Train Themed Birthday Party

Long time no see! So sorry for the lack of posts but I was working on a party and party week is always crazy no matter the size of it. It's all over, so I will get back to business this week. I have a few things that I want to share and first up is the Train themed birthday party from this past weekend. It was a small gathering for a 5 year old cutie named JC. He loves Thomas the Train and so a Thomas the Train-esque party is what he got. The mama wanted to keep things very simple and within a reasonable budget. I was able to find things to decorate with from the Dollar Tree and even The Salvation Army. Mama was in charge of the desserts and favor goods. I think it all came out quite nice. Most importantly the customer was happy! :)

Wicker cupcake display, The Salvation Army

Toy Train, Dollar Tree

Wood boards for desserts, Dollar Tree

Paper shreds for the centerpieces, Dollar Tree

Lunch bags, Dollar Tree

Tin Pail, Michael's....dollar section

Star dishes and candy, Dollar Tree

It was an even MORE special day because daddy and son have the same birthday. Daddy got to blow a candle on his sprinkled doughnut!

Happy birthday boy makes for a happy party decorator!

Banner, favor labels and cupcake toppers by J. At Your Service
Centerpieces by J. At Your Service
Dessert/Favor table decor by J. At Your Service

Train Cupcake Toppers

Just wanted to pop in and share the cupcake toppers I worked for the "infamous" Train party I'm working on. LOL. I'm really loving this style for cupcake toppers right now. Round is over for me! The mama really loved them, so we are good to go. What do ya think? :)

Thomas the Train-esque: Favor Labels & Invitations

As I posted last week, I was still in the works on this Train themed party. Happy to say I finally worked up something that was perfect for the birthday boy! By the way......If you don't know by now, the number ONE mistake in planning a party is to plan without the child in mind. BIG no no! As mothers, that may be something we lose sight on, especially since we're so controlling. I always try to keep my childrens parties to what they want, whether it looks photo ready or not. It can be tough, especially when you're a planner and your head runs wild with ideas. Suddenly the Minnie Mouse theme your child wanted, turns into a "vintage chic french style mouse"! LOL. Sadly, I almost made that same mistake with this client. Fortunately she's a friend and she totally let me work it out and fix my mistake. Never. Happening. Again.

After realizing that this did NOT need to be vintage or blah blah blah, I stuck with what the boy loves.....Thomas the Train! Which is why this theme was chosen. The boy owns like every train in the TTT collection. Seriously. He does. So after working up a few things and the mama's approval, we now have a fun train party in the works. Here are the favor labels and invites that I made up for her, uuhh..... I mean HIM :)

Trial and Error: Train Favor Labels

As I continue to try new things in the hopes of improving my party design skills, yes it's ok to admit that you can make improvements, comes what the party peeps call "party wrecks". It's a trial and error situation. I say, why fake the funk! Come out with it and admit that you aren't perfect. I certainly NEVER claim or act like I'm perfect or like I know it all. Which leads me to this post. I am currently working a small Train theme party, on a budget. I'm working on making this a Dollar store project. Which I'm very exited about! Because most of us can't afford the grand expensive event and I'd like to put something out there that's cute and inexpensive. When I started brain storming I thought "Ooooh vintage. Old style. Antiques" but things started to change gears and I realized that it wasn't very easy to pull that off with the small budget. I worked on favor labels first and worked with colors I thought were "old school". Errrrr. Wrong! The party is for a 5 yr. old and these looked like something for a baby. So here I am thinking "Why not? I'm going to show off my party wrecks", LOL. Don't judge me. Also, please note that I will NEVER give someone a party wreck. I'm my worst critic and I can't provide something to someone that I don't absolutely love. Of course you have to love it as well! Heh. Needless to say, after talking to the mama, we changed gears AND colors, now going in a different direction. Stay tuned for that!

So are they really THAT bad?? LOL They definitely didn't suite the birthday boy and I didn't have that warm fuzzy feeling when you know you've hit the nail on the head.

Oh well. On to the next trial, hopefully it's not a party wreck!