party details - construction style!

No blogging about housework today. This is all about fun, fun, fun!! Austin's 2nd birthday was on Monday and we celebrated his special day over the weekend with family and friends. I love party planning, so this one was quite the tackle to get it all complete to my liking without going overboard...not only with my sanity, but the pocket book, too! I think I've said this before, but when I plan a party I tend to put a lot more time and effort into it than money. It's a little stressful, but it's worth it! And I really do enjoy the small little details. Another tip is that I start planning far in advance and that way I'm on the lookout for the added touches to the party and "collect" things as I go along, looking for things on sale. It doesn't seem so overwhelming if I were to wait until the last minute. This year's theme was CONSTRUCTION! Boy, was this a fun birthday party to tackle!!

~ INVITATIONS ~

~ BIRTHDAY BANNER ~
(a picture for each month of his 2nd year)
The best part? I re-used his birthday banner from his monkey party last year by simply taking off the letters. Gotta love when you can re-use something you've already put a lot of hard work into! (I pretty much save everything that I can see a re-use for!)

~ FRONT PORCH DECORATIONS ~
I love having that extra "wow" factor when the guests walk through the door. The cones I found a month or so prior to the party in the Dollar Spot at Target. I added a group of balloons, caution tape that I found at a party store...

...a "Party Area" sign in the flowers, and...

...I swiped one of Austin's trucks to add some more fun!

~ PARTY SIGNS ~
I couldn't help but add these party signs to my Celebrate Express order (I had a $5 off coupon!) when I orderd the cutest construction plates and napkins (see below). The greatest part about this sign was that the food table was just underneath and I used it to alert people to not hit their heads on the chandelier. Ths signs included "Party Area" (with the front porch decorations), "Yield", "Stop" (seen with the birthday banner), and "Construction Area"

~ PARTY FAVORS ~
This is always one of my favorite things to do! This year, I bought Home Depot tool belts (only $.77 each!) and wrote each of the kids' names on the front, added a Tonka truck coloring book that I found at Michaels for $1.00 each (I snagged every last one and couldn't believe I had hit the jackpot!), some construction stickers (purchased with the plates to match!), and an orange colored fruit roll up.

The note attached said,
"So glad you came and joined the crew,
To celebrate Austin turning two!"

I even set out some construction colored candies and baggies that the guests could fill up and take home for some on the go goodies. What a great time of year for a construction party...Halloween candy (orange, yellow, and black)!!
~ THE FOOD TABLE ~
I love decking out the food table with the little details. On the menu? Build your own sub sandwich, fruit salad, veggies and dip, chips (orange colored by the way!), and soda pop in yellow, orange, and black! I even found orange disposable cups!

The pasta salad was even made with wheels!

~ CONSTRUCTION WORKER SACK LUNCH ~
Each of the kids got a lunch bag filled with a juice box, bag of chips, applesauce, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was fun to pass out the lunches. Many of my friends had to leave early, so the kids got to grab their lunches to go!

~ CUPCAKES ~
Cupcakes are so easy to have for a party treat! And I love decorating them. This year was extra fun!! I colored the construction worker, added an orange sign that said "A" or "2". Then I used crushed up Oreo cookies for piles of dirt. I realized that it needed something else, so thank goodness I had bought a small truck set at Target for only $5.99 that came with mini cones, signs, trees, and small trucks. Perfect! This was one of our gifts to Austin and so it was fun to use as decoration, too! The truck to the left is another one I swiped from the play room.

I also served cookie crunch ice cream to represent the "dirt" in the ice cream. Aren't those plates and napkins so cute? And the yellow silverware...I found on Target clearance!

~ PLAY TIME ~
For entertainment, I had four stations set up in the backyard (thank goodness for beautiful September weather!). Each station was marked with a sign...creating station (Play Doh), building station (foam blocks), digging station (trucks and pea gravel), and break time (a bouncy house I borrowed from my sister and brother-in-law...what a hit!)

I think everyone had a great time and the party was a success! It was a lot of fun being able to celebrate our "little man" turning 2 years old with family and friends and tackling yet another year!!