Friday, June 27, 2014

Yeehaw! A Western Party!

I can hardly believe it, but my little girl just turned ONE! Where does the time go? We just had her big birthday bash last Saturday, and it was a ton of fun!

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty
 
We went with a Western theme, and I just have to tell you why. This kid, since she was a newborn, has been in love with Willie Nelson. I kid you not, whenever we had a night where we couldn't get her to sleep, or whenever she would get super worked up about something, we would play Willie's Redheaded Stranger album and she would immediately stop crying, calm down, and go to sleep. Every.single.time. for the past year.

We were blessed with a good sleeper, so we hadn't had to use this trick for three or four months, and then about two weeks ago Little Girl was overly tired and throwing a fit about going to bed. I thought surely she would have forgotten or changed her preferences, but nope! Daddy turned on Redheaded Stranger and our Lil' Gal was out like a light. I don't know what it is about Willie Nelson; we've tried dozens of other artists and songs, and none of them have the magic.

So, as an ode to Willie and the nights he helped us get through, we had a Western-themed birthday party.

This party was so much fun to put together, and I'm going to have several upcoming posts over the next few weeks with more details on how you can throw a western party for cheap. Today, though, I just wanted to give you the highlights.

Here's our beautiful birthday girl with her daddy!

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

I just love her little outfit; stay tuned for an upcoming post with more details on making a bandana skirt!
**Update: Find the tutorial on making the bandana skirt here!**

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

What's a Western party without a horse? We hired a local ranch to provide pony rides.

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

How cute is my little cowgirl? :)

And check out this handsome cowboy (my sweet nephew):

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

All of the kiddos had a great time riding the pony; I'm so glad we decided to spend the money on it, although it was actually really reasonable. To any of you in the Wichita area, I highly recommend Four Points Ranch and Petting Zoo! They provided great customer service, and were excellent with all of the little toddlers at our daughter's party.

Of course, we also had a cookout...

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

...with fun Western-themed foods, like rice krispie hay bales.

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

Stay tuned for some free printable Western food labels, coming soon!

To keep with the theme, we served food in "tin plates".

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty
This kid is too darling!
And, of course, no birthday party is complete without cake! I decorated her cake to look like a bandana, with a lasso border.

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

See the darling bunting on the cake? I've got free printables for that one, too! I'm gonna get you all fixed up in the printable department so you can throw your own western party. ;)
**Update: Find the free printable pennant banner here!**

Here's her smash cake:

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty
(I just couldn't bring myself to frost her smash cake with red, haha!)
 She didn't hesitate at all before digging into that cake!

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

She picked at it somewhat delicately, at first...

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

...and then she just tore into it.

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty
Mmm, CAKE!!!

She was starting to get so tired by that point, bless her little heart. But she managed to eat an alarming amount of cake!

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

We finished up with some fun themed pictures.

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty
How much does this little girl look like her daddy?! Seriously.
YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

Then we broke out the mustaches, and had way too much fun with that! Everyone joined in the fun, from kiddos to great grandparents.

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

And, of course, before our guests left, they received favor bags. Brown paper lunch sacks turned loot bags--talk about easy and cute!

YeeHaw! A DIY Western Birthday Party | Apples to Applique #cowboy #cowgirl #kidsparty

The party was a success, and our guests seemed to have a good time.
Even though it truly was fun to put together, this momma was a little relieved when it was all over. :)

I'm so looking forward to sharing with you some more about the party over the next few weeks. Make sure you don't miss these upcoming posts; subscribe to my email list or follow me on social media; the buttons are at the top-right corner of my blog. Thank you!

27 comments:

  1. Oh, my goodness! So stinkin cute! And that cake is amazing. Pinning!

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    1. Thanks, Julie! I'll be having an upcoming post soon with more details about the cake. :)

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  2. Super, SUPER cute! I love the photos and the props were a great touch!

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    1. Thank you! I had so much fun putting the props together.

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  3. This is great! You really did a good job. Your daughter will have fun looking at these pics when she's older, especially. I love all your ideas! Pony rides! How fun is that! Everything ... the cake, the goodie bags, the Wanted posters ... Sweet!

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    1. Thank you! We had a blast watching the kids on the pony rides. I wish I could take credit for the rest of the great ideas, but most of them came from Pinterest. :)

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  4. That cake is AMAZING! Such a cute party!

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  5. Amber your daughter is so cute. =) My son just had a birthday recently as well but he turned two. I love how creative you are with parties, I really wish I could do that as well, it looks awesome.

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    1. Aww, two is such a fun age!
      This party was easier to put together than it looks; I'll have some posts coming up with free printables and tutorials.

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  6. Great party! Looks like it was a great success. I love the cake, came out really good!

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    1. Thank you! I was thrilled with how the cake turned out.

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  7. This is SO cute! You thought it out so well, and covered so many basis! I love the "WANTED" photos even! I haven't even considered a themed birthday for my son so far because of the cost involved, but when he's a bit older and can actually appreciate it I am going to have to figure out some DIY stuff since it seems the most budget-friendly, and then has a huge bonus of being personal and more original, too :)!

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    1. Thank you! There definitely can be a lot of cost involved with throwing a themed party, but the cost for this one was pretty minimal since we made most of it using things we had on hand. I'll be giving some prices in upcoming posts. :)

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  8. There's nothing about that I didn't love! From the VERY adorable children and great cake - it was a joy to read. Thanks for sharing! Pinning!

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    1. Thank you! I agree the children are pretty adorable. ;) I appreciate the pin!

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  9. Oh so cute! It looks like she really enjoyed her cake :-) I'm getting so many great ideas from this post! Love the wanted poster idea... might be using that one myself!

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    1. Haha, oh man, she ate SO MUCH cake! I'm glad you enjoyed the post; the wanted poster was definitely a hit with all of the guests!

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  10. Wow how cute is this. My nieces birthday is in a few days and we are still struggling on the theme. I just love the western flair. The family photo part was perfect. I can't wait to see more on the birthday skirt. Thank you for allowing us the chance to celebrate her special day with us!

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    1. Thanks, Misty! I actually threw this party together in just a few days because we were moving across two states just a couple weeks before. It was pretty easy, as parties go. :)

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  11. So much Fun!!! I would have died if my parents had ever gotten my a pony ride for one of my parties as a kid... just DIED! :)

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    1. Hahaha! I told my husband that when she's bigger and asks for a pony for birthdays or Christmas, we can tell her, "We already got you a pony!"

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  12. This is so fun! I'm glad you all had a great time and I totally am with you on not giving your kid red frosting! That would be a mess.

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    1. Haha, yeah, I was like, "What was I thinking doing a bandana cake?" Then I realized bandanas could be white, too. ;)

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  13. Love it! Thank you for making this available!

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  14. Love it! Thank you for sharing!

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