It may not be your first rodeo, but it was Kohen’s! Our little man recently celebrated his first birthday so we partied cowboy style throwing him his first rodeo! For first birthday parties I love to do themes, easy food, and festive decor! Did you see Logie Bears’ first birthday? Check out that blog post here. I was lucky enough to meet the wonderful event planner of Starry Eyed Events who helped decorate part of his party. If you are in the Las Vegas area definitely hit her up for your next celebration! The other decor was either thrown together from what I already had or from Oriental Trading.
Our little birthday boy was too excited about the balloons that Starry Eyed Events brought that you couldn’t quite see his “My First Rodeo” t-shirt.
Cowboy gear was the dress code for the event, but if a guest came unprepared I got these cute cowboy hats and bandannas to keep everyone festive.
Starry Eyed Events did a pristine job decorating the dessert table to display tempting cupcakes and the first birthday staple, the SMASH cake! I always say the BEST place to get a small smash cake is Albertsons! They always do a great job for a low cost and often will throw in the smash cake for FREE if you order enough cupcakes.
Starry Eyed Events even brought an ipod and speaker filled with country jams and rodeo tunes to set the mood and ambiance of the party. This allowed every person to grab their partner and Do Si Do! I put up the other decorations for the party about a week in advance. This always helps get the kids excited and give you one less thing to do as the party day comes closer!
Other decor I threw together was a clothesline banner displaying Kohen’s monthly photographs-he grew so much in one year!
Simple number one balloons, flowers, and mason jars were great center pieces. And Pin the Tale on the Cow was a fun game for the toddlers at the party!
I also set out a craft for the kiddos to make their own farm out of animal stickers and construction paper. Don’t you just love this custom farm table? We get TONS of use out of it.
Now for the food!
I have to admit I love throwing parties but I HATE making food. Its so much work-the planning, cooking, and clean up alone! Ugh! I always try to buy most of the food and only make a few things. It seems to saves energy and sometimes money.
Pulled pork, chicken, and “KoKo Beans” (baked beans) were served in my triple crock-pot, a must for parties.
Fruit, cups of popcorn, and chips made for great rodeo side dishes.
The smash cake is always my favorite party of any first birthday! The little one’s first taste of sweetness, will they be scared? Like it? Be disgusted? Devour it?
We of course shared with our older sister!
Happy birthday to our little Bean! I can’t wait to see the adventures you will encounter this coming year!
XOXO
Your Redlocks and Shamrocks Girl,
Lisa Doyle
*This blog post was partnered with Starry Eyed Events. This was an amazing party planning company to work with and I highly recommend it. The thoughts and opinions of this blog are my own.
So I am the first to admit that Pinterest has sucked me in….sucked me in SO DEEP that the last few years all the parties I have thrown have been themed, had fancy handcrafted decor, and had food that is obviously carrot sticks and hummus but has to have an over top oh so cutesy name. I am losing the energy people!! Having two under two I just can’t keep up, I don’t know how some supermoms do it! Those parties take SO much time, effort, energy and MONEY. This year for Logan’s birthday I just couldn’t come up with the energy to throw her an over the top party which she wouldn’t even remember. It made me think of my birthday parties I had as a little kid. They were SO much fun! Most of the parties consisted of pizza delivery, a decorated table covered with a plastic table cloth coordinated with matching plates and hats, and a fun decorated cake-usually handmade by my mom, the current queen of crazy-over-the-top-Pinterest-Parties. So for Logie’s birthday she wasn’t going to get an expensive birthday party that her budgeting parents would really be throwing just for “show” but she was going to get a MEMORABLE celebration of being TWO YEARS OLD! Here are some of the inexpensive ways we said HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY to our princess! 
Redlocks and Shamrocks 