Mr. Rhett turned FOUR on the 13th! I don't know where in the world the last four years have gone, but they went somewhere, and they went FAST! He is all about monster trucks right now, so naturally, he had to have a monster truck birthday party. This theme less than thrilled me, but I obliged him, and did the best I could. Do you know Pinterest has slim pickins when it comes to Monster Truck birthday party ideas? But, we rolled with it, and it came together nicely. He liked it and that is what mattered the most.
This is the second part of my post from
Gentry's party. These two parties took place at the same time, same place, just in different rooms of our house.
In addition to these party pics, we had lined up a real monster truck to come to the party and take the kids for a ride. I even put it on the invitations. Rhett was SO looking forward to that part, and wouldn't ya know the guy had car problems and couldn't make it! I just kept that little tid bit to myself, and Rhett has never even asked about it. I guess in all of the excitement he forgot. And, it was still a nice party without it. But, it would have been pretty neat to see my little guy's face all lit up. There's always next year!
So, here's Rhett's big Monster Truck Birthday Party in all its glory:
I found a pack of diy foam monster truck picture frames, so we set them out at a small table for the kiddos to complete as they entered the party.
The water bottles were wrapped in patterned duct tape that I got at Wal Mart. Easier and cheaper than custom labels!
I found this hubcap in a parking lot. Brought it home, cleaned it up, attached my own logo, and voila: free and unique party decor!
A photo of the drink station: Refueling Station
I saw this idea on pinterest to spray plastic paper plate holder to make them resemble wheels. I bought a pack of 4/$1 at Dollar Tree and sprayed them silver, added my own logo, and glued them to ribbon for a unique party bunting!
I scavenged my hubby's garage for things I could use, like the wheel center caps and old license plate. I used an old tire, some old wheels (shown below holding the pizzas), hubcaps, and anything else I thought might go.
I filled two (new, clean) funnels with Parmesan cheese and stuck them down into foam, then covered them with gumballs. This was a fun little way to display and serve the garnishes for the pizza.
I really, really, really wanted cake pops for his party, but the ones I found were OUT.RAGE.OUS!!!!! So, I decided that these chocolate covered donuts looked like spare tires, so I put them on skewers, added them to one of my MacKenzie-Childs canisters (that matched the party perfectly) and voila: Spare Tire Pops!
My best friend, Betsy, makes the cutest cookies, but it didn't work out for her to make them for Rhett's party. My mother in law came in in a pinch and picked up these cookies from a cookie shop in the mall! She saved the day.
I got these letters on sale at Hobby Lobby and glued them to a ribbon to use on the back drop for the party. I figured they kind of resembled letters that you might see on a license plate. I also used 1 pack of 12x12 black and one pack of 12x12 white scrapbook paper to make to checkered background. Rhett helped me with this project and was so proud of the "racing flags". I ordered giant round balloons online in red, yellow and green. I flanked the checkered background on either side with the balloons to represent a stoplight.
We had an Ice Cream SUNDAE SUNDAE SUNDAE Bar. Get it?!?
I designed labels for the bottles to resemble automobile fluids and additives. I used checkered duct tape to cover the existing labels, and then printed my own and adhered them with clear packing tape.
Rhett has been eyeing this cake at Target since his birthday party last year. He calls their cake catalog his "menu", and wants to look at it every.time.we.go.to.Target! We frequent the bakery because Target will give kids a free cookie. He learned this at a very early age, and it is the first thing he asks for when we go. In waiting for his cookie, he discovered "his menu" and now we not only have to get a cookie, but also check out said "menu".
One of Rhett's requests was a monster truck pinata. I found a couple of options online, but they were expensive, and Rhett really wanted a green truck. So, I consulted a few friends who've made pinatas before, then consulted google and Pinterest, and ran with it. Not perfect, but he loved it, and I had all of the supplies, so this project was FREE!
It didn't stand up to abuse very well.
Rhett coming out to check out his gift from mommy and daddy!
So excited!
Make a wish!
The aftermath of our version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.
I made a double sided photo booth with props (that didn't get used).
Boy's side
I wanted an old gas station sign sitting on this table, so I consulted Pinterest and came across something similar to this for like $70. I already had some of the wood, and decided to make my own, and I am pretty proud of how it turned out. My version cost $6! And, as an added bonus, I was able to personalize it by using the numbers of his birthdate as the gasoline price. Idea from
here.
We set up a Body Shop in the bathroom, where we had mowhawks, hair paint and monster truck tattoos for the kids.
I got the idea to change the Ford logo to a "Four" logo. I found a similar font and created this logo to resemble Ford. I glued this logo to several things throughout the party, including these wheel centercaps. I even created a birthday shirt for Rhett with the same logo.
I used melting chocolates to make these party favors, and made this favor tag that read, "Keep on Truckin'".
I made mini flags for the food labels and glued them to toothpicks that I stuck in the back of a bunch of Rhett's monster trucks.
My little guy had the best birthday, and that is what's most important! All of this was tons of hard work, setup and clean up, but it was worth it for his happiness!
If you are still reading this, I wanted to clarify a few things that I was questioned about from numerous people while preparing for the party. I know this party isn't fantastic, amazing, outstanding to everyone, but a lot of work and detail went into preparing for it. Despite all of the hard work, I assure you I didn't spend a ton of money on decor! Yes, my time is worth something, but I started WAY in advance, and I actually enjoy all of the preparations that go into this kind of stuff. All total, INCLUDING all food, drinks and cake, was $174. That's way cheaper than any place I could have rented and then had to provide food/snacks, drinks and cake as well. And, I am no graphic designer, but instead of purchasing printables, I tried my hand at designing my own. And, I don't have fancy photoshop or even power point. I designed all of it in Microsoft Paint, a lame program that came with my laptop. They're not the best, but they worked!
It definitely helps to think outside the box, use things you have, shop sales, try new things and scavenge other people's discards. You never know what you'll find!
