Country-western party: Nicholas is 4 and Ava is 2!

Saddle up – it’s a country-western party! This adorable brother-and-sister party was for 4-year-old Nicholas and 2-year-old Ava. Mom Catherine says, “We celebrated Nicholas and Ava’s birthdays with a Cowboy & Cowgirl party out at our vineyard. For the invitations and personalized decor, I went with the country-western theme from Chickabug, and Hobby Lobby was my go-to place for nearly everything else. They had such a GREAT selection of western-themed party supplies (bandana print plates & napkins, boot piñata, etc.) to all sorts of fabrics and ribbons (bandana print ribbon I tied on mason jars, burlap ribbons of all widths, etc.).

“Nicholas and Ava’s party was a fun day with lots of great food, pony rides and games. The kids absolutely loved riding the real ponies as well as their stick ponies, and were also entertained by a playdough table, buckets of bubbles, and a piñata. The adults enjoyed delicious BBQ while exploring the farm and watching the kids run around! We loved having so many friends and family come out to celebrate with us – it was such a fun and special day!”

In the front yard, a display of cowboy hats, bandanas, sheriff’s badges, and stick ponies await the guests.

About the stick ponies, Catherine says, “I had my heart set on stick ponies as party favors and after endless searches, I FINALLY found them on Joissu. They shipped quickly and were GREAT quality. Though I was using them as party favors for the kids to take home, I knew the kids would enjoy playing with them at the party, so I had them set up at the entrance with the hats, etc. I made a little sign asking guests to write their child’s name on their pony’s favor tag so they could keep up with it throughout the party – that turned out to be a huge help because the pink ones were in HIGH demand among all the 4-year old girls!”

To prevent stick pony mix-ups, Catherine set out a sharpie so that parents could label the tag on their child’s chosen pony. (A very clever idea!)

Catherine says, “This was my FAVORITE thing I created for the party! The wanted poster itself came from Hobby Lobby in packs of 4 and I created the photo & wording in Microsoft Word, printed it out on tan paper and glued it to the posted. I had them plastered throughout the house and yard. The poster says: ‘WANTED: The Kissing Bandits / For the crimes of stealing kisses, horsing around and growing up too fast / Nicholas ‘The Rascal’ Laurenzi, Age 4 / Ava ‘Darling’ Laurenzi, Age 2.” (We call him Rascal and her Ava Darling all the time.)”

A printable welcome sign from Chickabug was mounted on a stick and decorated with ribbons.

Inside, a printable happy birthday banner hangs across the entrance.

Catherine is so sweet, she took a special picture to show off the items she ordered from my shop, including the invitation, water labels, and some of the printables! : )

The sweets station was set just outside of the kitchen, with sunflower cupcakes, cupcakes decorated with printable wrappers and toppers, and birthday cakes for each of the kids. The banner above the table is made of fabric, and the banner on the front of the table is a printable.

Check out how adorable Nicholas’ cake is, with the tiny cowboy boot on top…!

About the signs used throughout the party, Catherine says, “I painted the wooden signs myself. The black ones are wooden plaques from Hobby Lobby (on clearance) that already had various phrases painted on them – I just painted over their words with black acrylic paint and used white paint pen markers to create my own signs (Sweets, the Saloon, the Watering Hole). The other signs were thin balsa-like wood from JoAnn’s and Hobby Lobby that I cut to the shapes and sizes I wanted. Then I very lightly sprayed them with brown spray paint to make them look a little more rustic, and painted the words with black acrylic paint. It was time-consuming, but worthwhile to get exactly what I wanted… plus I enjoyed the creative therapy of free-hand painting each tedious letter! (By the way, there was one hanging on the bathroom door that said “Outhouse” – I thought that was cute!)”

Chocolate cupcakes were decorated with printable wrappers and toppers.

Sunflower cupcakes were also served.

The custom printable signs throughout the party are from Chickabug.

“The Watering Hole” was outfitted with lemonade, bottled water (with custom labels), and mason jars (with paper straws and custom stickers).

“The Saloon” was for adults only, with “Boot Scootin’ Booze” (ha!). The mason jars were tied with bandanas, and so were the paper straws.

Catherine says, “The cakes and cupcakes were made by Daphne’s Bakery in Mint Hill, NC (a suburb of Charlotte). They were not only gorgeous, but delicious, too! The cupcakes were a mix of chocolate and vanilla, Nicholas’ cake was chocolate with vanilla buttercream, Ava’s cake was pink lemonade with lemon buttercream. She loves pink so I wanted to make sure we had something pink for her at such a un-pink party! It was fun to cut into that red cake to find a pink inside.”

I love the sunflowers on top of Ava’s birthday cake!

The party favor bags were small kraft bags tied with ribbons and decorated with printable circles.

Outside, the food tables fit the theme perfectly! The burlap table runners were lined with bandana print fabric. Catherine says, “The burlap that I used as part of the table runners was actually from a local country feed store (The Carolina Country Store). It came in long rolls that were about 25″ wide and hemmed at the edges, which was much easier to work with than buying it off the bolt at a fabric store.”

The “Cowpoke Chow” table was set up with snacks and chips, and the “Chuck Wagon” was catered by a local BBQ company.

Birthday girl Ava is ready to ride! Her boots (from Old Navy) are the cutest thing.

The pony rides were a huge hit at the party (of course!).

I usually just mention children’s birthday outfits, but Catherine’s dress is so perfect I had to ask her about it! She said, “My dress was from White House Black Market — I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw it hanging in the window when I was at the mall returning something to a different store a week before the party. It is so easy to wear and was perfect for the party with boots, but looks equally beautiful with black heels for a totally different, non-Western look. I had a $20 off coupon, too!”

The boot-shaped piñata was from Hobby Lobby. Kids were given kraft paper bags to gather up their treats after it broke.

Nicholas and Ava’s coordinating, personalized birthday outfits were made by their grandmother!

Thank you so much for sharing, Catherine! Happy birthday to Nicholas and Ava! : )

Invitations, water labels, stickers, and party printables – Chickabug
Bandanas and badges – Oriental Trading
Stick ponies – Joissu
Cowboy hats – Joissu
Tablecloths (plastic red & white check) – Party City
Fabrics (except burlap) – Hobby Lobby (bandanna fabric, cowpokes fabric)
Fabric pennant banners – Very Jane
Kraft paper bags – Hobby Lobby
Piñata – Hobby Lobby
Nicholas and Ava’s birthday outfits – Homemade by their grandmother
Ava’s red cowboy boots – Old Navy
Nicholas’ cowboy boots – Rack Room
Catherine’s bandana dress – White House Black Market
Cake and cupcakes – Daphne’s Bakery in Mint Hill, NC
Door sign background – Hobby Lobby

Shop for personalized Country-Western Theme party paper goods and printables here.
Or, check out more Country-Western Theme party ideas on Pinterest or here on my blog!