When I asked Drew what kind of birthday party he wanted, he told me "Toy Story!"
So I set in to create such a party.
And then like every other almost-four-year-old, he changed his mind.
Like two or three or ten times.
Other choices included an Imagination Mover party and a Sonic party.
So.
Toy Story it was! :)
Most of these party ideas aren't original. I found a lot of resources and inspiration online, but I primarily used ideas from
Disney's site. I think it was something like "Plan Your Own Toy Story Birthday Bash!" that grabbed my attention. And really, if Disney doesn't have prime birthday material, who does?!?!
The invite.
The guests.
We ended up with a smaller gathering than expected. One family came down with the flu (and we wanted them to stay home!) and Abbi's (the little girl you can't see because she's hiding behind the little girl in the pink dress) little sister had had open heart surgery earlier in the week (she definitely was excused!). But we had a great time nonetheless!
The table and food.
Although it was a Toy Story theme, I tried to stick with Buzz's color scheme of purple and neon green.
A last minute addition to the decor.
It kept falling down.
Ah well.
Let me just say it's good to have a friend who has her own out-of-her-home baking business! I borrowed from her...a lot!
I made too much food, of course.
The purple cupcakes with the toppers are those that we had on Wednesday; they were my own idea. Jessie's cowgirl hat cookies and Woody's sheriff badge cookies came from Disney's site.
A cupcake tree full of alien cupcakes, another idea from Disney's site.
My aliens were kind of a flop. I couldn't find all of the suggested ingredients for decorating, so I kind of winged it. And then they got too moist overnight in the tupperware and their ears and antenna no longer pointed up. Oops. They still tasted good, eventhough they didn't look that great.
I used the boys' Toy Story toys as table decor.
I cut confetti (stars and the number 4) using my
Cricut.
Notice the Potato Heads: I asked the boys to put them together in the "classic" Potato Head dress so they would look like those from the movie. This is what Drew came up with. Not exactly what I had in mind, but I totally left it. His authentic touch to the table decor!
I also asked Drew to set up the Green Army Men. And so he did. Around the perimeter of the kitchen counter. :)
The details.
I set up a table in the living room and set up Drew's Toy Story themed board games on it as well as a few Toy Story coloring sheets. Just something for the kids to do as they arrive and hang out.
At the last minute I also turned on Toy Story 3, to provide background noise and something to prevent possible boredom. I'm not sure that was the best choice... ;)
Drew helped put together little goody bags for his guests.
I tried to find things related to the movies. The Green Army Men and the stickers are obvious. The slinky is for Slinky Dog, and the glow sticks are reminiscent of Buzz, because he glows in the dark.
The games.
Pin the Tail on Bullseye (from Disney's site).
Toy Story Bingo (An original idea. I made the cards with online images using Photoshop.)
I made this Stretch the Octopus pinata, as seen on Disney's site. It was filled with candy, and was an addition to the goods in the guests' party bags.
The action.
Blowing out the candle!
The game table was transformed into an eating table.
Presents!
Drew's friends were incredibly generous to him. And they all took a hint from his invitation as every gift was a Toy Story 3 toy!
This is an Action Links set.
An art set.
Woody's guitar.
And a cushioned folding chair.
It was awesome.
Drew had a great time.
The kids and adults all had a great time.
4th birthday party = SUCCESS!
