STEP RIGHT UP TO THE RYAN'S FAIR: BIRTHDAY EDITION

STEP RIGHT UP TO THE RYAN'S FAIR: BIRTHDAY EDITION

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

I know, I know - you're probably sick of hearing about Knox and Liam's 4th birthday party. 

But this year I decided to be unapologetically myself and throw my kids the party I wanted them to have, and so, it deserves a permanent spot on the blog! I am a creative, I think we all know that, so this party to me was my happy place for a couple of months. I enjoyed planning and putting every piece of it together (well, minus the part where I heard balloons popping before the party even started)... <insert sweating smiley emoji>. 

And so, you'll have to forgive my oversharing later. 

I feel like parties in general have definitely gotten bigger and bigger over the years, and a lot of times they get a bad rep BUT, I'm here to tell you that if you want to throw your kids a big party DO IT. And if you want to bake a small cake and sing happy birthday at home, DO IT. 

I am basically saying do whatever the heck makes your heart happy... big or small, it does not matter! 

Now let's jump into it. 

I am always browsing Pinterest to find ideas and modern themes for parties. We've done a fiesta, party animals, and dinosaur theme in the past, and I was kind of unsure what I wanted this years to be. I toyed with the idea of Super Heroes but then came across some pretty fun inspiration for a drive-by fair themed party here.  I kept going back to this one and with the boys' birthday falling literally on opening day of the Texas State Fair, I thought.. why the heck not?! 

And so I dove all in. 

What I haven't done at past parties but knew I wanted to do for this one is have a kids table setup with fun games and activities as well. To start the planning process I googled searched the fair - typical games, sayings, food, graphics, etc. and started to pull my inspiration from there. And so with that, my creative mind with the help of Pinterest went wild.

I wanted to put a modern spin on it, so I definitely amped up the colors - moved away from primary colors - created organic shapes, and used my cricut to design a ton of graphics. To me, the graphics and the balloons are definitely what pulled the party together.... and saved me some money! 

Anything you are able to DIY for your party, definitely do so! I always recommend finding things on sale, shopping around for a while which means planning well in advance, and using your resources with friends or local businesses. 

On top of DIY'ing most of the party, I also shopped small. I supported small businesses with the popcorn cart, fringe backdrop, goldfish soap favors, photography, cookies and cake. Most small businesses are super creative and unique as well, so that adds to the detail and exclusivity of your design and event. 

Essentially my goal for this party was to be fun, memorable, exciting, colorful and inspirational. I think we did it! 

The boys had such a blast. My Mama heart melted when Knox said "I like this party, it's pretty". The petting zoo and pony rides were a surprise as well. The squeals from the boys, and running to the back yard to see them as they arrived for setup made it all worth it. 

In the end, I wanted to celebrate my boys for being blessed with yet another birthday. The older I get the more I realize that life and moments are so precious, and we should enjoy them. 

And so with that, below are some of my other favorite photos from the party along with resources for most of the items. 

RESOURCES: 

Kids Table & Chairs | Plates, Cups, Napkins | Gold Fish Soap Favors | Popcorn Cart | Popcorn Containers | To-go Popcorn Boxes | Acrylic Scoops | Smiley Tickets | Fitted Tablecloths | Metal Buckets | Rings for Ring Toss | Cans for Tin Can Toss | Balloon Dart Kit | Fringe Backdrop | Cake | Cookies | Prizes via Oriental Trading 

*All graphics DIY (game signs, chalkboard and wood signs, cups, popcorn holders, acrylic signs, bunny yard signs). 

*Some links provided are affiliate links and will provide me with a small commission upon purchase.

In more exciting news, I submitted the party to Kara's Party Ideas and was selected from her team. She will be sharing more about the party on her website and Instagram sometime this week. If you don't already follow her I highly recommend. She shares and creates the most incredible parties! I have pulled so much inspiration from her page in the past. 

The fact that she is sharing the boys party is beyond exciting for me!

I hope you enjoyed. Until next time, friends.