I’m so excited to finally post my son’s Little Pilot Plane Party! My little guy turned 3 in February…so of course he loves all things with wheels, but he really loves PLANES!! He will pick up anything and it will become a plane. Usually it’s a fighter jet making crashing noises.
I had a lot help for this party from my sister-in-law, Hilary and my mom (aka, the babysitter). It was so much fun to be around all the cousins again…the kids had a blast! Plus, I created this party on a very tight budget (after Christmas and 3 consecutive birthdays in our family, we’re always squeezing by this time of year!)
Decor
I decided to have this party at the park this year. I have never had an outdoor party and it comes with it’s own difficulties. You can’t tell by the pictures, but it was WINDY!!! I hadn’t planned on that and my balloons had to be tied to the side of the table…I was pretty bummed, but I still like the way it turned out.
I also used my trusty cake stand that I use at almost every party (Dinomite, Cowgirl, When I Grow Up). I haven’t even had to repaint it…it’s that trusty! I made it using this tutorial from Bee in Our Bonnet. Okay, my husband made it, but it’s still my favorite cake stand ever.
Besides that, most of my decor is made from my Little Pilot Printables. I absolutely LOVE this printable set. The cupcake toppers are my pride and joy with the cute little pilot and propeller. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again; using printables is the easiest and cutest way to make your party budget friendly. I even made my display boxes to hold the cookies and marshmallows! By the way, I made the color scheme very similar to Disney’s Planes on purpose 😉 My favorite things in this printable set:
- The flying cupcake toppers! You can purchase the PDF here or the Silhouette Files here
- The invite…just love the way it turned out 🙂
- The “Max is Going Places” luggage tags and popcorn boxes
- The mini gable boxes
- The plane masks
It’s all my favorite, but those are the highlights! My kids are kind of immune to my parties, but my friend’s son was so excited about all the printables…it was too cute!
Food
I love my nephew’s photobomb…and the fact that his hat is on backwards 🙂
I didn’t want to have to make my treats too involved this time around, so we had chocolate mint marshmallows, lemon cupcakes (soooo good!), snickerdoodle cookies, and store bought pop corn and trail mix. I’m a big fan of making things elaborate, but sometimes you have to give yourself a break. Plus, the kids devoured everything! Since I made most things and pop corn and trail mix is really cheap, I saved a ton of money on food by doing it myself (and by myself, I mean myself and Hilary).
The hardest part was the snickerdoodle cookies…while I think they look AMAZING…they were really hard to cut out. I had to cut them out before I baked them and after…it was a hard process, but I was determined. I would go with a sugar cookie recipe next time, but I’m horrible at baking and I know I can make snickerdoodles. I made a printable box, put some Styrofoam in the box, glued the cookies to cake pop sticks with chocolate and stuck them in the Styrofoam. I used Easter grass to cover up the styrofoam. I won’t be doing this again anytime soon, but I really do love the way it looks!
I’m so glad I threw this party for my little man. He is seriously the cutest thing and is bursting with energy every second of the day. He’s hilarious, a total boy that loves to get into trouble (and dirt). Love this guy and so grateful to have him in my life! To see Max’s Party from last year, click here!
Vendors
Party Printables and Styling: Strawberry Mommycakes
I Love Planes T Shirt: Cantaloupe Corner
Photography: Hilary Stailey Photography
Jessica @ Dear Emmeline says
Adorable Erin! Especially your little man. He’s a charmer!
Erin says
Thanks, Jessica! He’s already a lady killer, for sure 🙂
Allison says
That is very super-adorable but i just dont think a party that elaborate should be filed under a “party on a budget” – parties on a budget would not normally have vendors, photgraphers, etc: just sayin’.
Vendors:
Party Printables and Styling: Strawberry Mommycakes
I Love Planes T Shirt: Cantaloupe Corner
Photography: Hilary Stailey Photography
Erin says
Hi Allison- Thanks for stopping by! This party cost me less than $75 and it fed over a dozen people. I have my parties professionally photographed when I can so I can properly show off my printables, whereas a parent throwing a party for fun wouldn’t need to hire a photographer. The t-shirt was $16 and I provide the printables for only $15…so yes, this party is definitely on a budget.