And we threw him a little carnival themed birthday party. It was a ton of fun. We hosted his preschool class and their siblings. We served hot dogs, Grandpa Steve's world famous BBQ chicken legs, corn on the cob, watermelon and popcorn. We also had a treat room with cake pops, cotton candy, circus peanuts, animal crackers and 2 cupcake choices. After the kids were jacked up on sugar, they zipped back and forth between the bouncy, petting zoo, pony ride and a few carnival styled games in the back yard. It took me two days to recover. But it was worth every second. Here are a few photos from the event...
The invitations look a lot like this. I bought the pdf/jpeg from an artist on Etsy and then printed them myself. If you are interested, you may find them here... Vintage Carnival Printable from Lora Lang Designs.
I was so pleased with the invitation that I went back to Etsy and bought this package, also from Lora Lang Designs. DIY Printables Package
Milo and his adorable friend, Everette.
The cupcakes were both vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream (as per Milo). I used some of the printable files to make the cupcake wrappers and picks for the top cupcake. And I made the popcorn cupcake, using marshmallows that I pinched and twisted and placed on top of high mounds of frosting. The wrappers for those came from an Etsy artist, as well. Diane's Creative Touch DIY Popcorn Wrappers
The Sweet's Room
The other part of the room. I warned parents that if they saw their kids milling around the dining room, that chances were good that sugar was being consumed.
The favors. I bought the empty boxes from Oriental Trading Co. and got the idea for the ticket from another party that I researched online. The boxes were filled with small teddy bears, clown noses, twisty lollipops and circus tattoos.
The idea for the centerpieces was borrowed (stollen) from another carnival themed party that I found online. They were easy to do (hello, hot glue gun!) But took a little time to make. I got the plastic popcorn cups from Target. I think that they were $1 each.
Milo's big sister enjoying a popcorn cupcake. My Mom decorated the hats with some crepe paper ribbon that we found at a party store.
The clown cake pops. Because we have had a lot of events happening lately, I seem to be making a lot of cake pops. Last week, alone, I made over 300. (200 were for a school event). These were a lot of fun. But a word to the wise, never attempt to make cake pops on a warm day or in a warm kitchen. You might drive yourself crazy. The original idea came from Bakerella's Cake Pops Cookbook. My clown had candy orange slices for hair, they used Boston Baked Beans.
