12521

Western Party 1yr - Pin the Badge on Sheriff

December 2005

Iram in Chicago, IL USA

Special Mention

I wanted to make my son'r 1st BD party really specila & decided on a wetern theme. Th party was on a Saturday at 4PM. (We already had a small family celebration on my son's actual BD wher he had his gifts from us & played with his cake).

For the invitations I found a western themed craft paperat Micheal's with cowboys & horses on it. I took a pic of my son in a cowboy hat(extremely difficult)to do with a 1 yr old! Printed it in B&W with the comp on the craft paper & made a wanted poster saying "calling all cowpokes to celebrate Sheriff Arush's first BD, location :Khan(last name) ranch, date & time.

Decorations: I found a sticky paper that u can line cupboards with which looked just like wood. I stuck that onto cardboard & made signs out of that. I hung one sign out on our gate saying : Khan Ranch, no chewin, no spittin, no drinkin" , I painted small catuses on the sign too. This I hung outside on our entrance gate. Above it I tied red & white ballons & a big horse mylar ballon. I had the party in our garage b/cos we live in a town house. I made wanted posters of the kids coming to the party. I made these on white paper with B&W printing on my comp then took them to kinko who blew them upto poster size for $3 each. I wanted them to print them on brown paper(the one used for packaging) but they wouldn't do that so I just stuck the poster on to the brown paper & tore off the edges, that gave it more of an old appearance than plain white paper.These covered up most of the walls.

There were also other signs that I had made with the wood looking paper. Also I got western cutouts on the internet. These I also put up. I also made saloon doors to the entrance of the garage. I simply cut out the shape of the doors from cardboard & stuck the wood paper on it & attached them to the side of the doorway with thumb pins. I wrote "saloon" on them & they swung like real saloon doors. The tables were covered with red & white check tablecloths. There was a long table for kids & a couple small ones for adults. For center pieces I used real miniature cactuses tied in bandanas with jute string. I also got some plastic cowboy boot cups from brthdayexpress.com & used them as vases & put flowers in them. On the kids table I also put some cowboy themed coloring pages with crayons, markers & stickers. I also added red&white ballons & chips in cowboy hats at the kids table. I used red disposable plates, glasses & cutlery. The cutlery was in steel mugs(the kind used for outdoors caomping & stuff).

The drinks were in a red steel bucket with ice in it(I would have preferd a barrel but couldn't find it). I also set up differen gaming stations. To one side I had set up a shooting alley with a couple of tins that the kids had to shoot. I put up signs & gun cu outs there too. On the other side I stuck a cowboy cutout for the "pin the badge on the sheriff game". In one corner I set up a fake horse. Since it was winters & the kids couldn't ride a pony outside I made one for them. I took 2 bales of hay & placed them one over the other, then I put a saddle on it. In the front I stuck a stick horse but this stick horse was really special b/cos when u pressed the ear the horse head moved & it made horse noises with galloping!!(found it at KmarT for $20). A put a couple of cut outs & signs behind the horse to make a background & took pics of every kid on the horse.

Cake: I got it from a local bakery. I told them to make a sheet cake with white icing & red triming. They made a fence with pretzels, put grass & some toy horses I gave them inside it. They used cookie crumbs for dirt & out a plastic coboy on it. I got cowboy boot candles which I put to one side , it turned out great. (another idea would be to make a picture cake with a cowboy).

Party Favors & prizes: for prty favors I got plain brown lunch bags(bg of 30 for $1 at dollar store), I drew $ signs on them with a black marker(the idea was that they should look like stolen money bags like they show in cartoons & comedy moveies), I added handcuffs, water guns, fake money, gold coin gum, plastic horses, plastc snakes & western stickers to the bag, I then tied it with rope. For prizes I got a stuffed horse, the cowboy firgure from toystory, shot gun , pitols set. All the prizes I wrapped with brown paper & then tied them with rope for a ribbon & added a plastic cowboy, horse or snake for a bow. All the kids got a cowboy hat, bandana & deputy sheriff badge when they came in.

They had their pics taken on the horse. The food was already served so everyone ate & after that we started the games. We played pin the badge on the sheriff with double sided tape attached to a sherrif badge & the kids blind folded. Then we had pass the cowboy hat, played like hot potatoe, we never got to play shot the tin cans but in the end we had the piniata. It was a horse pull string piniata b/cos we had young kids. The piniata was purchased from birthdayexpress.com & also added to decore when it hung rom the center. We cut the cake in the end then served it for desert. 

For my thank-u cards I printed the pics of the kids on the horse. I got some card stock & glued the remaining wetern theme paper from the innvitations to it. Then I attached the pics whith double sided tape to it. Above the pic I printed 'WANTED'& below it 'to thank you partner'. On the back I hand wrote a thank you mentionin the gift they had brough & also attached a magnet strip. I also attached a raffia bow on the top for a nice touch.

The party was a huge success. I did everything in 1 week b/cos i work full time. I also want to mention that this party is possible in a small place since i only have a one cr gararge & live in a town house. U could do alot if its oudoors with bales of hay for seating & making a jail where kids can play, but even for indoors this party was a success. Also don't forget the western music! Theres alot of western themed stuff available online & very cheap if u look for it. Oriental trading , birthday express & birthday by lori are a few starters. I hope someone get from my ideas, as i did this website.

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