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Country Western party: Max is 1!
► Posted under country-western, party features by Heather
I have to tell you, it’s the biggest thrill to have a professional photographer inquire about one of my themes – especially a photographer as talented as Adrian Hindes of Canyon Photography. When she asked about teaming up to work on a country-western party for her son, Max, I couldn’t say “sign me up, pardner” fast enough! It was SO much fun to put the theme together with her, and to hear about how she made Max’s first birthday party so special. Read on, cowgirls… : )
To create rustic signs on the cheap, Adrian took inexpensive balsa wood planks, stained them with wood stain, and added text with a white paint pen. For a finishing touch, she hot glued rope trim around the edges.
The backdrop behind Max’s printable banner is actually brown craft paper from the dollar store, with wood stain that was “ragged” on to create a leathery look.
The cowboy hats used throughout the party are from Oriental Trading.
Farm hands were treated to yummy finger foods, including “haystacks” (recipe here) and “honey wheat ropes” (actually pretzels), plus lemonade and a flavor-your-own milk bar.
“Chicken feed” is the cutest thing! It’s actually a granola mix with peanut M&M’s added.
In addition to being a fabulous photographer, Adrian also makes a heck of a cake! She made Max’s large cake as well as all of the cupcakes.
Adrian made this adorable wreath, too! She says, “it’s a straw wreath form (I left the plastic on) and I ripped 1-2″ sections of red bandanna fabric. I double-knotted the strips around the wreath, then tied on the red ‘M’ for Max with rope. Easy peasy!”
Hoedown corncakes and “well water” are a must after a long day on the farm. : )
To make this adorable farm bowling game, Adrian used clip art from Scrappin Doodles. She printed the clip art onto card stock, laminated each character, then attached them to liter-sized soda bottles that were each filled about one-third full of sand.
These stick horses are so creative and so sweet! Adrian and her mother-in-law made them the day before the party. They cut the head out of butcher paper, added yarn from the dollar store, and stuffed the heads with leftover plastic grocery store bags. Then, they hot-glued in a dowel rod and tied a rope on for the reins. Adrian says “everything is held together with hot glue, so there were a few burnt fingers but it was a cheap and fun project! We had sticker eyes and mouths that the kids used to decorate their horses.”
Each guest went home with their own miniature petting zoo – how cute is that?! The felt barns were a bargain from the Target dollar aisle.
Here’s Max, really enjoying his smash cake – atta boy! : )
The cutest lil’ farmer in all of Arizona. : ) Happy birthday, Max! Thank you so much, Adrian!
Photography: Adrian Hindes, Canyon Photography
Party printables and water bottle labels: Chickabug
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Tuesday, September 13th, 2011 at 10:44 am
[...] Adrian of Canyon Photography picked up simple dollar bin felt barns from Target added a few animals and sent each child home with a miniature petting zoo! (via Chickabug) [...] -
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 at 5:59 pm
[...] has a ton of cute ideas. I’m loving these stick horses made with butcher paper and yarn. Click here for more (like the ‘Farm Bowling’ game, [...]
Christine @ Pure Joy Events says:
Such a cute party! So many great details. The stick horses are my favorite!
Pluffmuddstudio says:
Thanks! I am totally borrowing that idea for Cate's party! Love the bowling too! Perfect for toddlers! Thank you for sharing.
Pluffmuddstudio says:
Love this theme! I am doing a western theme for Cate's 2nd birthday. Love the wreath.. Can you link up the vendor or tutorial?
Heather - Chickabug says:
Thanks, Christina! : ) Though wouldn't you know that the wreath was the ONLY thing I didn't bug Adrian for details about?! I wrote to her to ask about it. I'll let you know what I find out!
Heather - Chickabug says:
UPDATE! Adrian said, "it's a straw wreath form (I left the plastic on) and I ripped 1-2" sections of red bandanna fabric. I double-knotted the strips around the wreath, then tied on the red 'M' for Max with rope. Easy peasy!"
Angela Cargile says:
PRECIOUS! Love it all!
PartyMom says:
What a cute party! Love the DIY milk bar and the farm bowling!
Vintagemommaandhertwins says:
I just saw your party on pinterest and had to come over and read all about it!! I love it...and the stick horses are adorable!!
Yesenia says:
Heather what a fun party! i stumbled upon your blog while searching "Country theme parties" and love what you did with the event. My son is about to turn 1 and even though our theme will be Toy Story, I really want to concentrate more on Woody's cowboy side. Thank you for the inspiration!
Heather says:
Thanks Yesenia - you're so sweet!! I'm glad you found some ideas here. : ) I *adore* Toy Story - I hope your son's party is wonderful!
Victoria Garcia says:
Love the stick horses! I tried making one last night and it didn't quite look like yours. Any tips you could offer? It took about an hour to do one, so I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong. Thanks!!
Heather says:
I've never tried making a stick horse from paper like the ones Adrian made, but I have an alternate idea - here's a tutorial on how to make stick horses using socks:
http://www.chickabug.com/blog/2011/10/how-to-make-a-stick-hobby-horse.html