Barnyard Birthday: Cricket's 1st birthday

My little Cricket turned 1, and she LOVES animals, so we did a barnyard theme.

 I scoured the internet and found some animal and barn images for the invitation.
I used MS Word to make a "BINGO" card-ish design with my information in the middle.

 I used spray adhesive to put the white and color paper together, after printing our little "No Gifts" message on the back.

 I found a refrigerator box being thrown out in our neighborhood.  They collect all cardboard separate form the trash, so I'm always on the look-out for great big pieces when I go running.  I used two sides of the huge box to make this.  Add in a can of spray paint and some white Duct tape and there's the barn!  The kids at the party loved this and we got some great pictures of all the party animals!

 You can see the benches on either side of the barn too.  Those are actually book cases on their side with a cushion made from a memory foam mattress topper.  We needed more seating for kids during the party and this was the quickest fix.  Also, they will go in our playroom for storage and seating after the party.

Here's the cake.  I got the little barnyard figurines from Oriental Trading Company.  The cake is chocolate with green buttercream frosting and an Oreo pigsty.  The letters are melted white chocolate that I piped onto wax paper and chilled.

All the kiddos had visors to wear and we gave out gift baggies with farm stickers, foam magnet kits and animal temp tattoos- thanks Oriental Trading Co!  (*** Magnets are dangerous for kids that will still swallow stuff, so I made sure to explain to their parents that small pieces and a magnet were in the gift bag!)

Still a favorite present for the birthday girl!

Ever seen a Cricket dressed up like a Duck?  Now you have! (Animal visor from Oriental Trading Company)