John Deere Birthday Party

I opted for e-invitations this year in an effort to save resources and move toward better stewardship of our environment and money.  I printed off a couple for people I knew didn't e-mail as well as one for his baby book. 

Baby Boy #2 celebrated his big first birthday party in John Deere tractor style.  We planned for Memorial Day Weekend and who would have ever thought it would be freezing cold!  Most of my activities planned were water/mud activities so they were a no-go for the day :(  However everyone was a good sport and had a nice time.  I decorated with simplicity in mind, made some handmade favors for our little guests, and served a yummy plant-based spread for our guests.  Here are some photos from our day.

Decorated the tables with green and yellow and used some John Deere Tractors and fresh corn on the  for decorations.

This was the kid's picnic table so I filled the truck with green and yellow sidewalk chalk for their centerpiece. 

Drink Station.  Mason Jars with green biodegradable straws, homemade John Deere "sippy" cups for the kiddos and some lemon lime water.

I glued John Deere fabric to the tops of the jelly jar lids, punched a hole and added a straw for a sippy cup favor for our little guests.

Put the favor bags on the food table.  We had mostly green and yellow foods:  Bananas, apples, pears, grapes, pea soup, and roasted veggie platter with squash, mushrooms, peppers, onions,  kidney beans, blacked eye peas and quinoa.

Favor bags for the boys included a handmade elastic bow tie made from flannel John Deere fabric and a handmade bottle cap.  These were so fun to make and probably my favorite item of the day.  You can purchase these from me here.

Girls favor bags had a John Deere head band made from green and yellow ribbon, and a handmade John Deere bottle cap.  You can purchase these from me here.

Even Bella got a John Deere makeover for the big day!  The Birthday Boy almost never lets her leave his side so she needed a little decor too :)

Never thought he would need his winter hat on Memorial Day!  

Pretty intrigued by his sippy cup and straw.

Big Brother had a good time as well!

I made mud playdough for the favor bags and found some colorful plastic baggies from Target, used the yellow and green for the playdough.  Each child got two cars or trucks or tractors in the favor bag along with his/her bow tie or headband.  The play dough smelled so good you almost wanted to eat it!

Despite the cold, as well as having quite the cranky birthday boy (who went down for a super early nap 1/2 hour into his party) we had a nice time visiting with family and friends.  Always love watching the little cousins and friends play together.  We have had a busy month (and we do NOT do "busy" very often!) between getting our house ready for sale, my husband completing his Masters degree, celebrating his degree with a bon fire last week and all the wonderful unpacking and sorting of our stuff into our apartment.  I decided I didn't have the time or energy to have an over-the-top birthday party (although that's usually what I do!) but in the end I actually enjoy the simple look to the tables and food.  I was able to get everything done, both food and decorations/favors in one day and night.  I stayed up all night before the party as is my typical procrastinating tradition for these parties :)

Happy Birthday my sweet baby boy!!