Thursday, August 18, 2011

Down on the Farm

So I think I've decided to go ahead with the Barnyard/Farm theme for Brynna's birthday (Am I thinking about this a tad too early since it's over 2 months away? I think not!) She's just so into everything Pick! (pig) Cow! (cow) Baa Baa! (sheep) Neigh Neigh! (horse) Baa bock! (chicken) these days, it just seems to fit her.
And in typical T fashion I've been scouring the internet for ideas. Here's stuff I've come up with so far:

1.For invitations- homemade (obviously since I have SO much scrapbooking stuff that never gets used. And Batman would prefer it gets put to use! And not have to spend $$) similar to this barn shaped one with something like "Baa! Neigh! Cluck! Moo! Farmgirl Brynna is turning 2!" and then all the pertinent invite info.
2. Cake- Either just a round cake covered in fondant with cow spots or a pig (and a big #2 on top similar to this) -OR- a barn with a couple animals -OR- cupcakes with animal toppers. (Although I would really love to get THIS cake!)
3. Food table- pretzel sticks (hay/ horse feed), "farm fresh veggies," apples, chex mix or chips of some kind (chicken feed), whoppers or raisinettes (sheep poop), hot dogs or pigs in a blanket (self explanatory- real hotdogs and fake), burgers (bean burgers and cow burgers), potato salad (pig slop), corn on the cob (self explanatory) and maybe no bake cookies (cow pies). Milk (real and soy or rice), lemonade and water bottles to drink (unless people want coffee too).
4. A "hay ride"- borrowing my IL red wagon, filling it with some hay and taking the littler kids for rides
5. Barn playhouse- made out of big boxes- I may need to scour Best.Buy or Lo.wes to get my hands on a few that would be big enough (or maybe this should be what we get B for her birthday? A real playhouse not one made of boxes).
6. Games- pin the tail on the pig, cow or horse, ring around the saddle (I'm going to see if our friend would let us borrow one of his saddles for the day), haystack hunt (instead of a pinata- not that I would do a pinata for a 2 yr old, but I liked the idea).
7. Dress up/ photo booth- different animal hats (that people can take home), bandanas, straw hats, etc- OR- big animal cut outs with face holes.
8. Favors- $store animals, cowtails candy, animal crackers, farm themed stickers, maybe $store tractors?
9. Decorations- hay bails (these may get pricey so I may have to rethink this), cow print table runners, red plates and flatware, maybe a few animal shaped balloons and some streamers (but maybe not on the streamers), and possible a banner (like the buntings I've been seeing all over the internet- farm themed).

Am I missing anything? Got any other ideas? Obviously we won't be doing ALL of this stuff... that would be a little overwhelming I think. I also looked into pony rides, but the only place in our area charges $150 for an hour and I just don't think Batman would go for that (I will have to do some heavy convincing as it is!) ;-) If we weren't going to be in a club house at my IL subdivision, I would try and coerce our friend to allow us his horse (with him in charge, obviously!). Maybe I will just put Kino in a cow costume... he's big enough, right? Right? ;-)

So many things to think about...

5 comments:

Christina said...

I think the farm theme sounds perfect!! And no, 2 months in advance is not too soon, I have 3 months and I'm already planning!! We're doing a dog theme since all Annika talks about doggies!!

Melissa said...

That sounds like a great party theme! I'm sure B will love it. I have no other suggestions as it seems you've ironed out the details quite a bit already. ;-)

These next two months will fly by, so it's great that you're getting a head start with the party planning. Enjoy!

Ella said...

That sounds so fun! You are so creative - B will love it!

Happily Married said...

SO much fun! The parties tend to be more for the adults than the kids at this age but HOLY COW (no pun intended) are they a blast to plan! I think it sounds great. And I have to admit we're right at 3 from Halle's birthday and I'm already thinking of ideas. What great ideas you have so far.

Anonymous said...

We had a farm party for #2, too! She will have so much fun! And you have some GREAT ideas! When I was reading this, I kept thinking "Darn! We should have done that!" Here's a link to our party: http://thehuttonhouse.blogspot.com/2011/02/day-at-farm.html

We're 6 months away from #3 and I'm already planning ;)