Ella's Fourth Farm Party.
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 9:24PM Almost as soon as Ella turned three, and the Rainbow Party was done & dusted, she requested a 'farm party' for her fourth birthday. And as the year progressed, she stayed true to her desire & request.....so a farm party we planned :)
Even though Ella is not officially four until next week, we wanted to have her party whilst her big brother was still here with us. So, last Thursday, we dusted off our boots, dug out our best yeehaah's & celebrated our little girl's BIRTHday, life & her every ounce of being.
The night before the big party, her & Jayden slept over at Chris's parent's house {Nanny & Pa}, allowing Chris & I to be single-childed, therefore having more time on our hands to do the last of the party preparations. And when Ella returned home that next morning....all she could say over & over again was "I just can not belive it is my real, actual farm party day!!!!" She was in awe!
She dressed in her farm girl best {made by Nanny Chadwick} and {Boots sent over from Kansas USA careof my lovely sister-in-law & Brother....thank you guys! they were a hit} and totally rocked out being 4 farmstyle :)
We went the whole hog {literally} and got the baby animal nursery farm in :) There were sheep & goats, ducks & chooks, a pig, and even a calf. It was fun!!!
Mother Nature was kind, thank goodness, because only 2 days before her party, our backyard was underwater from a few days of constant downpour! I was worried about where this party was going to be held if the weather didn't clear!!! However, this day....this day, we had blue skies, soaring temps & a dry backyard.....can I get a yeehaah for that?
My other Brother {not the American based one} & his family, are visiting here in Australia for the month. We were super excited that they were here for Ella's party. Having family to celebrate these special milestones, makes me happy!
Lots of friends, came out in their farmer/western best to part-ay with our girl. One word: Blessed!
I had fun setting up & planning this party. It was a versatile theme to work with. The day before the party, I sent Chris & Jayden out to pick up some bails of hay and stop in at the Landscaping Store to get a bag of river rocks. I could see Chris's brain ticking as I was listing off what I needed.....he was thinking "What the heck is she up to now?"
Gold Diggin'.....what else? :) A simple spray of gold paint on a few handfuls of the rocks, a paddling pool filled with muddy water, the golden nuggets & river rocks, some sand spades & some pasta strainers from the $2 store....wahlah....an absolute hit with the small {and big} kids:
We also had 'decorate your own cookie', a farmyard colouring-in area, a treasure hunt, pass the parcel & pin the tail on the donkey. Some serious boot scooting fun was had :)
Oh, and the cake! Can I get another yeehaah for the cake?! It was AMAZING! Ella had eyed off a farm cake with matching animal cupcakes on a YOUTUBE Betty Crocker video during the year!! Jenni {Nanny} offered to do it only days before the party. Is there anything this woman can't do? LOVED IT!!
On the day of the party, as we attended to finishing touches before guests arrived, I said to Chris "Do you think I'll ever be able to throw a really low-key, no decorations, no theme, minimal effort kind of party for our kids?" He laughed. "Not likely....it's just not you!" And that's true. I don't go to all this effort for me, or for recognition. It's all for them! I want them to grow up with amazing, magical Birthday memories. I want them to cherish that day each year where we celebrate their entrance into this world & everything about them! I want them to dream big, want more, aim high, believe & PARTY like there's no tomorrow :) The money spent, the hours of shopping & thinking & planning & creating, the loss of sleep due to setting up, making, baking & preparing.....it's ALL worth it. Coz it's for them!
As Pablo Picasso said: “Your birthday is a special time to celebrate the gift of 'you' to the world.”
And celebrating is something our little spirited girl loves to do. So, celebrating we will do :)
She's 4 this coming week! FOUR....wow....that's huge! That too deserves a yeehaah :)
The finer details:
All activities & table settings were made or bought or designed by me. Except the farmyard printables on the candy table were from Stockberry Studio on ETSY. I found a lot of great party ware {paper straws, cups, table cloths, farm themed goodies on EBAY}. Each guest was given a take home goodie bag {which I used a simple brown paper 'tuckshop' bag, some string & a Stockberry Studio label. Inside was a bag of plastic farm animal toys, a farmyard activity book with crayons, bubbles, a chocolate & some lollies.}, a CD called Ella's Farmyard Hits {I put together a playlist of animal related songs, burnt them to blank CD's & made sticky labels for each one}, and a giant lollypop, which I decorated with some farm picture flags! The visiting animal nursery was: Barnyard Babies...they were GREAT}
Reader Comments (3)
Wow, it looks like so much fun...and I love the gold digging idea!!! I too wonder if I'll ever be able to do a 'low key' birthday lol!....but its soo much fun not doing it low key! ;)
Looks like Ella had an amazing day, and you (and Chris) did a great job of putting it all together!!
ox
ps LOVE Ella's boots!!!
Looks fabulous Claire ! As usual you have done a fantastic job ! Hope Ella enjoys her birthday and is looking forward to Pre- Prep this week x
Claire, you've done such a fabulous job! I love all the details like Ella's costume, the gold digging, the cake... everything!! Well done Mummy, Ella must have loved it!! I too love putting together children's parties and as you say, not for me or the pats on the back, for them :)