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!