3462

Construction -2yr- Traffic Sign Rental Décor

March 2002

Susanne in Edmonton, AB Canada

Special Mention

For our son Jack's second birthday, we decided to have a construction party.  This was very fitting because we were in the process of building a new house, and Jack loved going there to see the builders and play with scraps of building material. 

The invitations were made using a computer program and bright yellow card stock.  The front had an orange road-side sign on it with a man digging.  Underneath the sign it said "Foreman Jack's Second Birthday Construction Party."  Inside, we wrote "Foreman Jack is turning two, which means there's lots of work to do!  The party's at Thompson construction site, Sunday, March 3 will be dynamite.  Your shift begins at three-thirty and lasts until seven, You'll probably get messy 'cause it'll be construction Heaven!" 

We then printed the party info on the other side of the card.  We decorated each one with tool stickers and sealed the envelopes with a construction vehicle sticker.  We didn't want it to be too commercial, so we stayed away from Bob the Builder party wear.  The only Bob the Builder stuff we got were the little hard-hats and sheets of stickers for the kids to decorate them with. 

We found a company that rents traffic supplies - signs, flasher horses, pylons, etc.  We got a number of signs, safety vests, pylons and a flasher horse for the week-end for only $30.  We borrowed hard-hats for my husband and myself.  My husband and Jack wore plaid shirts and jeans, and I wore overalls.  We complimented our outfits with the hard-hats and safety vests. 

We also went to Home Depot and bought empty paint cans, paint trays, nail aprons (which added to our outfits) and yellow "CAUTION" tape.  We found clip-art of construction vehicles on the internet and made a few signs for the house.  We laid a blue tarp on the living room floor, pulled out all of Jack's building toys (Duplo, blocks, etc.) and made play-dough using Kool-Aid as food coloring.  Outside, we put a sign in the driveway that said "Road Closed Local Traffic Only" and a big "Detour" sign by the front door. 

We put our ladder next to the front steps and pylons on each step.  We put a sign for the front door that we made on the computer that said "Welcome to Foreman Jack's Birthday Construction Site."  Inside, we had the flasher horse in the front foyer.  We put blue, yellow and red helium balloons through the pylons and had them in various places throughout the house.  We draped the yellow "CAUTION" tape everywhere we could, including in the bathroom, and put the rest of the rented signs in various places in the kitchen and living room. 

We bought a plastic table cloth with construction vehicles on it and some construction themed plates and napkins.  We set out a cooler with cans of pop and juice boxes in it so people could help themselves.  We put chips and nuts-and-bolts into the empty paint cans and veggies and dip into the paint trays.  We also had a big plate of fruit for people to snack on.  Everything was self-serve. 

I used the cake as the centerpiece.  I made a square 3-layered Devil's food cake with chocolate frosting.  I cut the cake into pieces before I frosted it and put it in the back of a brand-new Tonka dump truck.  Then I warmed up the frosting so it was runny and poured it over the cake - some of it spilled out over the edges to look like mud.  I put two pylon shaped candles on it.  It looked fabulous, and was really easy to serve, because it was already cut up! 

For dinner, we put out trays of sandwich fixings and buns and made a big pot of chili.  People made their own sandwiches so I didn't have to worry about serving anyone.  Because it was a toddler party, I let the kids entertain themselves rather than having an organized activity.  Some of them played with the play-dough, some of them built things with the Duplo and the blocks, and some of them just watched. 

For take-home gifts, instead of filling loot bags with candy and stuff, we found inexpensive yellow tool kits with plastic tools and personalized them with each child's name.  Jack loved everything about his party!  He even got some play tools and a real tool box as a gift!  We had a lot of fun planning and everyone (grown-ups included) had a great time.

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