Rootin' Tootin' Cowboy Cookout Birthday Party

My oldest son just turned 8.  He also lost his two front teeth just in time to dress up as a cowboy at his party!  Such a crack up.

He decided months ago that he wanted his birthday to be a cowboy theme this year. It was so much fun to plan.  Pinterest became my friend (and nemesis.)

*Quick side note - on pinterest you just see the glamorous pictures. You never see behind the scenes where the kitchen is flooded with dishes, the floor is caked with sticky stuff or the heat is so hot outside your rice krispy treats and cake is melting. Nope you just see the perfect pretty pictures! I still do love pinterest for inspiration though. I do have to remain in reality when browsing or I can beat myself up for not being that "perfect mom who does it all."

I wanted to share with you some pictures of some of the things we did.  I did get almost all my inspiration from pinterest and a website called Catch My Party.  We also ordered our supplies at Oriental Trading Company and we bought some from Hobby Lobby and our local party store. I also created a bunch of decorations at home.

The entry to our ranch

My husband was able to borrow hay bales from work.  That was so exciting! The smaller picture to the right is of my Creative Memories Photo Panel (hanging on my front door.) It let people know who came to the front door to come around back for the party. It was where the cowboys were. 

These "wanted" signs greeted folks at the entrance.  Mean looking Cowboys huh?

Chuck Wagon and Waterin' Hole

  The food we served up:

Supper at the Chuck Wagon

Cowboy Chili Dogs (gluten free with no bun, chili is gluten free)

*add some chuck wagon cheese to your dog for good times!

Sassy Cow Poke Grilled Chicken Legs (gluten free)

No Horsing Around Corn on the Cob (gluten free)

Boot Lickin' Good watermelon (gluten free)

Bee-Sweetened Fruit on toothpicks (gluten free)

Waterin' Hole

Rootin' Tootin' Root Beer (gluten free)

Corn–Crackin water (gluten free)

 

Snacks

Happy Trails trail mix (not gluten free)

Curling up Cow Tales (not gluten free)

Farmland animal suckers (gluten free)

Cinnamon Horseshoe donuts (gluten free and Paleo)

Horse Feed Popcorn (gluten free)

 

Dessert

Diggin' Dangler Chocolate Chocolate Birthday Cake (gluten free)

 Game Time

We had horseshoes set up and also had a lassoing contest.  My husband was able to borrow the steer head from work too. Yay!

We also had a photo booth set up.  I used my old Polaroid camera that I had film for (film from our wedding 9 years ago.)  Each time we took a photo we hung it with clothespins on the line (attached to the E-Z up) and it had a sign that said "Most wanted Cowboys and Cowgirls. No Trespassing!" Had the film been newer the most wanted line would have looked better.  The film was a bit damaged though. I should have ordered some newer. *One of those "behind the scenes" things you don't see on pinterest.*

We played "Diggin' for Gold." They had to dig in the dirt to find chocolate gold coins. This was a hit.

We also had a "Make your own Bandanna" station with white fabric bandannas and fabric markers for coloring. I didn't get a really good picture of that- sorry. Another activity that was a big hit because it was so hot was bobbing for apples. I loved watching this one. It had me laughing.  I had planned to have a watermelon eating contest too but we ran out of time.

Desserts and Snack Table 

There's my sweet birthday cowboy. I really cannot believe he is already 8.  I was just watching some older home videos of him when he was a baby and toddler and it just doesn't seem that long ago.  I was so proud of him on his birthday.  He was so thankful and genuinely happy. 

  Most desserts had to stay in the house until the time to eat them because it was SO hot!

Thankfully my husband was able to also get a mister from work. It cooled us a little!

 THE cake

I loved our cake.  Corbin did too!  I made the actual cake. It was a chocolate cake that was gluten free. The recipe I used was this one and I made two batches. I made two twelve inch rounds and two 9 inch rounds.  My sweet friends Nellie and Andy who are both very talented decorated it. They were SO generous to donate their time to do this. They told me they stayed up until one in the morning to finish. *Yet another thing you don't hear on pinterest* I really appreciated their commitment in doing this. It really added the "icing on the cake" for the party. I had a TINY (I really do mean tiny like a half of a pea) snitch of it because she makes her own fondant too. It was marshmallowy and very tasty. I've got to get the recipe and learn how to work with fondant.

These were the Haystacks (Rice Krispy Treats) and Cinnamon and Sugar Horseshoe donuts.  The haystacks were gluten free and the donuts were Paleo. We also had the Horsefeed (popcorn) on the table for snacks.

 There's the happy cowboy!

Goody Bags

When it was time to say Happy Trails I had goody bags for guests. The goodies were wrapped in bandannas to take home.

Here is what was inside the goody bags:

Trail Mix

Stick on Mustaches

Mustache Lip Whistles

Brand Tattoos

Mustache Stickers

Farm animal or cowboy suckers

Cow Tails

(Most things were from Oriental Trading Company)

This certainly was a fun party to plan. I really love doing themed parties. It is so easy to go crazy though.  There are definitely things I learned from doing this party that I will do next time and some things I wont do again. It was a blessed day and Corbin was on cloud nine of course. We thank God for the means to be able to do a party like this.  We have been blessed.

*Another side note, these parties DO NOT happen every year for us. They come around once in a while.*

~Blessings and have a rootin' tootin' good day!~