Thursday, January 30, 2014

No-Fuss Camping Themed Family Birthday Party

Do you ever feel like hosting the family for your child's birthday party is overwhelming? You want it to be nice and memorable, while still being cost effective and fun? I hosted a party for my son's birthday a few weeks ago, that was pretty low maintenance and low cost. Here's how I did it. 

Let me first say… These photos were shot inside, when it was dark outside, with no natural light. I did it about 2 minutes before people arrived. We were not in a lovely meadow with perfect lighting. We were in my kitchen, with a gaggle of toddlers running around. It was a little crazy. It was real life.


First things first. When setting up a display, it is important to incorporate different levels for displaying the food. I achieved this by stacking boxes baskets and books on my island, and the covering it all with a table cloth. The next thing that helps create height, is serving dishes. I went for all white this time, and I think it really worked!


I knew I wanted it to be camping themed, because of all the darling homemade camping toys I made my son for his birthday. See previous post. I also knew I wanted the food to be easy and inexpensive.


When you are camping, what do you usually eat for your main course? Hot dogs and chips. I set the hotdogs on the back counter in a crock pot, and put the rest of the food on the island. I mentioned the general menu in the family email invitation, so those who don't appreciate hotdogs - like me - could come prepared. Here is the invitation I created.


Here it is in physical form, complete with mini marshmallows on toothpicks. So cute, right? Little touches make things extra special.


We drank tang, of course… The ultimate camping drink. We had water in the cooler, and I used a punch to punch scalloped circled out of wood grain contact paper that I got at the dollar store. The idea was that people could write their names on the labels. The kids were way excited to drink tang at a party!


I was thrifting, and just happened to find a perfect picnic basket, and red and white checked gingham table cloth for $2! I was so excited, and it was perfect for holding the plates and utinsels.


We served Cheetos and potato chips. It couldn't get any easier.


No camping party is complete without ants on a log, right? It was an easy make ahead item that I just pulled out of the fridge.


We had a couple options for dessert. One was dirt cups. When serving dirt cups, get the smallest cups you can find. These are nut cups from the dollar store. It makes for a perfect serving size. People are welcome to have more if they like, and you won't see a bunch of half eaten food wasted in the garbage.


Here is the printable I created for the labels.


The second option was s'mores. We love s'mores at our house, and have a great gadget that makes s'mores in the oven.  We offered traditional chocolate bars, and peanut butter cups. The peanut butter cups were eaten first.


I pulled out the camping set that I made for a girls camp display a few years back.  You can see that HERE. It worked great!


I think it was a great night, full of fun and memories. It is easy to take the party from boring and forgettable to fun and fabulous with these few easy steps.


Thanks for stopping by. Come back soon to see that daring free printables I have created for Valentines Day!

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

No comments:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...