Cowgirl Up!

What other people might call "going overboard" when it came to Bristol's first birthday party, I prefer to call "thorough." This was my last 1st birthday party to plan. Back in the Dark Ages of birthday party planning (before Pinterest), I just ordered some cute invitations, matching paper plates and thank-yous and called it a themed party. Nowadays, that just does not cut it. I've seen too many cute parties to go back. I knew before she was even born that it was going to be a cowgirl/cowboy party, obviously depending on the gender and have been collecting ideas on a secret Pinterest board ever since. I can't have people knowing which things were entirely my own ideas, which were "pinspired" by someone else, and which ones were exact copies of something I found online now, can I?!

I searched high and low for the perfect invitation for the shabby chic cowgirl party I had in mind. I was willing to make it, but hadn't found the right inspiration when Bristol's party was only a couple of weeks away. Then I stumbled upon this sweet little number on Etsy. It was actually a digital file that I purchased and had printed at Office Max and then, since I can't just leave something well enough alone, decided to attach to some burlap.

Originally, I planned on her party being in the front yard and the garage door was going to be down. Unfortunately, the wind that day made it impossible to be outside. My "thorough" decorating kind of ended here because I just wasn't willing to spend the money to hang something that would cover everything on the walls. But here is what was going to be in front of the garage door:

Thanks to big sister, Leah, for the "Happy Birthday!" banner and the toy horses on the tables.

Today's Cowgirl Cuisine: Git Along Little Dogies (hot dogs and brats), Calico Beans, Cowgirl Caviar, and Veggies on the Ranch (those little cups have ranch in the bottom and then veggies on top). I think my favorite part about the meal was having people eat out of those pie tins!

It's difficult to see, but there's a cowgirl boot candle on top of the cake.

The centerpieces and place settings. The jars that held the silverware were meant to be guests' drinking glasses as well.

The bags of "Happy Trails" trail mix that Leah helped put together.

Some good ol' fashioned sodey pop: Sarsaparilla, Cream Soda, Black Cherry (and for the sharp-eyed observer, yes, that is a bottle of Mike's sticking out of the ice and no, I was not responsible for the alcoholic beverages at a one year old's birthday party).

When I first started dreaming up this party, I had all kinds of ideas for activities for the kids. Then I remembered that most of the kids at this party were either going to be mine or they were going to be 1 year old. I decided activities were unnecessary, but lassoing the sawhorse, the pinata, horse shoes, panning for gold, and the snake toss really were going to be cute. Instead, I settled on having a small table with paper and cowgirl crayons for coloring. Apparently, I didn't take a picture of this, but the crayons were crazy cute! There were stars, boots, and hats. I made them by melting the crayons in cans in the oven and then pouring them into candy molds.

The awesome parenting that happens while a party-obsessed mother makes themed crayons.

I don't think Bristol minded the lack of coordinated activities too much. She had a great time hanging out with her pals and eating her cake.

The Birthday Cowgirl and Grandpa Ronnie.

Everybody checkin' out the gifts.

Sadly, Bristol was the only one looking at the camera for this picture, but this whole gang celebrated their first birthdays between October 7th and November 8th. I can't wait to repeat this picture over the years!

 More of Bristol's esteemed guests.

And the best for last...

After already celebrating both of her older sisters' birthdays within the previous 3 weeks, she knew what was coming.

There wasn't a moment of hesitation when that cake hit the tray. She was hilarious! I could have posted a million more pictures of this cake-eating episode.

After we got her down from her chair, Grandma Rita and I took the birthday girl inside to get cleaned up. I brought her back out and set her down before I started chatting with people again. She went straight for her chair and started cleaning up the crumbs.

Oh! And her outfit. Before I found her invitation, I'd been considering cowgirl boots, a denim skirt and different onesies that said things like, "This is my first rodeo!" or "Cowgirl." I still think that would have been cute, but the cheapskate in me won out. The dress she ended up wearing was a dress we already had and almost an exact match to one of the patterns on the invitation. And those leggings cost me a total of about $3 and 10 minutes to make!

All in all, I think this party ended with one happy little birthday cowgirl, a mama who was satisfied that her last 1st birthday party was a success, and a lot of fun memories all around. Yeehaw! (Sorry. I couldn't resist.)