Pioneer Birthday Party

Birthday parties take fun weeks and months of dreaming and planning with me and the Little Sojourners.  We enjoy every minute.  First we brainstorm ideas, then we talk execution possibilities for each idea.  In the process some ideas get thrown out and others form into great ideas.  (Frugality is always a must.)  We narrow it down to the best options.  The birthday girl (if they are old enough) pick their favorite.  It's a science and it happens three times a year at our house. 

Since the time of year for birthdays at our house is approaching, and because The CSI Project challenge this week is about parties, I am going to share some of our past favorites.

In 2007, for Ms. Sojourner's 7th birthday, she picked a Pioneer Birthday (based on Little House on the Prairie; her favorite set of books and TV show).

We went thrifting to find some dresses that would pass for (or could be altered to pass for pioneer dresses) and a few accessories for Ma & Pa too.

We found the above dress at a thrift store for next to nothing (and one for Middle Sojourner too, we then added a strip of fsabric around the bottom of the dresses to give them a ruffled, fuller, and longer look) and a friend had given us the bonnet from a trip to Amish country (which I used as a template to make the other two girls bonnets out of scrap fabric from my sewing stash).  We took the above picture in our front yard with her in her outfit, edited the photo to sepia in PSE and photoshoped in the invite.  We then printed them off, glued them to blank cards, and filled out the information for the party on the inside. 

Pa: old dress pants, work boots, plaid shirt, and the thrift store suspenders.  (The kids seriously loved him getting in character {and so did I!}; what a great Dad!)

Ma: old skirt, apron, thrift store blouse, and bun.  I know I look dorky but I love my kids.

Little Sojourner with a thrift store dress and above mentioned bonnet.  {On a side note: what happened to those chubby little cheeks?!  I miss them.}

Even the guests who came to see my toothless birthday girl got in on the fun of wearing their best pioneer outfit. 

We made button necklaces as a fun little craft and take home gift. 

All it took was a little twine and a bunch of assorted buttons. (Most of which were in my craft stash, though I did get a few extra buttons. You can never have enough buttons, right?)

We played some old-fashioned games like tag.  Always a favorite amongst little ones (and it gets all the energy out which the Mom loves also).

And, a hysterical three-legged race.  A serious must.

The decorations were simple with wooden chairs and rocking chairs on the porch, a simple tablecloth, a blanket for the kids to do the craft on, and small pails to put the utensils in..  Simple but fun.

For lunch we served pinto beans, ham, and homemade biscuits.

A Pioneer cake complete with covered wagon (costing $1, kinda like this one, but this one is cooler!), a chocolate "dirt floor", and a Little People farmer, farm girl (which double as pioneers), and horse.

During the party we took this picture of the guests and used it to make a thank you card for those who came to share the special day.

It is a birthday Ms. Sojourner still talks about almost three years later.  We had a wonderful time.

Just call me Ma,