My baby boy turned three on Memorial Day and to keep all the *feelings* at bay, I went overboard for the birthday party.
*Cough* Again *Cough*
I just can’t help myself. The more I crafted, the less time I had to think about how fast time is flying by. So I could keep the sentimentality and mushiness at bay. Kind of.
I was so happy with how it all came together. And Henry got the two things he wanted – trains and cake. Win-win.
If you know Henry at all, you know he’s a train lover. While he’s beginning to explore other interests, choo choos were definitely his favorite thing for the past year.
So, a train party was a no brainer to celebrate three. Since his birthday is on Memorial Day again this year, we went with vintage trains and red, white and blue. Very Americana. Perfect for an old/new barn as the venue, don’t you think?
I’m going to share a gaggle of pictures today, and try to include most/all of the sources at the bottom of the post – that way it’s all in one place. That means this is going to be a long post …
You don’t mind, I hope.
We are so lucky that we have such a great space inside the barn for so many guests – we think we ended up with about 60 people. Which was insanity – in a good way. And there was plenty of room.
Overall decor
I’m so happy with how the decor came together – it all started with the invites that went out last month. (Stop over to the Tiny Prints blog to check out my post about all the party inspiration.)
When guests arrived, the door set the tone with a simple station sign and a photo of Henry.
Inside, I used a lot of what we already had and added in some festive touches – like the lanterns, the balloons and the flashing Railroad Crossing sign (made by my super talented father-in-law).
I couldn’t get enough of those giant “3” balloons.
I also snuck in a few Thomas touches – which pleased my little train man immensely. He also loved blowing up all the balloons with mom. (Having my own helium tank was the bomb dot com. I can’t believe how simple it was to blow up all the balloons and I didn’t have to fight to get them all in my car and home in one piece.)
And my aunt gave Henry a cool train that runs on tracks. Talk about a winner!
Food and drink
I took few photos of the food area – guests started arriving and I just forgot. (Darn it.)
But we this arrivals and departures sign was a big part of the space. I made the top parts with white vinyl and filled in the trains with meaningful names and places.
We served party deli sandwiches (dining car sammies), veggies (veggie car), fruit (freight train fruit) chips and dip (chugga chips), cake (station sweets) and sugar cookies (coal car cookies).
Because what kind of crazy woman would I be without cutesie names and fun labels?
And there were obviously plates with Henry’s photo on them …
The sandwiches were pulled by Chuggington’s Wilson.
Last year, we had cups for all the kids and adults to take home (instead of paper cups that got thrown away). Everyone loved that, so we did it again.
The kiddos all went home with actual train car cups (which were insanely popular). Several parents told me their kids won’t drink out of any other cups now. You’re welcome for that, parents.
Adults got to take home some great stadium cups with a customized vinyl train.
For drinks, we served water (water tower), iced tea (diesel fuel) and apple juice (choo juice). (To keep the paper from getting wet from condensation, I used a laminating sheet on the labels.)
The cookies have always been a hit at Henry’s parties – and these were no exception. We went with train track #3s and actual trains.
They were bagged up so guests could take them home. But, I don’t think any of them actually made it out of the barn.
Henry spied a train cake like this one on my phone a few weeks ago and hasn’t stopped talking about his “Thomas Cake” since then.
Our local bakery recreated it and Henry was obsessed. He helped me pick out the three “best” trains to go on the cake. Birthday Thomas was first in line, for obvious reasons. (You can tell these trains have been well-loved. And I promise I did actually clean them before putting them on the cake.)
Of course, Henry was far too busy to actually eat cake. But he loved checking it out and blowing out the candles. (Aren’t the kiddos so cute in their engineer hats?)
Photo booth
The photo booth was another favorite part of the party. I found this great 10×10 fabric photo backdrop on Amazon for a steal, and we used it to cover up a (cluttered) floor-to-ceiling storage area in the barn garage. It was perfect for disguise and Henry loved using the remote to take his own photo.
Here’s the photographer in action.
And a few of the other favorite snapshots.
Activities
Because I knew there would be plenty of toddlers around, I thought it would be fun to put together some simple activities for the train engineers in training. I should have planned it a little better, but the kiddos didn’t seem to mind. I was inspired by the ideas at Celebrate Everyday with Me.
The kids all started with their own trainee badges. I explained that engineers needed lots of training and that there would be four training exercises.
The first station was Signal Training. I made a stop and go sign and the kids had to practice stopping and going with me – recognizing that red is stop and green is go.
The second station was Toss the Coal in the Hopper. The kids had to practice throwing coal in the coal car (also known as a beanbag into the beanbag toss).
The third station was Blowing off Steam. In this station, each child got bubbles to practice blowing off steam.
The final station was Shifting Gears. The kids each picked a train from the train table for this one. Then they got to slide it down the large slide.
After each station, the kids got their badge punched. At the end of the training exercises, they were official engineers. (And they got to take home their badge and train hat to show for it.)
I’ve said before that I really enjoy all the party planning – and it’s true. I do what I can and try to have fun with it. I love seeing it all come together. And while Henry would have been happy with a train hat and a cake, he seemed to enjoy all the details, too. A 3-year-old after my own heart.
Sources
Birthday Express Invites – Tiny Prints
#3 blue foil balloons – Birthday Express
Engineer hats (for kids) – Birthday Express
10×10 vintage train photo backdrop – GladsBuy (Amazon)
Thomas the Train happy birthday balloon bouquet – Birthday Express
Blue train balloons – Birthday Express
Disposable helium tank – Birthday Express
Personalized dinner plates – Birthday Express
Bandana napkins – Birthday Express
Train car kids’ tumblers – Birthday Express
Thomas the Train 3d piñata – Birthday Express
Red and blue tumblers – Amazon, personalized with white vinyl (tutorial here)
Photo booth props – KROWNKREATIONS (Etsy)
Printable photo booth props – PaperBuiltShop (Etsy)
Printable train signs, food labels, banners – Harken Studios (Etsy)
Badge lanyards – Staples
Engineering prints – Staples
Lanterns – borrowed and Kohls
Galvanized water/tea canisters – BH&G for WalMart (these also come in red and aqua – swoon)
Red, white and blue tassel garland – Target
3 birthday cake – Olde Towne Bakery
Sugar cookies – 2 Mamas Baking
Special thanks to my friends at Birthday Express and Tiny Prints for providing supplies to make this party extra special! And thank you for supporting NewlyWoodwards’ sponsors to help make posts like this possible. (And pssst: both of these folks are running specials right now – 20 and 25 percent off orders at Birthday Express with code and 30 percent off at Tiny Prints with code – see details on their sites.)
Do you like this party idea? Check out our other kid party ideas:
SPACE-THEMED KIDS BIRTHDAY PARTY
JOHNNY TRACTOR KIDS BIRTHDAY PARTY
SUPERHERO TRAINING CAMP KIDS PARTY
A PUMPKIN PATCH KIDS PARTY
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Ellen says
Hello! Where did you get your trains print that’s behind the kids cups? Adorable party btw and tons of inspiration for my sons party planning. Thank you!
Kim Woodward says
I got that at Hobby Lobby last year – I’ve seen similar things at Gordman’s and Michael’s, too.
Darnetha | ChippaSunshine says
Kim, you outdid yourself! What a fantastic party and I love his cake!
Amanda - Small Home Big Start says
Oh my! This party looks amazing! Henry is such a lucky little fella 🙂
Kim Woodward says
Thanks, Amanda! I’m a pretty lucky momma, too. It was fun to put it all together.
Rita Templeton says
Oh my goodness, this just oozes awesomeness (and reminds me of my very mediocre birthday plans for my soon-to-be three-year-old!). And I cannot BELIEVE how grown-up Henry is looking. Wow. Our littles are growing big!
Julia@Cuckoo4Design says
Looks like he had a fantastic birthday. Just what a little cutie like him should have.
daisy says
Oh my gosh, Kim. You really need to do that for a living. Your parties are always so amazing! Henry is growing up so fast. Sorry, I said it!
Looks like everyone had a great time. Enjoy your wee one.
Kim says
Thanks, Daisy! It has gone fast, but he is pretty fun (most of the time) at age 3.
Nikki says
Wow, what a party! Everything was so cute. I can’t believe your little Henry is already 3. It looks like he had a blast. This makes me miss my little train loving boys.
Kim says
It really does fly by! I can tell that Henry is starting to move on from trains, but he’s still digging them for now.
Heidi says
Every party you just amaze me with your creativity and all the little details that make the party special. Henry is a lucky little man and so are his guests! I just threw a rehearsal dinner for my “little man” before his Saturday wedding (they grow fast, savor these years!!) and I thought I did pretty well marrying the bride’s wedding theme with the fiesta the night before….and the guests had fun, but whoa is it a lot of work! Happy work, but work! Can’t wait to see what you come up with for birthday #4!
Kim says
I’m sure the rehearsal dinner was amazing – and I’m sure your son and daughter-in-law appreciated all the effort.
Gretchen says
oh, wow! I think you topped last year’s party; I didn’t think it could be done! Looks like so much fun….love the photo backdrop and the 3 cake 🙂
Kim says
Thanks! The backdrop was definitely a favorite of mine, too. Now I just need to put it on a full wall to enjoy it for longer than a day.
Kim says
Loved seeing this! My now 5 year old son was OBSESSED with all things trains when he was 3 and I had several train parties. He still loves trains but has moved on to obsess over minions and lego star wars now (boo) so I miss the train stuff!
I hear ya about the fun with the planning. While we know our kids will love a party no matter how detailed it is, I find it so fun to plan all the “stuff”. Some people like to bake, some like to cook, some like to run marathons – I like to party-plan 🙂 Looks like you do, too! Fun party!
Kim says
Totally relate. I get kind of defensive about my party planning sometimes, but it’s just something I love to do. So I just go with it.
deb says
I swear, Kim, you could be a party planner! And…Henry is looking so grown up!
cassie says
i loved seeing all of the photos on fb- henry is so cute and this party was just so perfect for him! what a great mama you are!
Kim says
Thanks, Cassie! It was a lot of fun to put it together!