"Cool Camping Party"

For this little rascal's party I set up a fire pit not only to keep us warm in the dead of autumn but also...

...for none other than s'mores! You can't have a campout party without this staple food!

(Sorry for the pics in this post. My BFF camera was sick for this event so, I had to rely on my little point and shoot).

I had the dads set up a large 6 man tent outside and let the kids eat their hotdogs and chips in it as well as color their own camping-themed backpacks from Oriental Trading.

The cake was actually what I call an Extreme Makeover. It originally had army trucks and men on it. I found it on the clearance rack at the grocery store and knew that for $7, I could find a way to use it for this party! So, I stripped it of its original components and saved them to give to the birthday boy. I then made trees from iced ice cream cones turned upside down. I made a tent from graham cracker crumbs and a pretzel stick. The fire was yogurt covered raisins with pretzel logs. I stuck 6 (the age of the birthday boy) candles in down in the center of the fire to light later. The finished product was a one of a kind birthday cake for chic-cheap!

Here is the birthday cake lit up. After the cake was devoured and presents de-wrapped it was time to hit the trail mix bar. I gave each child a cellophane treat bag and a twist tie. I had bowls of different things set out (raisins, nuts, rice crackers, m&m candy, leftover pretzels, cereal, etc.) and let the kids design and create their own trail mix for their snack. They loved being able to pick their own personalized goodies!

Time to go home. They all stuffed their goodies (bouncy rock balls, wooden snakes, pop rocks, plastic compasses, mini magnifying glasses, etc. all from Oriental Trading) in the backpacks and hit the trail back home.

Thanks for a memorable night under the stars kiddos! Until next time!

                                                      Love,
                                                      Your Soiree Sweetheart