After a lot of talk on the blog about Everett's upcoming first birthday party, I'm finally getting around to blogging about the BIG day! We went with a Camping themed birthday party. Since Everett is our Christmas baby (or at least he was supposed to be before he decided to come early), we knew that the house would be fully decorated with Christmas stuff for his party. What better way to make the Christmas décor blend in than have a camping themed birthday! There are several DYI projects for throwing this party that I waited until the last minute to accomplish. That said I don't think they turned out too bad! The Banner: I opted to pre-purchased a 'Happy Birthday' banner so I could focus on making a 'Camp Everett' banner myself. With my hectic work schedule plus the holidays I knew I wouldn't be able to swing both. What you'll need: I purchased pre-cut natural colored paper from JoAnns {from the scrapbooking aisle}. Perforated, white letters from JoAnns as well. I got the letters down the teacher aisle. Adhesive {I used scrapbook tape adhesive} Twine Tree Cutouts {I was able to get a pack of 20 foam Christmas trees at Target ($5)} This was a quick and easy banner to make with getting everything precut. I was able to simply layout the pattern I liked, punch out my letters and get to gluing down. I used scrapbook tape for the adhesive. Once I had everything glued down, I used a small, rectangular punch to make two punches (one on each side) of each pennant. I then used some thick twine that I purchased at Marshalls and wove the pennants on. I then placed a tree cutout on each side. Simple and I love the way it turned out! Tents: No camping themed birthday would be completed without tents. I did some simple, DIY tents to tie in the theme on the tables in the house. What You'll Need: Fabric - about 1 yard will do - in whatever print ties in your theme colors Hot glue gun Craft sticks - popsicle sticks {the number you need depends on the size/number of tents you want to make} Circular craft dowels {they will be near the popsicle sticks} Scissors I made one large tent and 2 smaller tents for accenting my tables. For the large tent I glued together the craft sticks using the hot glue gun. I made 6 sets of two craft sticks glued together. I'm sure there was a better adhesive to use but at the time this is what I used. Once I had those together I took two sets and glued them together so that they made the beginning shape of a triangle {the bottom of the triangle would be missing}. Using the 2 remaining sets I connected the two triangle outlines lengthwise. A circular dowel was used at the top for connecting the two sides at the point. Using the triangular frame as a guide, I cut my fabric to size. I draped that over the framework of my tent. On the ends I added a dab of glue to keep the fabric from falling in! Misc Decorations: For the rest of the party I was able to cash in on the fact that it was the Holiday season. I was able to get 4 pine looking trees for $3 each from the Target One Spot. I used them through the party to decorate {see above picture}. I purchased a couple of ornaments from Target as well that had woodland type creatures on them {raccoon and a fox}. I used them as ornaments on the trees mentioned above. Instead of purchasing a fancy table runner or placements to cover the dining room table, I used wrapping paper. For $2.50 I was able to cover the table with a themed based paper. Best part, my table stayed protected and clean! Using my favorite foam trees I made several signs for the rooms. There was the 'Boys Bunk House', the 'Girls Bunk House', and of course 'The Outhouse.' Using my leftover fabric from the tents, I covered the cake table with it to tie it all together. I used Emmy's easel to welcome guests to the party. I made 2 tree banners {just punch holes and thread onto twine} to decorate the easel and above our TV in the family room. The family room banner is still up since it passed for the party and Christmas. The Campground: Since our house is smaller {well compared to our friends} and since we don't let anyone outside in the back patio {we still don't have a pool gate} we set up a campground in our front yard! The hubby was super sweet and set this up. It included a tent {we owned one}, Emmy's Ikea Table and chairs, various pots and pans, and an inflatable fire {hello Amazon - really it's from Oriental Trading Company}. Along with the campground, guests could partake in a sidewalk art festival of their own making. Cleaning supplies were on hand! The Cake: I can't take credit for the cake or the cupcakes. That is all due to my amazingly talented sister, Yella. She made this awesome smash cake. It had a campfire on top and a tent on the side. It was awesome {Everett thought so too}. In addition to the smash cake, she made three dozen of various campground themed cupcakes including campfires {logs made with tootsie rolls} and s'mores inspired cupcakes {marshmallows and chocolate bars}. The fire for the campfires is homemade candy!! She's so talented!! I surrounded the cake table with pictures of the little man {appropriately in fishing gear}, a smaller tent, and a tree. I thought it was cute! The Favors: For camping with Everett, guests got to take home burlap knapsacks. These were a little hard to make. Despite all of the ideas on Pinterest that include burlap, I found the stuff very hard {and messy} to work with. What You'll Need: Burlap - I got remenants at JoAnns...about 2 yards worth Ribbon Wood/Stick pencils - Got these at Marshalls! They are so cool Mini notepads - I got 6 dozen off Amazon for $5 Fruit Snacks Scissors Patience - HA! I cut the burlap into small squares {about 6" by 6"}. I placed a small notepad in the middle and then a fruit snack on top of that. I then started the process of bringing in the corners to the middle. Once all four corners met at the middle I pushed in the sides creating the knapsack look. A wood pencil was inserted in the middle {what a knapsack is typically carried on} and then tied it shut with ribbon. I made 20 of these suckers. It was painful but totally worth it. I put a picture up by the favors and re-used one of my chalkboard painted cookie sets to thank campers for camping! The Grub: I didn't do anything Earth shattering this time. I just didn't have the time. I purchased most of my food. Since I had a 3pm party I figured I didn't need to feed people a meal so I had a lot of age appropriate grazing food on hand: Emergency Proteins - Chicken nuggets & wings {for the adults} Living off the Land - veggies and fruit Trees - Pretzels covered in green chocolate Just Fishing - Swedish fish in a tackle box that I picked up at Wal-Mart for $4 S'mores - I totally cheated and bought the goldfish S'mores bag. It was the perfect size for little hands Cheese & Crackers Trail Mix - I purchased the Annie's trail mix since it didn't have nuts in it and was accented with bunnies which seemed appropriate for a camping party I had a TON of fun planning and hosting this party. I think everyone had a good time too. Everett seemed to have a blast, especially when it came time for cake! I loved him in his cute little cake smash outfit!! I'm glad I have 6 months before the next themed birthday party {Emmy will be 3 in June}. Until then, happy crafting!