Construction Theme!

Welcome to our home under construction! ;)

I felt like the construction theme was very close to Carson's 1st birthday John Deere theme but at this point in his life, he was obsessed (still is actually haha) with pointing out all of the construction trucks and cranes etc driving around in the summer time. SO I couldnt help but give him this fun theme for his 2nd birthday!

I had alot of fun with this one...stepping it up and using all I had learned from my first DIY party a year earlier.

My "Happy Birthday Carson" banners have kind of become a tradition for the parties Ive put together! This one is my favorite so far!! I wish I had closer up pictures, but I of course couldnt help but save it! So pictures can always be taken close up if needed for anyone!

For those perfect circles I used a circle tool pictured below three times per letter. The big wheel I cut out with tire knotches to make it pop more than just a normal circle. Then I layered it with a square piece of cardboard for the 3D effect (you dont need to spend a fortune at the craft store if you dont have the extra $$ to do this effect!!) Then a colored circle with a white circle I printed the letters on! On either side of "happy" I did a little more 3D and cut out little construction vehicles out of construction paper (no pun intended hehe) Everyone loved it!! And all it cost me was the paper!

The table set up turned out great too!! The colors really popped and went really well together. The table cloth and plates are from the Dollar Tree, so barely any cost there! BUT those adorable little cone cups were a little spendy, but grandma couldnt resist wanting to help out and get those for the party:) We ordered those and the construction hats off amazon. Even the adults loved the cups, a couple using them for an adult beverage, which was just a blast to watch! I also LOVED the look of the balloons hanging instead of filling with helium this year. I just used a needle and thread and strung them all through! The only problem I would warn anyone about if you do use this method outside first off, and on a hot day second...they will pop all throughout your party! 

My center pieces were a lot of hard work to cut out, but they turned out awesome and only cost the sticks and the paper to make! I had the jars and scooped up some gravel from my driveway to add to the theme! I also had a couple more made to set at other tables around the party, which matched great with metal signs I found laying around the old barn and shop:)

I utilized an old chalkboard painted window I have to make a cute sign for the present wheelbarrow, which was perfect for the party!!We could just roll all his presents right over to him! 

There were two signs I saw on Etsy I couldnt afford to buy, but just had to try and make! Actually the "I like big trucks..." was on a shirt I found for sale, so I did my own spin on it. They turned out to be a great add to the party decor!!

We had a John Deere tractor at his 1st birthday, so I had to do something similar this year! The bobcat was the ultimate decoration!! We had a big dirt pile left over from a yard project earlier that year, so instead of cleaning it up for the party, I used it to my advantage and threw some trucks and tractors in there to get dirty! The kids loved it! Now to one of my pride and joy pieces, that I have even now a year later as they turned out so awesome! The road blocks! I made two out of scrap wood that was set out for free in a nearby lumber mill actually. They charge by the truck load, but for me, only taking a couple longer pieces, they gave them to me free of cost! I used some Acrylic paint I always have in the house to paint them. They were just perfect!

FOOD TABLE

unfortunately I do not have a picture of the entire food table as things had to be brought out separate throughout the party due to the extremely hot day it turned out to be!

I borrowed a frame from my house and made this adorable little sign to go in it for the food table! 

The little cones I lucked out on finding them at the Dollar Tree in the Teacher section! They aeach said "awesome" or "fabulous", but I was able to rub the saying right off! Ta-da! Traffic construction cones!

Boulders were grapes

Lumber was pretzel sticks, carrots, and celery

Pebbles was popcorn (look close for the little play wrench that the kids had fun with to serve themselves snacks!)

Dirt and Worms was a DELICIOUS mix of blended pudding, whipped creme, and oreos, in layers with crumbled oreos, and topped with gummy worms!! Seriously my favorite food item by far! So tasty!! And those perfect little cups they are in? Yep, you guessed it! Dollar tree ;)

Had fun making all the little road block food signs out of card stock and construction paper!

I grabbed an old ladder and tons of other construction related items for decor right next to the food table. It turned out pretty great, and even added photos from my sons 2 year photoshoot I did with him a couple weeks prior!

GAMES

This was one of my favorites to set up! Although it took a few days to make (I had a limited spray paint station so could only do maybe 6 boxes at a time), the result was just amazing! My MIL works in a huge warehouse, meaning I had full access to these perfect sized boxes to go crazy with. The grey spary paint was a little on the spendy side honestly at around $3.50 a can. I ended up using around 3-4 cans to paint almost 30 boxes. BUT Home Depot thankfully sells very cheap Black spray paint at .99 a can so I was thankful for that! Making this Demolition Tower really added something big and special to our outdoor party! I placed a few construction trucks all around, and the blow up hammers were purchased cheap off Amazon. The kids LOVED knocking this over and rebuilding! 

Now comes the big first for me to ever accomplish! A homemade pinata!! I havent done paper mache, since I was in middle school, so knew I would get a kick out of this project! And very thankfully, We had an actual old cone laying around I could use to make the mold!

This picture HOWEVER is a my first failed attempt and molding the cone! It was quite the learning process!! I now know the ONLY way to do this with ANY pinata shape you are trying to mold around, is with a layer of foil first...please please dont forget this step or else you will be starting all over due to the paper mache sticking to your base!!

 Do one-two layers at a time and allow to completely dry. I ended up doing maybe 6 layers, and it was very hard for the kids to hit through, so I recommend 4 layers. 

After it all dried, I slipped the cone right out, and painted the whole thing orange. I stapled a square piece of cardboard to cover the bottom and began layering crepe paper all over to make my final beautiful homemade cone pinata!!

For more detailed instruction on how to home make your pinata...there will be a link here soon to my son's 3rd birthday [LEGO THEME], where I tackle a new pinata, and have learned new tricks to this project!! 

I found perfect sized "goodie bags" at the Dollar Tree for pinata candy.

PLEASE think twice about what kind of candy you put in your pinata if it is a boiling hot day for your party! I learned this the hard way, as ALL the candy was chocolate, and ALL the candy melted!! ughh!!!! Seems like an obvious statement, but when your so busy with other party planning things, it might not be as obvious! HAHA Leason Learned.

CAKE

My quickest easiest party item of all, and we all loved it so much!!! 

This is a $20 store bought cake ladies and gentleman! And it is available at all times at none other than Costco! The chocolate shavings all over where just too perfect for the theme, and all I had to do was cut a quarter of it out, and have fun setting up the little trucks and candles!! 5 Min, tops! I will always cherish how easy, cheap, and AWESOME this cake was!! :):)

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN!!

John Deere Theme!!

Carson's 1st birthday was my first ever full party planned by me! So many handmade decorations, so many hours and fun crafts to prepare for his first big day!! I still look back on this party and smile:) It is where I began in my party planning obsession. I am completely addicted, and always wonder how many more years I get to be this crafty for his parties! I dread the day when he asks for a Chucky Cheese birthday or something of that sort. We have began the tradition of taking him somewhere special ON his big day, and then have the party for friends and family to celebrate with us...so maybe that will allow me to keep planning these parties for years to come;)

I didnt really know where to start party planning, so I glued my eyes to the computer searching Pinterest! I got so many inspirations that I modified to our own! And others I just had fun with!

We do live pretty far in the country, meaning we needed quite a few sign to help guests find us that hadnt been to our home in a while! These were dollar tree poster board and construction paper, with the letters free hand cut out and pasted on. I know what your thinking, "Wow! that sounds like it took forever!" Well, yes...it DID!! Parties after this have all consisted of MUCH simpler signs. I SO wish I would have just kept these to use for his 2nd and this years party! Live and learn! Still cute!

Signs

Next is the entire party area! We were very unlucky with our yard, or lack of, to have a party. BUT we did have a big giant beautiful "bowl" we called it, below our house next to the creek that I decided would be a perfect setting! That it was! Although setting up everything took WAY longer than expected as dragging and carrying everything down a pretty steep hill was much harder than planned for HAHA. All well, it was worth it to have a nice big area to party!

We utilized Caution tape to enclose the safe areas to walk and hang out for all the kids. We had limited chairs, SO i loved the idea of using straw bails for extra seating, which worked AMAZING and matched the country theme perfect!!

Overview of party area from our driveway

All the decor for the party; signs, banners, posters...All homemade by me! The posters are poster board purchased at the Dollar Tree and construction paper, just like the street direction signs to the party. I found a cute tractor design I loved from an Etsy store (Design Here sold for $18...I probably paid a total of  $3 for my homemade one!), and free handed cutting out a large scale size! One saying "Happy Birthday" and the other "The Big 1". The banner on the highchair was made out of felt squares bought at JoAnns for .30c a piece! Then there are always coupons for better pricing! Cut out the triangles and hot glued them to some super cute thick brown yarn. I also used the same technique for the Happy Birthday Carson banner but sadly dont have a picture snapped:( (i have so far made one for both his birthdays and plan to do another this year!) I did save it though!! And if anyone really wants to see its cuteness, please let me know and I will dig it out for a picture!!!

Of course had to borrow Grandpa's tractor to bring down for pictures!! 

Grandparents have tons of antique farm pieces like that seat leaning against the tree...I loved being able to borrow a few to add to the decor of the party!

Ladder I literally found in a burn pile and saved it! So cute for added decor! The signs are pieces of pallet I painted with chalkboard paint! 

Scrapbook paper and mason jars make adorable centerpieces for the food table!!

Carson and I worked hard on making this adorable canvas of tractors with his feet!! And of course another sign made from pallet and chalkboard paint!

I decided to have a "Memory Table" to add a fun trip down memory lane! The poster leaning against the umbrella is a picture of Carson each month! Below is a shadow box I made of his first outfit, hospital bracelet, and birth info! I wish i had a little bit of a closer picture, but the jars on either side are baby food jars filled with homemade yellow and green play-doh for party favors!! They turned out AMAZING! Used Jello for color and an added bonus they smelled delicious! 

Recipe For Jello PlayDoh

Love my old window made into a chalkboard!!

"Thank You For Rollin' By Carson's Party!"

Drinks! 

((you can even see the very corner of the felt banner i made!! bummer there arent any actual pictures!!!))

Food Table is a must of course! Loved an idea I found of using handkerchiefs as an accent so went with it to add some flair:) 

John Deere "country" themed food of course! Pallet was an idea I loved right when I saw it laying outside my boyfriends work! And the little baskets were perfect for $1 a piece at the Dollar Tree!

Yumm!

The Cardboard is NOT pretty lookin I know haha BUT i really wanted to try this bunched cupcake idea. It was much harder than i though it would be! I spent all night putting this together!!! Still, at least it did turn out looking like a tractor!

My neighbor made this amazing little smash cake for Carson! We all loved it....

....especially him!

I actually impressed myself with coming up with the idea of green and yellow rice!! Ive seen tons of sensory bin ideas before, and decided that would be so much fun to include in his party! The kids LOVED it, even the older ones! I hid bugs and little tractors in there too:) Be sure to dye the rice outside as that vinegar smell is stroooong!!

We put out all sorts of Dump trucks and tractors to play with:)

Bummed we didnt get the picture I wanted of all the kids that came in the bucket! But still cute!

The tractor was awesome for pictures!

And my final picture I must share is my yearly photoshoot favorite of Mr Carson!! We used this shot for his invites, and it still is one of my all time favorite pictures!! 

Happy 1st Birthday Love!!