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Yee Haw! Cowboy Hay Stacks - Dessert Recipe

It's Party Tip Tuesday over at Moms and Munchkins where I'm sharing my friend Jamie's delicious recipe for Cowboy Hay Stacks! Mosey on over and take a look see! They were a hit at Liam's Round Up!

While you're there, be sure to check out the Farm Animal Party Cheryl created for her little guy!

Thanks for visiting!

Labels: cowboy, cowboy party, cowgirl, Michelle's Party Plan-It, recipe, western party, wild west

DIY Hobby Horse Bubble Wands

Last week I shared many details from my son's recent Cowboy birthday party (Liam's Round Up) including the handmade Hobby Horse Bubble Wands. These party favors came about a bit by accident, I was perusing the internet on the search for a free Hobby Horse pattern and came upon the wonderful tutorial by Hopeful Homemaker. I thought how cute would my dessert table look with miniature Hobby Horses on display? Well, one idea evolved to another and I ended up with Hobby Horse Bubble Wands!

Instructions:
Visit the Hopeful Homemaker's blog and follow the wonderfully detailed "How to Make a Stick Horse" directions with the following exceptions:

DO NOT enlarge the Hopeful Homemaker's pattern, just print at 100%.
I decided on minky fleece and yarn, instead of felt because that's what we had readily available. However you can use almost any fabric you want if you use yarn as the mane. You could even use bandanna fabric, how cute would that be?
Substitute a bubble wand for the dowel.
Tie the stuffed horse head to the bubble wand with a scrap of fabric, do not glue it on. This allows the head to be removable so it doesn't get wet when the kids blow bubbles.

Giddy Up! Now the whole gang can ride off into the sunset with their new Hobby Horse Bubble Wands!

Have fun and thanks for visiting!

This tutorial and corresponding instructions are intended for personal use only. Not for commercial use.

Labels: bubbles, cowboy, cowgirl, DIY, hobby horse, hopeful homemaker, Michelle's Party Plan-It, Party Favors, tutorial

DIY "Happy Trails" Western Themed Party Favor Bags - FREE PRINTABLE

Party favors are a huge part of my party planning process. When I was planning Liam's Round Up party, I went a little crazy making party favors (but I enjoyed every minute of it)! One of my favorites were these "Happy Trails" muslin favor bags filled with western themed trinkets. They are very simple and easy to make with the kids!

What you will need:
1. Scissors
2. Iron On Transfer Paper
3. Home Printer
4. Muslin Drawstring Bags
5. Iron
6. "Happy Trails" printable file

Instructions:
1. Following the Iron On Transfer paper instructions, print the file. (Be sure to remember to set your printer settings to "Mirror Image")

2. Cut out the image.

3. Following the Iron On Transfer paper instructions, place the image on the bag in the desired location.

4. Following the Iron On Transfer paper instructions, iron on the image and remove the backing once cooled.

Yee Haw! It's that easy! Now just fill them up with your favorite western themed trinkets and they're ready for your little buckaroos!

Thank you for visiting!

Enjoy!

Available in the Shoppe:

Favor Tags

DISCLAIMER: The file provided in this tutorial is to be used for personal use only.

Copyright: Michelle's Party Plan-It

Labels: cowboy, cowgirl, DIY, Free Printables, Freebie, Kids Crafts, Liam's Round Up, Michelle's Party Plan-It, Party Favors, tutorial, western party

Part 2 Liam's Round Up - Fun & Games

Earlier this week I shared Part 1 of my son's Round Up party with the promise of more party details. One of my favorite parts of party planning is planning the party activities for our guests. Since the weather was perfect, we decided to have all the activities outdoors. I set up an area of carnival style games for everyone to enjoy.

Activities included: Target practice, bottle ring toss, can toss, guitar bean bag toss, horse shoes, hobby horse races, pinata, potato sack races, Pin the Badge on the Sheriff and jail time.

One of my favorite games was the Target practice. I set up the game I bought from Country Hands Woodworking on a barrel and we all took turns shooting the targets with the rubber band guns.

I always like to have a pinata at a party, it's just good old fun. But I have had the worst luck with pinatas, and this party was no different. This little horse was stubborn, but finally after several good smacks it gave up the goods!

If you have been following my parties, you will know that at almost every party I incorporate a "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" style game customized to match our theme. I created a "Pin the Badge on the Sheriff" for our hoe-down. I love how the little Sheriff looks just like my Liam!

It's just not a hoe-down without a game or two or three of Horse Shoes! We all had a turn throwing the old iron around. It was good clean fun!

I found a bean bag toss on clearance at Staples after Christmas and figured I could put it to good use at one of our parties. Then it hit me, why not make them into Guitars? The bigger kids and adults loved them and played several competitive games of bean bag toss.

Bottle ring toss proved to be the most challenging of the games, it was hard to get that little ring around the coke bottles, but it sure was entertaining!

The most fun was watching the hobby horse races and potato sack races. The kids had such a great time, they were all smiling ear to ear.

We all took a turn in Jail for some photo booth fun for the perfect photo op.

Quick call Sheriff Liam! It's a stick up!

(Don't be alarmed, those are Slim Jims, not real cigars.)

We served a feast fit for any cowboy complete with a Chuck Wagon, Watering Hole and pie tins for plates.

Liam's party was a huge success, everyone enjoyed great food, fun and lots of laughs! It was the perfect day and best of all my little man loved it. He enjoyed every second of his big day surrounded by those who love him most.

Thank you for visiting and God Bless!

Special Thanks:

I couldn't plan this party without help from some very special people!!!

Thank you Auntie Jamie for all of your help with the sweeties and pre-party prep.

Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for taking care of all the food.

HUGE Thank you to my dear husband for all your patience with my crazy party messes and not once complaining! And for helping with all the pre-party prep.

LOVE YOU ALL!

Available in the Shoppe:

Pin the Badge on the Sheriff

Vendor Credits:

Party Stationery, Styling, Photography and Event Planning: Michelle's Party Plan-It

Handmade Target and Rubber Band Gun: Country Hands Woodworking

Rubber Band Guns: Backwoods Toys

Cow Print Straws: Pretty My Party

Pinata, Bandannas, Badges, Rings for Bean Bag Toss, Mason Jars, Napkin Rings, Pony Express Potato Sacks & Photo Booth Props: Oriental Trading Company

Rope, Galvanized Metal Buckets, Gold Paper Horseshoes and patterned paper: Shindigz

Labels: 4th birthday, birthday party, carnival games, hoedown, Michelle's Party Plan-It, party activities, party games, round up, western party, wild west

Liam's Round Up - Part 1

My youngest son loves dressing up and lately he has been obsessed with cowboys. I had bought him a cowboy costume after Halloween and since then he has been asking for a Cowboy party for his 4th birthday. I have to say, this has been my favorite theme to date. I had so much fun planning and creating every little detail for his party over the past 2 months. I admit I may have gone a bit overboard, but after seeing the ear to ear smile on my son's face on party day, it was so worth the late nights and early mornings before and after work.

Old Western Town:

My vision for this party was to create a "Wild West" experience for our guests to enjoy from the minute they arrived. My first project was the Old Western Town. I created facades with rolls of printed paper and sheets of cardboard and made signs using my Cricut. I made the Bank, Sheriff's Office, Jail, General Store, pony corral and my personal favorite, a Trading Post. It sometimes rains here in February, so I needed to make sure everything I created would work indoors. So we decided to remove the furniture in our dining and living room and bring in hay for our guests to sit and enjoy a felt campfire.

Handmade Hobby Horses for our Horse Race (shared in Part 2 of Liam's Round Up). These were so fun to put together!

Using a Hobby Horse pattern I found at Hopeful Homemaker, these Hobby Horse Bubble Wands were perfect for the kiddos! (See tutorial HERE.)

Every cowboy needs a campfire!

The Dessert Table:
I lined a wall with "wood" patterned paper and created a backdrop for the dessert table. I made a bandanna garland out of bandannas I found at the Dollar Tree and strung them on rope and covered the table in burlap and jute runners. My dear friend Jamie made rice cereal "Hay Bales", "Hay Stacks", super yummy cow print cake pops and S'mores on sticks. Autumn Lynn's Chocolate Sins made the adorable horse shaped cake pops, candy apples topped with a bandanna and chocolate cowboy hat along with white chocolate dipped cow print Oreos. Jen from Sweeten Your Day Cakes made the wonderfully detailed fondant cupcake toppers. I just love the little horse and the cactus! I filled metal buckets with Mary Jane candies, Cow Tales, Hershey nuggets in Gold Bar boxes, truffle filled red bandanna boxes, gold rock candy, Hershey chocolate bars wrapped in coordinating paper, chocolate "gold" and "silver" rocks, along with chocolate coal and bandanna mints. I also filled buckets with Slim Jims, trail mix and pub mix.

Cowboy Hay Stacks - Get the recipe here!

The Party Table & Party Favors:
I decorated the kids table with activity place-mats, cookie filled treat bags, pie tins and paper cutlery pockets I made with my Cricut. I ironed on graphics to muslin favor bags (tutorial here) and filled them with goodies. I ordered a wooden rubber band gun for each child from Back Woods Toys and made cowboy crayon rolls for them to color their activity place-mats. Each child also received a bandanna, mustache, badge and cowboy hat. Because hygiene is of the utmost importance for every cowboy and cowgirl, Angelique of Favor Boutique by Angelique made the adorable red and brown cowboy boot soaps.