Here’s another party I’ve been meaning to share with you – my son’s recent cowboy party. Enjoy!

My son Keiran has been suffering of the “terrible twos” for quite some time now so when it came time for his actual second birthday we decided to celebrate it with a party which had a very fitting theme – Outlaw!

 SEE LOTS MORE BELOW…

We recently moved to Las Vegas, Nevada from San Diego and our new surroundings could not have been more perfect for this theme. I used lots of organic elements such as rocks, sand, cacti, hay, tin and clay. I also went for natural tones, rustic decorations and lots of burlap fabric. The colors we chose were the western traditional brown and red with touches of tan. My favorite part of the party was the nostalgic desserts we had.

Paper Goods & Party Decór: I designed the invitations, framed signs and other paper decorations on Photoshop then printed them on cardstock paper. For some of the signs, I burned the edges to make the paper look worn and more authentic. I used scrapbooking sheets from Hobby Lobby to make the bunting pennant banners I hung throughout the house, entrance and patio. I also made matching mini buntings.

I decorated our little gate door with a hay wreath. I made a tiny bunting banner and hot glued it on along with an invitation, a framed paper sign and some rope.

  

For the centerpieces on each table, I cut out a square piece of burlap fabric I purchased from Hobby Lobby and laid it on the center of the table. Over it I placed a mini hay pail, a shoe horse, a mini clay pot filled with rocks and a silk succulent cactus, a galvanized pail filled with peanuts, and a few gold chocolate coins. The guest really enjoyed having peanuts on each table to munch on while the kiddies went straight for the chocolate coins.

 

 

Chow Down: You know we had to have some fried chicken with all the works. I ordered Farm Basket Chicken which is my husband’s favorite friend chicken restaurant and with reason. Everyone enjoyed delicious extra crispy chicken, butter mashed potatoes, rich gravy, and coleslaw. I made honey cornbread muffins the night before using the recipe from The Food Network’s The Neelys. To carry on the theme, I purchased eco-friendly plates and cups from Party City and wooden eating utensils from Sucre Shop. I found the cutest little mason mug salt & pepper shakers at Walmart that I just had to have.

Watering Hole: I rented a bar table so it could have double the surface space and I could use it for snacks and drinks plus decorations, of course. For snacks I served fresh fruit, vegetables with ranch, BBQ chips, kettle chip bags and peanuts. For refreshments I purchased sweet tea from Raising Canes, juice boxes for the kiddos, water bottles and beer for the adults.

My favorite part of using a bar table was the amount of space I had to style. I am so very lucky to have a sweet friend like Lynlee from Lynlee’s Petite Cakes that let me borrow a bunch of her western decorations to my party. It saved me tons of money and they looked perfect!

Favors and Dress-up Fun: Playing dress-up is always fun. I purchased all the things I needed from Oriental Trading – mustaches, bandanas, straw hats and sheriff stars for kiddos to wear during the party and take home as part of their favors. Luckily for me, some houses were being built right across from my house so I was able to snatch a wood pallet they were ready to throw away and use it to decorate some more. I placed it on the from entrance of the house with all the dress-up goodies for the little guests to get ready before coming in if they wanted to. I also purchased a big hay bale from a local livestock supplier and placed it by the pallet with a piece of burlap fabric over it to serve as a bench. The whole set up was very welcoming.

For the favors, I used kraft paper bags and filled them with themed trinkets like a stuffed horse toy, stickers, mustaches, rubber cowboy and other goodies. Then I tied a raffia bow around the top and decorated it with a western ornament. Really simple and inexpensive but cute. I placed one on each kids’ setting on their little table.  My mom a centerpiece for the kid’s table from a hat basket and decorated chocolate covered marshmallow pops. And of course we had a boot piñata 🙂

The adults like favors too you know. I purchased little canvas bags and drew the dollar sign on them with a green fabric marker. I filled them with chocolate coins and handed them out to the parents on their way out. They felt like children again I’m sure.

   

   

Desserts: Now let’s talk about the sweetest part of the whole party – the dessert station. I opted to use my dining room buffet table because it already provided a backing and it was long enough to place everything on it. I started of by decorating the back wall. I cut out cacti from green construction paper and drawing details with yellow chalk then taping them to the wall. I also made Keiran’s name with a wire hanger, hot glue and rope. It was great that I already had most of the items I used to decorate the table. I did need a few little details so I purchased blue little boot decorations and wheat stalks from Hobby Lobby. I went to my local Goodwill store to donate some items and thought I’d check out what they had that I could use in my party for cheap and found ended up buying a galvanized tin tray and matching lantern both for $10. That was awesome!

In my past parties, I had made some desserts myself and purchased others. This time, I decided to make everything myself since that things I wanted would have cost me an arm and a leg. I slaved for two days in a row but it was totally worth it. I made mini pecan pies from scratch in mason jars the day before. They were easy to make but they are definitely time consuming. They tasted divine and all the guests loved them. I also made red candied apples. Coolest thing ever and beyond easy too. I dipped marshmallows in chocolate for the first time and made s’more pops. Another delish dessert that was super easy to make and fun for all ages.

   

For the cake, I had my fabulous mom make it. She decorated it with graham cracker crumbs and buttercream. She made the cutest little marshmallow cowboy and a saguaro cactus for the toppers and incorporated mini fondant decorations from Lynlee’s Petite Cakes along with candy rocks. I used a clay pot and plate to make a rustic cake stand. I wanted the cake to be the center of attention so I placed it on the center on top of a wood crate. It was darling. I placed  two little marshmallow cows I made next to the cake as decorations.

   

We had a fantastic time and the whole party was an absolute blast!!

Vendors:

Styling and all other unless noted below: Alejandra from The Marshmallow Studio

Photographer: Kyle T. Morin

Catering: Farm Basket Chicken

Eco-friendly tableware: Party City

Wooden utensils: Sucre Shop

Paper Straws: Green Party Goods

Cake and marshmallow topper: Carmen Ramirez

Fondant decorations and happy birthday banner: Lynlee’s Petite Cakes

Dress up items and favors: Oriental Trading

Burlap fabric, scrapbook paper and most western decorations: Hobby Lobby