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Monday, May 14, 2012

The Little Man's Bike Party



My little man turned 3 last weekend. The babe who made me a mama is now a superhero-lovin' blur of motion. A noise with dirt on it as I read somewhere.

When we talked about his birthday a few months back, the Squirt matter-of-factly informed me that he was going to have a bike party and invite ALL his friends. Not one to disappoint, we had a bike party last weekend and invited some of his buddies. (I drew the line at ALL his friends - when you throw a toddler party, each invited kid comes with one or two parents and we have a small house.)

I'm always amazed by what balloons and crepe paper streamers can do to liven up a room. Give B Daddy a beer and a re-run of any action movie on FX (this time it was Avatar) and he will blow up as many balloons as I put in front of him. This little wall took about $1 worth of streamers to cover and we re-used the birthday banner I made last year. (This banner will be making appearances at every birthday party I host for the next decade I'm sure.)





B Daddy worked hard the last several weeks to create a usable space out of our jungle of a backyard. He carved out this little bike track for the kids, complete with rollers to make the ride more exciting and kid-sized bike rack. (When my man does something, he does it right.) I contributed the sign and the ballon-adorned start line. :)





Riding bikes and coloring in the playroom kept the party-goers entertained until it was time for the highlight of every birthday party: the cake. 




 


I thought it turned out pretty well. I was really surprised at how easy shaping the bike frame from Rice Krispie treats was. Betty Crocker makes a mean triple chocolate fudge cake too. We scooped out individual servings of ice cream ahead of time and froze them in muffin cups - brilliant! (Totally not my idea, I either pinned it or read it on another blog somewhere - it was genius and worked out great.)


The party favors were by far my favorite thing. My sister used her Silhouette and her precious free time to create a freezer paper stencil for me. A little black fabric paint and some Wal*Mart t-shirts and these Go Ride toddler t-shirts were created. (Note to any wannabe toddler t-shirt makers: plan your party colors around the t-shirts that are in stock and in the right sizes at Wal*Mart/Target, etc. :) I originally planned on pink and grey t-shirts and quickly changed my tune when I could only find the sizes I needed in royal blue and red.)



I love throwing parties like this. And I really appreciate that my husband/family/friends jump on board to make it happen. I'm pretty certain the Squirt would have been just as happy with a trip to Chucky Cheese as long as there were friends and a cake, but I love having a full house and getting creative.

Anyone else throwing a kid party this month? Any tips for making it easier? Thanks for reading!


8 comments:

  1. It was awesome and I need to give you the pics I took!

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  2. Do you hire out? :)

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    1. Definitely! ;) Let me know what your plans are for Miss Makeda's 2nd bday!!

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    1. Thank you Rachael! PS My middle name is (was, pre-marriage) Rachel and I always wished it was spelled the way yours is. Lovely.

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  4. Seriously, how do you do it? Three kiddos under 3 and you pull off a party like this?!? Wow - what's your secret?? I LOVE the cake! Bikes are big in our house right now, so I need to remmeber this for L's 2nd birthday this fall!

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    1. We LOVE the Strider balance bike that we bought for E two Christmases ago (he was 18 mths old). Most of the kids at the party had the same kind of bike...Brit is already walking around on it and wanting to ride.

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