Party at the O.K. Corral!!

My oldest daughter is about to turn 6. I'm in the midst of planning her party. I stumbled across an older camera I had packed away (while cleaning my art studio this weekend), & it had some pictures on it of when she turned 4! (YIKES! That totally gives you a hint about how well my photos are organized.)

She had a cowgirl/horse party & it was one of the most fun parties I've ever planned for my girls! Being in September, I have the option of having her party outdoors. So, we invited guests to a park by the river & it was perfect! The wee western guests were greeted with their very own stick horses (the party girl got one that made horsey noises!), cowgirl hats (purchased at dollar stores & thrift stores), & bandannas (made from fabric I purchased at Walmart).

The table was set up with different colored checkered tablecloths. I purchased some red cowgirl boots at the thrift store & filled them with red & white carnations. Put the flowers in a heavy glass or vase first, & then place the glass/vase inside the boots. There was also a thermos full of hot chocolate, a crock pot full of little hotdogs & other yummy foods & drinks!

We had extra cowboy hats for guests to wear & bales of hay set around (blankets laid on top) for guests to rest their bums. Even great-grandma got into the action!! (That's my youngest with her cockeyed cowgirl hat!)

For games, we had a horse pinata. (I bought it. This party took a lot of planning so I did buy a lot of stuff instead of making them. I even bought the invitations, which makes me cringe. HAHA!)

My favorite part of the party were the next two games. First, I took a bale of hay & spread it around. (The hay was sitting on top of a tarp for easy cleanup after the party.) Inside the hay I hid all sorts of tiny little prizes & treats with a horse theme. On cue, the kids scurried to scoop up the goodies inside their hats.

Then, everyone was given some "silly string" for a Silly String Shoot-out! It was a fun mess & all the adults got involved too! Silly string was purchased at the dollar store, so I was able to get quite a few bottles.

I made the horse cake, following some instructions given at the Family Fun website. I used a chocolate chip frosting for some fun texture. Of course there were horse plates & horse cups. Also, not pictured, were all the plastic utensils wrapped in their own napkins & tied with a piece of natural twine.

The kids went home with all their collected goodies from the hay hunt game, their hats, their stick horses, bandannas AND a real pony horse shoe with their name engraved on it. The engraving was simply done with metal letters that were hammered onto each horseshoe. (Unfortunately I don't have pics of the personalized shoes.)

Because there were just a few children invited, I was able to do a lot more for the kids. My favorite part of any party are the favors & prizes, so I go "all out" there.


The birthday cowgirl had a blast! She even got to ride off into the sunset on her very first bike!

Check out this fun website with western slang.