Lachlan's Blue Party

 When Lachlan and I started talking about his 4th birthday party, his first thought was that it should be at a favorite park and we should invite "the whole town". We settled for inviting his whole preschool class (which was quite a few more than the 3-4 kids I was envisioning). He also requested a Star Wars cake with Anakin and Count Dooku fighting on the top (inspired by his cousin's 5th birthday cake). Oh, and everything should be blue, "because it's my favorite color!"

 We had lots of fun thinking about blue decorations and treats that we could include in the celebration. He loved having his friends gathered together to play at the park. Unfortunately, we ended up with one of the only really rainy days this spring, but it didn't bother the kids a bit. The park's shelter did a decent job of keeping the adults dry.

 Invites: I made the invites in PSE and printed them on cardstock, four per 8 1/2 x 11" paper. I used digital masks by Robyn M. and digital papers.

Decorations: Blue balloons and crepe paper, easy peasy. I wrote up a sign the morning of the party and Lachlan and his Aunt Bethany colored it in. The play doh jars that were part of the party favors lined the tables, and that was about it.

Food: I hired my friend and co-worker Lauren to make mini "blue velvet" cupcakes. They were beautiful and tasted as good as they looked! We made blue jello jigglers (Kenley was in love), blue candy corn, and I made a cake from a box with the requested Star Wars dudes on top. We also bought blue chips and salsa and "blue" grapes.

Favors: This was my favorite part - We picked up small jars and little animals (1 pack jungle, 1 pack dinosaurs) and a can of spray paint at Hobby Lobby. L helped me spray the animals, then we glued them to the top of the jars. I used this glue, but there might be something out there that would work even better. Then I made the hugest batch of homemade play doh EVER and filled each one. We also bought little brown gift bags at Hobby Lobby and I made a tag for the front that said "Thanks for coming". Next up, a custom mix of blue m&m's from HyVee (serious splurge, ridiculously $$) and a homemade tag stapled to the top of the individual zip baggies. Last, but certainly not least, Star Wars Lego pins from A Flair for Buttons. We let the kids choose which animal jar and which pin they wanted before they left the party.

Activities: I knew that the kids would just want to play at the park, so I didn't plan any structured activities. But I did bring a ring toss game, a few Frisbees, a mini badminton set, and 4 pool noodle light sabers (the ones I linked to are much fancier and cooler than mine - I just wrapped duct tape and black electrical tape around the bottom).

It was great to have Lachlan's first friend party with such a fun group of kids, and special that both sets of grandparents could attend as well as Aunt Bethany (and Dan!) and Uncle Zach (and Clara!). Great memories were made!