moved on to the presents.  Naturally, many of the presents had to be tested (for quality assurance purposes) as soon as they were opened!

And as always, playing with the wrapping paper was just as much fun as playing with the presents!

Even sweet Owen enjoyed getting in on the wrapping-paper-playtime-fun!

As they left, the kids were given favor bags filled with candies that fit right in with the rainbow theme. 

But as great as the favor bags were, by far the best part of the day was Bailey getting to spend some time with her two most favorite people… her BF (as in boyfriend) Colin and her BFF Maelen!

Happy birthday sweet girl!  I love you to the end of the rainbow and back!