Drinks

Party Recap

Time for another spectacular party! We are always inspired by our children's toys, but didn't want to overdo it with the store-bought go-to party decor, so we created a Toy Story Inspired party for my nephew's 2nd birthday. My sister's out-of-the-box creations and clever uses of already-owned objects made this party a truely inexpensive-but-amazing event!

Idea

Party Highlights

  • Desserts

    Cindy loves jars filled with treats- add in some clever movie references, and BAM! Instead of sheriff badges for party favors, Cindy wanted something more creative... SWEET FIND: star candy dishes left-over from another party. Fill with yellow candy and the result is yummy sheriff badge-inspired candy! FUN FUN FUN! AND, she has to give credit for the mason jar cuteness to pinterest. She combined 3 different mason jar ideas to come up with these gems and LOVED how they came out! PERFECT for the young guests! "...and some extra teeth, be careful, they chatter!" Chatter teeth apples- I know, way to go and ruin a perfectly healthy snack! Cookie tattoos from Michael's made cookie decorating a BREEZE! Now, on to the cupcakes! For Toy Story inspiration, Cindy went to a site and started looking at all of the quotes. She came up with "snake in my boot" cupcakes (chocolate, oreos, chocolate frosting with oreo crumbs and worms), "haystack" cupcakes (think german chocolate), "alien" cupcakes (pina colada were far out enough for these with some green frosting and candy eyes), and then Red Velvet and Boston Cream Pie as crowd pleasers. All-in-all, one tasty table! :)

  • Activities / Games

    Cindy made the candlestick center pieces, chose a simple brown-paper table cloth (perfect for some classic crayons), and made Boston his own Woody Throne. For the plates, Cindy opted for a cute, vintage plate... which, was 75 cents compared to 1.99 that the Toy Story plates cost and gave a much more antique vibe. To tie the napkins, what better than a barrel of monkeys??

  • Party Favors

    For the party favor, we wanted to do something different and clever. We came up with an Etch-a-sketch, putting each child's name in the view window- classic, colorful, and FUN!

  • Best Moment

    No movie-themed party is complete without a private-viewing. I wanted this set-up to feel fun and fancy-free. My inspiration was Bonnie's room in Toy Story 3. I love when she throws all of the toys up in her quilt, and knew I wanted to incorporate that into my party. Combine these two ideas and I had a quilt-tent with a popcorn station in front of our big-screen showing of Toy Story.

  • What People Ate

    We went with the classic barbeque menu of hotdogs and salads ~ perfect for lunch at the ranch!

  • What People Drank

    Of course, we served lemonade served at the Lemonade Stand, in mason jars with cupcake liner-lids and striped paper straws. We also served classic sodas in those great glass bottles!

  • Most Touching Moment

    Being a photographer, Cindy feels that no party is complete without a photo booth set-up. I came up with the clever idea to make it a "Mr Potato Head Booth," since he has all kinds of fun parts for props. Although you may not have a nice stand/backdrop set- throw an old sheet up, pull out some old costumes and toys out, and VIOLA! Your very own Photo Booth! :)

Hand

Party Helpers

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5 comments

  • Jillian L

    Jillian L wrote:

    Hi Mandy, Thanks for adding your party! Do you think you could add some of the individual photos? They're easier for me to show off. Thanks! Jillian

  • Mandy F

    Mandy F wrote:

    Jillian - I finally got the rest of the photos added! Yay! It was a fun party ~ thanks for letting me share. ~ Mandy

  • Claudia M

    Claudia M wrote:

    OUTSTANDING!

  • Kristy D

    Kristy D wrote:

    How did you get the names on the etch-a-sketch?

  • Mandy F

    Mandy F wrote:

    Kristy - We did it the old fashioned way - using the little etch-a-sketch knobs. It was a little time consuming, but fun :) ~ Mandy