We organised a farm party this weekend for a three year old – my little girl, Penelope.  The party was magnificent – beautiful weather, entertained and happy kids and extraordinary fun!  I wanted to share some of the little details with you to help inspire your own E-I-E-I-O farm party.

Invitations, stationey and favors

We used invitations and favors from the Paper Eskimo range at Pink Frosting.  The Barnyard Celebration range is so bright and fun, we simple couldn’t have created anything better ourselves!   I love that they come with a magnet, so your guests can pop them on the fridge to remind them of where and when the party is.  A really neat little feature.

Our favor bags were from the same range and we used the lolly bag tags from Paper Eskimo as well.  Because the guests were young (between one and three years of age) we gave simple favours of soft lollies and cowboy hats for all of the guests to protect them from the sunshine.

Decorations and Styling

Central to our theme were the E-I-E-I-O Barnyard theme balloons, which we used around 300 of both outside and in the areas leading to the bathroom inside the house.  The outdoor balloons were secured with heavy balloon weights in bright colours and the indoor balloons were left to hang from the ceiling, leaving their long ribbons for the kids to pull at.

Bails of hay were sourced from a local farm supplier and we dotted them around the party area as a decorative element and also a budget way for guests to sit during the party.   Afterwards, hay is great on your garden, so it isn’t a waste at all!

We found some cow print fabric at Spotlight and simply cut it to size as a fun table cloth on all the tables.  The contrast between the bright balloons and decorations was fantastic.  Plastic party cutlery, partyware and straws were all in a rainbow of super-bright colours, again to contrast with the black and white cow print cloths.

Fun and Games

Kids between the ages of one and three don’t need much in the way of organised entertainment.  As a matter of fact, if you try and organise them with a game of pass the parcel, it will probably end in frustration and tears!  Instead, turn the music up loud, give them a dance floor and plenty of space to run around and they’ll make their own fun.  We had one organised activity which was cupcake decorating:  simply give the kids a plain iced cupcake each and a table of lollies, sprinkles, chocolate drops etc and let them decorate their own cupcakes.  This was a real winner!

Menu and Catering

We’re lucky enough to work with some wonderful caterers, so we hired Cinnamon Catering in Canberra to cater our party.  Cinnamon organised a great kids menu (that the adults enjoyed more than the kids, I think!) which included mini pies, corn on the cob, fruit skewers and mini sausages in rolls.

The cake was a banana cake (the guest of honour’s favourite) in two layers, decorated with her favourite sweets – smarties and musk sticks.  A cow candle and her initials on the cake tied in with the theme.

We had a ball!  I hope you have fun at your farm party too!

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn