All Aboard the Birthday Express

My sweet boy loves anything with a motor or wheels. For his past birthdays we have celebrated with Farmall Tractors and Classic Cars, and this year we opted for the classic train theme! Although my son really does love Thomas the Train, I felt that party had been done quite extensively already. Also you know me, I love anything vintage, it gave me a good opportunity to find some vintage train pieces and incorporate those into the party.

First for any party is the invitation. I ended up choosing the color scheme from green & white stripe napkins that I had purchased quite some time ago, they were the perfect inspiration. I love the colors navy & green together, so I added navy blue and for a pop of color, added in a little orange. In no time at all my theme had been set and I had my color scheme. Perfect!
Guests were immediately welcomed to board the train at Andrew Station. I used black duct tape to create the illusion of train tracks.
When I started planning this party I had a vision of a cute railroad sign hanging above the dessert table, I searched all over the internet and couldn't quite find what I was looking for. I had recently attended a sign making class taught by Eylander Sign Co. with her teaching skills I thought I could try to make this sign on my own. Turns out I could, and it was exactly how I had imagined it, except better because it was almost free!
This birthday party was quite a success, all the kids had a great time and our little man was tuckered out!

• What People Ate

  We held the party mid-afternoon so instead of a full meal we served light snacks and sweets. For the kids we had crackers, applesauce packs, fresh blueberries and oranges.

• What People Drank

  Strawberry water was served as Diesel Fuel, with fun stripey straws for the kids, and adults alike.

• Desserts

  One of the many desserts served were chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting. I used orange polka dot cupcake wrappers and green celebration sprinkles from The Tomkat Studio. Coordinating cupcake toppers that matched the invitation were used to complete the look. Mini chocolate donuts stacked on lollipop sticks made for a quick, simple, yet adorable dessert. Easy for little hands to grab and go. Homemade sugar cookies, with buttercream frosting. My go to recipe for sugar cookies is usually from the "Eat More Dessert" cookbook by Jenny Keller. They are amazing and seriously a no fail recipe. I cut-out varying train shapes and of course #3. I had store bought coconut macaroons for a few kiddos that came to the party who are gluten free. I wanted to make sure everyone was able to have a little treat. Oreos are my weakness, I could seriously sit down and eat a whole package and not even realize it! What is in those things to make them so addicting and delicious? For my Oreo pops I attached a candy stick and dipped the Oreos in white Candy Melts, then added a little green & blue sprinkles. That is my kind of treat, and the birthday boy loved them!

• Party Favors

  Don't forget to stop by baggage claim, navy blue stripe treat bags from Tomkat Studio, with a thank you train ticket attached to each bag. Each treat bag had a homemade train cookie, miniature Thomas train and wooden train whistle. Leaving additional room for extra goodies from the train pinata.

• Activities / Games

  Miniature Train set, Train Pinata.