When Will's birthday was approaching we talked with him about what kind of party he would like to have this year and it wasn't long before we settled on a Cars theme. The kid loves anything and everything with wheels and a motor. So, when we were thinking of themes, cars were on the top of his list. Being that the Cars 3 movie came out in the last few months (which we all saw together in the theater so it was mega-exciting for Will), and was super popular, there were plenty of ideas out there and it was really easy to find decorations related to the franchise. As is customary in this house, planning started at least a month in advance as we like to split up the cost of a party over time and it gives us more time to create some things along the way. Will was super excited this year to see us buy things or make things along the way. This was the first year that he was really into his own birthday party. The first year he truly understood what was going on and that the party was his own and no one else's. I love this stage with kids. When they get it and are super excited to see things come together. Then even more excited to actually participate in them. I wanted to highlight a few of the things that were created for this party in case anyone is looking for any new ideas for a Cars (or really any sort of vehicle related) party.
To start, I tried out a new wreath style. This is a yarn wreath and while a bit more time consuming than the normal ones we create, it wasn't too bad. Note for anyone creating on of these, do it in stages and never use too much yarn at once because as you wrap it around, it is less likely to get tangled if you have smaller amounts. This is just wrapped around a Styrofoam wreath. I made it a fairly normal size but there are larger and smaller wreath forms so you can make different sizes. It took almost an entire thing of yarn (I don't know what the packages are called) mainly because I pulled it super tight. I made the flags by cutting strips of checkered print fabric, using those hemming strips that you iron on and hot gluing them to wooden dowels. I had to make my own because I couldn't find any pre-made for the life of me. It was just as easy to make them and since I already had the hemming stuff, it was inexpensive. Maybe around $5 total for the dowels and a yard of fabric. The fabric went pretty far too as you will see it show up in a few other places. I like parties where people can enter as they arrive without ringing the bell or knocking and waiting but I also know some people are willing to enter unannounced and others are more likely to knock so I like to include a simple sign on the door usually telling people to come on in. I just used card stock to make a traffic light and sign. Easy peasy.
As people entered, they were greeted with a chalkboard sign. I used the kids' easel and just wrote out a note to welcome everyone sort of. On it, I included two more flags I made and a small fabric banner using some of the yard of fabric I bought. I already had a large cord to use to attach the fabric strips to so that made it easier.
Directly across from that was our car wash. Will is currently obsessed with car washes. No idea why. He thinks they are so cool and when we started talking about a Cars party, he wanted a car wash. Okie dokie then. I admit... this was all a Pinterest find but it was super easy. I already had the red crepe paper streamers and picked up white ones at the dollar store. Then I made a simple sign noting what it was. I measured one streamer from the ceiling to the floor and precut a bunch to the same length. Then had some help hanging them from the ceiling and, I must admit, it was a hit. The kids thought it was awesome. Will freaked out two days later when we finally removed all of them. It stood up to a bunch of kids pretty well actually. (Papa wanted to hang out on the other side with a leaf blower pretending to "dry" the kids but we had to reign him in because we thought it might frighten everyone. Haha!!)
Our gift table wasn't too crazy. Sometimes I add more things here but elected to not worry about it too much. I made a speed limit sign and put the party favors on the table. For the favors, we bought a bunch of packs of cars and put each one in a small bag (bags were about $3 at Michaels) then attached a tag that I made thanking everyone for coming. The kids seemed to like the cars as favors and it was easy and inexpensive. I can't locate a close up pic of the cars right now but that is what is in the silver container in the center of the table.
We decided to have a few games this year. We purchased a Change the Tire on Cruz game from Amazon. We only had 8 tires so I used other Cars stickers in place of those when we ran out for some of the older kids. They were okay with it. I also used a large piece of red foam poster board (the thick kind) to make a stop sign. I attached cardboard to the back to make it stand up and we used small bouncy balls we already had to throw through the hole. We also had a Cars pinata. The kids loved that!
Our cake table (aka the buffet) was super easy. I used red, yellow, and green plates to simulate a traffic light and put Will's chalkboard on the table. (Side note: We were off and he is actually 39" tall but we had his weight right on.) We also purchased a package of 4 collapsible cones (made for soccer mostly) at Wal-Mart and I added a Route 66 sign we printed to each one along with another flag. You will see those randomly around the party. As usual, Publix made the cake and it was super yummy.
For the food table, we had a last minute idea to make a race strip. I'm going to call it Thunder Valley. You may notice that Lightning McQueen won... but I agreed to let Jr. come in a close second. There is also a wreck (on purpose). This was super easy to make. I had left over black paper and drew the lines on. As for the food, we named everything (as usual). My favorite was the Stop Light Fruit Salad made by Grandma. No one noticed, I'm sure, but she used red, yellow, and green fruits. My initial plan was to make kabobs that looked like stop lights but that ended up being a bit time intensive and we were trying to keep food easier this time around. We used the pinata as a centerpiece because it was perfect for that.
The only thing I forgot to take a picture of that I was sort of upset about was my actual water bottles. I used checkered duct tape and wrapped the labels. They were cute but I forgot to take a pic of them. We also marketed the juice as "coolant". Forgot that too.
We think it turned out pretty cool. Will was super happy with the outcome and we put another fun birthday party in the books. Now, to move on to Trunk or Treat for our church's Fall Festival this weekend. =)
To start, I tried out a new wreath style. This is a yarn wreath and while a bit more time consuming than the normal ones we create, it wasn't too bad. Note for anyone creating on of these, do it in stages and never use too much yarn at once because as you wrap it around, it is less likely to get tangled if you have smaller amounts. This is just wrapped around a Styrofoam wreath. I made it a fairly normal size but there are larger and smaller wreath forms so you can make different sizes. It took almost an entire thing of yarn (I don't know what the packages are called) mainly because I pulled it super tight. I made the flags by cutting strips of checkered print fabric, using those hemming strips that you iron on and hot gluing them to wooden dowels. I had to make my own because I couldn't find any pre-made for the life of me. It was just as easy to make them and since I already had the hemming stuff, it was inexpensive. Maybe around $5 total for the dowels and a yard of fabric. The fabric went pretty far too as you will see it show up in a few other places. I like parties where people can enter as they arrive without ringing the bell or knocking and waiting but I also know some people are willing to enter unannounced and others are more likely to knock so I like to include a simple sign on the door usually telling people to come on in. I just used card stock to make a traffic light and sign. Easy peasy.
As people entered, they were greeted with a chalkboard sign. I used the kids' easel and just wrote out a note to welcome everyone sort of. On it, I included two more flags I made and a small fabric banner using some of the yard of fabric I bought. I already had a large cord to use to attach the fabric strips to so that made it easier.
Directly across from that was our car wash. Will is currently obsessed with car washes. No idea why. He thinks they are so cool and when we started talking about a Cars party, he wanted a car wash. Okie dokie then. I admit... this was all a Pinterest find but it was super easy. I already had the red crepe paper streamers and picked up white ones at the dollar store. Then I made a simple sign noting what it was. I measured one streamer from the ceiling to the floor and precut a bunch to the same length. Then had some help hanging them from the ceiling and, I must admit, it was a hit. The kids thought it was awesome. Will freaked out two days later when we finally removed all of them. It stood up to a bunch of kids pretty well actually. (Papa wanted to hang out on the other side with a leaf blower pretending to "dry" the kids but we had to reign him in because we thought it might frighten everyone. Haha!!)
Our gift table wasn't too crazy. Sometimes I add more things here but elected to not worry about it too much. I made a speed limit sign and put the party favors on the table. For the favors, we bought a bunch of packs of cars and put each one in a small bag (bags were about $3 at Michaels) then attached a tag that I made thanking everyone for coming. The kids seemed to like the cars as favors and it was easy and inexpensive. I can't locate a close up pic of the cars right now but that is what is in the silver container in the center of the table.
We decided to have a few games this year. We purchased a Change the Tire on Cruz game from Amazon. We only had 8 tires so I used other Cars stickers in place of those when we ran out for some of the older kids. They were okay with it. I also used a large piece of red foam poster board (the thick kind) to make a stop sign. I attached cardboard to the back to make it stand up and we used small bouncy balls we already had to throw through the hole. We also had a Cars pinata. The kids loved that!
Our cake table (aka the buffet) was super easy. I used red, yellow, and green plates to simulate a traffic light and put Will's chalkboard on the table. (Side note: We were off and he is actually 39" tall but we had his weight right on.) We also purchased a package of 4 collapsible cones (made for soccer mostly) at Wal-Mart and I added a Route 66 sign we printed to each one along with another flag. You will see those randomly around the party. As usual, Publix made the cake and it was super yummy.
For the food table, we had a last minute idea to make a race strip. I'm going to call it Thunder Valley. You may notice that Lightning McQueen won... but I agreed to let Jr. come in a close second. There is also a wreck (on purpose). This was super easy to make. I had left over black paper and drew the lines on. As for the food, we named everything (as usual). My favorite was the Stop Light Fruit Salad made by Grandma. No one noticed, I'm sure, but she used red, yellow, and green fruits. My initial plan was to make kabobs that looked like stop lights but that ended up being a bit time intensive and we were trying to keep food easier this time around. We used the pinata as a centerpiece because it was perfect for that.
The only thing I forgot to take a picture of that I was sort of upset about was my actual water bottles. I used checkered duct tape and wrapped the labels. They were cute but I forgot to take a pic of them. We also marketed the juice as "coolant". Forgot that too.
We think it turned out pretty cool. Will was super happy with the outcome and we put another fun birthday party in the books. Now, to move on to Trunk or Treat for our church's Fall Festival this weekend. =)
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