Growing Up Gardner: Noah's Train Birthday Party

My teeny tiny newborn baby boy turned THREE....in February. I was editing pictures of our Disneyland trip earlier this week and I scrolled past February and was reminded that I have yet to share his really fun Locomotive Party (or Noelle's Frozen party in June).

Six months ago Noah was really into trains. Actually anything with wheels, but since he already had a race car party, we decided on a train theme. Today the train, plane, and car toys are stuffed in an ottoman in the playroom and have been replaced with all things Star Wars. All. Things. I hear the Imperial March a billion times a day. Along with, "Where's the blue storm trooper?" and "Mommy, I'm Hans Solo and you're Padme Amidala."

Rewind back to February and we had a happy little conductor at his train party. Here are some of the details.

My super handy dad whipped up this railroad crossing sign with some extra wood from the shop. It's a legit railroad sign. Like, I could put it up on a road and people would look around for tracks.
Chalkboard sign and luggage from Hobby Lobby.

The big attraction at his party was this fun "train" made out of barrels and dollies. We borrowed it from a local church (my dad plays in a church softball league and has all the connections). I added "Noah Express" and "Choo Choo" to the train to personalize it a bit.

CHOO CHOO! The kids LOVED the train rides around the neighborhood.

The train was pulled by an electric golf cart, driven by Conductor Grandpa.

The FOOD! The was the first time I used a chocolate fountain and everyone really enjoyed it. For dipping I served massive strawberries, rice krispy treats, and marshmallows. I stuck with red, white and blue (and bandana print) for the color scheme and used the train image as much as I could. It was even on Noah's shirt for the party!

I spotted this red tub at Home Goods and couldn't pass it up. Actually, I did pass it up and then sent Aaron back into the store to get it! It's been a useful purchase. For the other beverages I used Noah's changing table which I donated a couple weeks later.

Drink Station - Along with water and Dr. Pepper (the essentials), there was Cherry Limeade and juice boxes for the kiddos in cute little muslin bags. The printer transfer paper was really easy to use. I just made the design, printed it out, and ironed the design on.
"N" from Hobby Lobby.

I'm a sign maker, so of course I had to paint a few signs for the party.
Platters, locomotive, lantern and basket from Hobby Lobby.

One of my favorite elements in creating a party is the centerpieces. These cost less than 10 bucks to make. The pail and #3 were purchased at Michael's and the plant was $3 at Lowe's. The bandana was $1 at Walmart and brings the theme together on each table. The bandana on the dessert table (scroll back up) is actually a scarf from Forever 21!

Inside I usually display the kids' birth announcements and birthday invitations. I also like to out the favors on this table.

Favors: Animal cookies with a train whistle and conductor hat (Oriental Trading Co).

Talk about easy game preparation: galvanized bucket + balls = coal toss.

My brother-in-law always takes amazing pictures of the kids for their birthday. These are my favorite shots.

Down the road from our house a purple-haired lady has this caboose on the side of her yard. Her family was very kind to allow us on her property but we quickly learned that they had a few screws loose. We were there for a quick 20 minute shoot.