Circus Birthday Party

Sidney's 2nd birthday is coming up and I've spent the past month planning her Elmo birthday party.  I know people say that kids will never remember their birthday parties when they are this little and that's fine, but I really enjoy planning parties and making the decorations so I'm going to do it anyway.  I put a ton of work into Sidney's 1st birthday.  We had a circus theme.  I thought I'd share some of the pictures in case anyone is inspired to throw a circus party.

I ordered Sidney's birthday outfit from Stitcheroos.  Adrienne at Stitcheroos is great!  We've bought birthday outfits from her twice now.  


I ordered the invitations and thank you cards on Etsy.  I couldn't figure out how to blur out my address so I didn't post the actual invitations, but the links above will take you to the Etsy site where I bought them.  You can also find stickers and banners and other party accessories on Etsy.

I made Sidney's birthday hat by taping wrapping paper around a plain birthday hat and gluing pom pom balls on the hat.  I also cut a number "1" out of red and yellow card stock and taped it on the hat.

I made a trapeze monkey using a wrapping paper roll, wrapping paper and ribbon.  I used safety pins to secure the monkey's legs around the wrapping paper roll.  I hammered small nails through the ribbon to secure it to the door frame.


Here's the dessert table:

I bought the cake from McArthur's Bakery.  I loved how they decorated it!  I found the popcorn boxes at Hobby Lobby - they have a ton of circus party decorations.  I made the cupcake bites.  And I bought a bunch of boxes of animal crackers to set out. 


Now for the carnival games!  We cleared out our sun room and set our games up.

We had 5 different games:

Ping Pong Ball Toss: I taped Solo cups onto a thick piece of foam board.  If you got a ping pong ball in the cup, you'd get 5 tickets.

Ring Toss: I tapped wrapping paper on one liter bottles of soda.  I bought the rings at Hobby Lobby.  I'd guess you could also get them at a hardware store.  If you got a ring around a bottle, you'd get 10 tickets.

Bean Bag Toss: I cut the Bean Bag Toss mat out of poster board.  I bought the bean bags at American Carnival Mart.  Wherever your bean bag lands on the mat determines the number of tickets you get.

Duck Pond:  I had the tub already so all I needed to buy was the rubber ducks.  I wrote a number on the bottom of each duck corresponding to the number of tickets you'd get.

Pin the Nose on the Clown:  I bought the clown face and noses at American Carnival Mart.  I cut out the clown face and taped it onto a piece of decorated poster board.  If you pinned the nose on the clown, you'd get 5 tickets.


I made the signs for each game using poster board, card stock, ribbon and tulle.  I hung them from the windows using suction cup hooks.  The games were so much fun - even the adults were competitive!


We also had a prize table:

I covered old boxes with wrapping paper and labeled the boxes with the prizes ticket value.


The Photo Booth was super fun!

I bought the fabric backdrop from Jo-Ann's and I got the clown accessories from American Carnival Mart.  We took pictures of all our guests dressed up - very cute collage!


We love you Sidney!  We can't wait to celebrate birthday #2!