Eli turned 3!!!

This year for Eli's birthday party he wanted a rodeo/cowboy party.  I loved this theme and we had such a good time I thought I would share it!  We started the planning with a little photo shoot of Eli in his cowboy outfit to use for the invitations. Here are some of the cute pics that came from that...

  I took my favorite from his little session in our backyard and photoshopped the invitations.  Then we burned the edges and rolled them up and tied them with some twine.  Attached was a little tag with the kids names on them.

  When the kids arrived we had a friend dressed up in western to help the kids get all "gussied up".  Each child received a cowboy hat, bandana, sheriff's badge and fake mustache.  For food we had hot dogs, chili and chips, and an assortment of desserts.  Cupcakes, haystacks, "snake eggs" which were oreo balls, and Smore Pops (marshmallows dipped in chocolate with graham cracker crumbs sprinkled on them).  We made wanted posters with each child's picture and a nickname, then laminated them.  These were the place mats for the cake time.

For games we had pony rides and roping a cow (the cow was borrowed from our church's nativity set from last year). We also played a "pin the mustache on Cowboy Eli" game but we didn't get any pictures of that.

Lastly, for party favors we made "hobo bags" with a bandana tied at both ends and goodies inside.  We made little money bags out of burlap with bubble gum coins in them, some suckers and a fuzzy poster of a cowboy to color. Also we made some bags of trail mix and the kids took home their wanted signs and cowboy gear.

We had an incredible time celebrating our little man and all the effort was truly worth it.  He had so much fun and I think he will remember it for a long time!