Planning a party is like a creative mind’s dream, especially if you like to DIY. So after the holidays & the January/winter blues kinda set in, planning Emersyn’s birthday party is a welcome project!
I’m excited to finally get around to blogging about this. As soon as her party ended I had to spend my free time studying for an exam which I just took & am proud to add “Fitness Nutrition Specialist” to my resume so I can continue better helping others thru my online coaching, blog or personal training. While fitness & nutrition is my professional & personal passion, I really enjoy things that let me bring out my creative side. And I love sharing those things with you all as well!
Emersyn has always loved animals, particularly barnyard animals so picking her theme was a no brainer. So my goal was to make a girly barnyard theme. I immediately set to Pinterest for ideas & started her own party board. (Seriously what would we do without Pinterest??) I had so much fun last year planning her princess 1st birthday party!
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I’ll post all of the party details below! Let’s get to the fun…party day! It was so cool to see my entire vision come together on the day of. Emmy was pretty excited & wanted to open a few gifts right away of course! She got a bit of stage fright when everyone was singing Happy Birthday to her but she thoroughly enjoyed eating ice cream (her favorite) & I also found out she loves Chex Mix! (I mean who doesn’t?) She loved playing with all the balloons, especially with cousins Kaden & Kody who made a game out of it!
Our Surprise: It’s no secret by now that I’m pregnant but we decided to wait until after at least 12 weeks to spread the news. With Emmy’s party just a few weeks after the 12 week mark & all our close family members in 1 spot we figured it would be the perfect time to reveal the news. The pregnancy news probably wasn’t a huge surprise as many knew we’d been trying but the even bigger surprise was that we already know the gender, having found out just 2 days before the party! If you want to know more about how I found out early, read this. Click here for my most recent pregnancy update (26 weeks) that includes a fit pregnancy workout!
We were thrilled that almost all of our family made it to celebrate this very special day with us! Emmy is so loved!
PARTY DETAILS
Invitations: The 1st thing I did was order invitations & had them printed at Office Max. I found them HERE on Etsy & had a great experience with the seller. I even ordered matching food/drink cards for the table & thank you cards. We have such a large growing family so this year we did close family only. (Emmy makes number 11 of grandchildren just on my side!)
DIY Projects:
Pink Barn Table Centerpiece/Backdrop: I bought a pink tri-fold piece of cardboard at Hobby Lobby & cut into a barn shape. I literally just used poster board or construction paper to cut out all all the details & then glued them on with a hot glue gun. You can use white duck tape for the barn doors.
Pink Play Barn: One of my favorite projects I started early was her pink play box barn. I used this tutorial for inspiration!
Banner: I had the most fun making her banner inspired by one I saw on Etsy. I found a pack of colored foam with sticky back on clearance at Hobby Lobby, traced & free hand drew the shapes/animals, cut them out & hole punched & strung together with twine. It literally only cost me a few bucks (plus a lot of my time & sore hands 😛 but totally worth it!)
Tissue Paper Pom Pom Animals: These turned out pretty cute but I admit they were very time consuming & I threw away the first few I did because it took some practice. I just used some old tissue paper I had (I KNEW there was a reason I was keeping it all ha) & some construction paper, hot glue, & fishing string I had around the house so they essentially didn’t cost me anything to make, bonus!
Food/Beverages:
- Hay Bales – rice krisie treats
- Apple Pie Pops- I used a combination of recipes to make these myself! They were so fun! If you want to make it easy on yourself, buy pre-made pie crust & a can of pie filling! TIP: Don’t spill anything on your sticks, it will burn & turn black/brown as they are baking in the oven & make your sticks look…well not very pretty.
- Dark Chocolate Moo Cow Pops- my sister-in-law made these, they were delicious, & it was her 1st time making for a party!
- Cake- my mother-in-law made the cake, so lucky to have her do this!
- Sheep Wool- cotton candy
- Chicken Feed- Chex Mix
- Duck Pond Punch- recipe
- Watering Hole- ice water
Store Bought Decor
- plates Wal-Mart
- silverware: Walmart
- napkins- Dollar Store
- blue crate for cake pops (I inserted a piece of styrofoam & covered with fake grass)- Hobby Lobby
- pink & white checkered tablecloth
- purple basket I used for the plates/napkins, silverware- Hobby Lobby
- rubber ducks- Dollar Store
- pink bandannas– Hobby Lobby
- cow print balloons -Hobby Lobby
- farm animal inflatables– Oriental Trading
Emmy’s Outfit
- pink lace leotard– Bailey’s Blossoms
- jean overall dress– Walmart
- boots– Walmart
All of the other stuff I already owned or borrowed from my Mom! Let me know if you have a question about anything in particular, I’d be happy to help! If her party has inspired you, I’d love to hear & see pics of your own party! Happy party planning!
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