Tuesday, September 3, 2013

The Fire Truck Party! {lots of photos!}

This past weekend we celebrated the fourth birthday of my little firefighter, with a smokin' hot firefighter BBQ! My husband had the smoker cooking all night prior, preparing pulled pork and ribs, and I made macaroni and cheese, beans, and of course. . .cake! 

I had fun creating lots of crafty projects for the shindig, so I thought I'd share some of them! 

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Mr. Four-Year-Old Fireman himself!

As guests arrived, they were greeted by the gardens on fire! I printed the flame templates, from an Etsy shop, called Paper and Cake, which has THE cutest fire party decor!!!!! I glued wooden skewers to the backs, and stuck them into the ground.



I used lots of red, orange, and yellow cardstock to pull off the crafty decorations for this party.  FSJ cardstock in Candy Apple, Rich Coral, Lemon Drop, and Tangerine Fusion are perfect shades for fire fighter party decorations!

I hung one of little man's fire boots on the door, along with a sign I printed onto cardstock. I printed the image on yellow cardstock, trimmed it, and then matted it on red.

I also had this chalkboard sitting by the front door.


I was totally unimpressed by the fire hats at the local party store.  They were horribly made, over priced, and not so cute.  SO, we made a family outing to Firehouse Subs one night, and I sweetly asked for a few extra fire hats. (The give them out with their kid's meals.) They gave me a whole stack of them, and I got busy jazzing them up.  I covered up the original sticker with cardstock, and personalized the hats with the children's initials.  I used another Paper and Cake template for the flame, and added a twine bow on the hat for our sweet girly-girl pal who was at the party.  

At the craft table, I created a burning-building collage activity.  I showed the kids how they could make their own row of buildings with windows, using the precut cardstock I had ready for them. Then they used squares of tissue paper to fill the scene with FIRE!!! To finish it off they added fire truck stickers to save the day.


We also had some BIG burning buildings as a table centerpiece.  I forgot to get a picture with the BBQ spread, but here it is right before we cut the cake. Tanner and I made the burning buildings together, out of cardboard boxes.  We wrapped them in brown paper, and added black cardstock windows and doors, and finished off with the same tissue paper technique for the fire. I added some of the large flames on top of the buildings too.

The cake was red velvet, with cream cheese frosting.  I designed the fire truck and created it out of fondant.

I also made little tags for the glasses. We used mason jars with handles, (98 cents at WalMart!) I found the fire truck image online, printed, and then diecut the circles. I tied them on with red and white twine, and added red and white paper straws to finish the cuteness! 


As favors after the party, we gave chocolate dipped Oreos - I mean fire truck wheels, with a tag that said "Have a fire truck wheel for the road! Thanks for the 4-alarm fun!"


Oh - and how could I forget? I painted tshirts for the four of us, using another clipart image I found online. I created a freezer paper transfer, and painted them using tshirt paint.  I've done this a few times, and I've been pleased with the results every time! There's a great freezer paper stencil tutorial at www.danamadeit.com

So there you have it!!!!! The party was a blast, but I must admit, I'm sort of glad it's over!!!! ;) 

Resources:
I was inspired by SO many great parties I found online. Please see my fire truck party Pinterest board for links to fabulous parties, coloring sheets, cake ideas, printable party supplies and more! 


Looking for more party fun? Check out last year's garbage truck birthday party! 

If this is your first time here, I'd love to connect with you again! Follow me on Instagram, and Pinterest for crafty inspiration every day!

The following are items that I didn't use for this party, but I have used them for other parties and projects and I love them - they might be just what you're looking for, for your party! 

Angled Treat Cup (10 pack)          




            Lunch Box  (10 pack)           




Window Box (10 pack)                     







6 comments:

Unknown said...

How fun! Love the tissue flames and party hats and your own tshirts!

Nancy said...

Look like it was a hot time! Too fun. You are so creative Missy!

Debi Squires said...

What a fun party--wish I was there!! I will be 60 next June so you can plan a fun one for me--wink wink :-) You are soooo talented and your kids are lucky to have such a great mom.

Sue said...

Looks like so much fun!

Susan aka Mimi said...

Wish I had been there, but it was great to see all the pictures and read your story along the way. Did you let the boys destroy the burning buildings after it was all over???

I can just imagine it!

Unknown said...

Well done!!! Very creative!