Rodeo Themed 2nd Birthday Party!

We had an absolute ball at my boys’ 2nd Rodeo Party! The temperatures plummeted for the weekend, and the rain would not quit, but you know I had lots of plan Bs in my back pocket to ensure we still have a great time indoors! All the details from this party are below with links to most of the special details at the very end of this post.

I went through a total of three different theme ideas for my boys before landing on this one. You know what got me? The saying that “It wasn’t their first rodeo…” because it was their second! Gosh, I thought it was just so adorable!

This rodeo-themed party very easily could have gone farm-esque or Wild West, and I really wasn’t interested in either. My boys love horses, so although it was technically a cowboy party, we definitely declared it a horse party in reality. I decided to go Americana with it instead for a true All-American cowboy vibe.

My friend Megan with Hip Hip Hooray Creative Events nailed the color scheme I described from the invitations I ordered! We both joked that I have never, ever, ever, picked a “sand” color in one of my party color schemes, but wow, did it work! I didn’t want the party to feel like a Fourth of July cookout, so mixing different shades of blue and adding in the sand with the white helped give this color palette more dimension.

I ordered these horse balloons to be added into the gorgeous garland Megan made for me, and as I was struggling to figure out the missing piece to it all, she sent me inspiration for painted balloons. I told her I just couldn’t get the idea of gingham out of my head, but couldn’t find what I wanted! So do you know what happens when you can’t find what you’re looking for (anywhere!!)? You make it yourself. And sometimes that means at 5 in the morning, because no one is up to get into your painting project then! I really love how these gingham balloons turned out once we paired them with what she created with the latex balloons. I’ll create a whole post on how I made these gingham balloons, promise!

I originally wanted to use my old ladder out on our porch to hold all the cowboy and cowgirl goodies, but our front room became the ideal space when the weather didn’t change. Each child got to pick out a bandana, cowboy/girl hat, and inflatable stick pony to wear and ride for the party when they arrived. I ordered both boy and girl stick ponies and had them blown up, ready for the takin’ when the kids!

I had two signs and the party invitations (photo at the top of this post!) created by Kirsten McFarland Designs…didn’t they turn out so cute? I squealed when they came in the mail. They had the perfect amount of sweetness for a two-year old birthday party. I also used the boys’ blue letterboard sign to add some more humor to the food table.

The party started at 11AM, so I wanted to have some yummy lunch options for our guests. I ordered both pork and chicken barbeque sliders from a fantastic local smoke house by us. They were so delicious, and I really loved the leftovers, ha! We also had potato salad, cole slaw, chips, and homemade uncrustable PB&Js for the kids. (I always just make my own using this tool-it’s a staple in my house!)

For the kids, I also always make sure I have some applesauce pouches and string cheese. I usually have some cut up fruit or a veggie tray, but for this party, I skipped that and we STILL had way more than enough food.

For my boys’ cakes, I ordered two 6-inch “naked” strawberry shortcake cakes from a local bakery (hello, gotta keep my red, white, and blue theme going…) and then did cupcakes from our grocery store.

I had to get these cupcake toppers. They were a party must! Since my boys are identical twins, these were great conversation starters as they really stumped our family and friends on who was who. They also have made good keepsakes that I already have stored away for my boys in their memory bins.

Keeping the “birthday” cakes small, allowed for the adults to enjoy the cakes and the kids to have their own cupcake. I think I’ll definitely do this in the future…we didn’t have so much leftover cake as we have had in the past!

One thing that I really loved was their cake table. I used our side console to display their cakes. On either side of their cakes, I had two framed photos of the boys from this past year that really showed their individual personalities.

I saved these little party horses from last year’s party (I didn’t know I would do this theme for their 2nd, but they were perfect!) from the Target Dollar Spot. I also added these plastic toy horse fences throughout the food and cake tables which added a really nice touch for our theme! I love it when things all come together like this!

Since the party was indoors, we played two organized games: Pin the Tail on the Pony and a Lassoing game with a hula hoop and a cow! It was super fun to watch the kids (age range was 1-7) really get into both games! I also had coloring sheets and markers laid out for the kids for when they first arrived, and of course they had their stick ponies to romp around with too! We played both games before singing Happy Birthday. This gave the adults lots of time for eating, chatting, and getting pictures with the birthday cowboys!

After cake, we headed to the garage where my husband had the bounce house ready to roll! This was a really fun Christmas gift we had received for the boys, and it was extra fun to blow it up in our garage for our guests when the weather worked against us for the party.

You know I normally skip the favor bags (I did do them for the twins’ first birthday though…). For this party, the kids all got goodies throughout the party: hat, bandana, and stick pony, so I really didn’t feel it was necessary for a favor bag too. Instead, I had cotton candy favor bags for both adults and kids to go home with, just in case they needed a little more sugar over Easter weekend! I ordered them from this Etsy shop, and they came about three days before the party. I then added stickers I made myself as a finishing touch.

It was such a fun party, and I love how everything came together! Yee-Haw!