Thomas the Tank Engine Party: Success!

Back in April, CAM had what turned out to be a really great Strawberry Shortcake tea party birthday party.  Now it's June, and it was WHM's turn!

He had a much smaller party than CAM did, mostly because we're now in summer and people are out of town.  But it was actually just right -- kids from Kindermusik, kids from his school, kids of our friends ... a perfect mix and not too crazy!  It is also perhaps the most beautiful day of the entire year -- breezy, sunny, warm, but not hot.  Lots of things fell into place to make today perfect, really, except for grandparents and Aunts and Uncles that live too far away!

Here are some photos.  Enjoy!

--Jen
p.s.  If you're reading this and want to know how I did anything or where I bought anything, drop me a comment and I will be happy to answer or provide links.  

Warning:  some of the first few photos are blurry.  This was my fault -- I wasn't feeling well this morning and was not paying very good attention.  Since I didn't notice they were blurry 'til tonight, I am still posting them here so you can at least get the gist.

The "junk" sprinkled on the table is Thomas confetti.  It looked super cute in person.

An idea borrowed from a friend:  a snack train!  Olives in the coal car, cheese cubes in the "cargo" car, pretzel sticks in the log cars, and animal crackers in the zoo cars.

I am pretty pleased with the cake.  It didn't come together until 2am -- not from any drama, but because I didn't get to even start on it 'til 10pm last night!  So I'm doubly pleased with how it came out.

My Plan B "Goodie Bags":  hobo packs!  There's another post about these coming.

I was and am pretty proud of the little silverware packs.  I made the numbers and fiddled with the font to get them just right (yellow fill, red outline), and then cut them out by hand and glued them to stars I cut with the Cricut.  The box is just a Stride Rite box that I wrapped in plain red paper and lined with the same paper.  (We bought the shoes last weekend.  It's okay.)

Four candles.  Three for turning 3, and one for good luck.  Silly me, I meant to put a train around the bottom of the cake and completely forgot.  Whoops. 

OKay, so these are Kroger brand tubs wrapped in construction paper and then I made the labels in Word and the wheels on my Cricut.

Dang it, I meant to put track around the outside and have a Thomas riding in circles.  TOTALLY forgot.  Ugh.

I remembered from CAM's party that the banner was too big to hang in the kitchen.  It fit perfectly right here!

Yep.  Totally knocked off CAM's party on this one.  Couldn't resist!

Trains waiting for kids!

I took a cue from "Day Out with Thomas," where they pipe Thomas music into the train coaches as you ride, and I wanted to have Thomas music playing to make the day more festive.  I picked these up on eBay and Amazon, so we had Thomas music throughout the party.  The kids loved it!

I made the tablecloth again -- three yards of Thomas fabric and a simple double-fold edge all around.  I wanted to make one long party table and not individual tables, so it was more boy-ish and not so tea-party-ish.

I made the banner with the Cricut.  This was part of my 101 Things goals.  It really came out well.

Grown-up (but not TOO grown-up) drinks.

Train engines, cars, and cabooses for the kids to color and decorate and then pin together with brads.

Waiting for kids.  Unlike CAM's party, we didn't hang balloons from the fan -- it would have looked cool, but we wanted to keep the fan on.

Okay.  Yes, those are red Solo cups. Normally I'd have done some cute paper cups, but WHM LOVES "Red Solo Cup" and sings it all the time.  I'd be a bad mom if I didn't get him Red Solo Cups for his birthday party!  The little snack cups, by the way, each have a bag of Thomas fruit-gummy-snacks in them.

I promise I was not drunk when I painted these tracks this morning.  Not feeling well, but not drunk.

Did you know they make BLUE Solo Cups, too?!  Not dark blue, but THOMAS blue.  Had to get 'em!

It was a wee bit windy.

Train Races!

Birthday Boy!

I love this one!

These were the "prizes" every kid got when they finished their race.  They are little rings I got at a commercial restaurant store.  I meant to put them in the Hobo packs, but they worked out better as race prizes.  We're talking about boys -- can't have a race without a prize!  And they were a hit, to boot!  Hooray!

Oh, I forgot to say earlier:  homemade red velvet with homemade buttercream filling.  YUM!!!

The blue drink is actually just Gatorade, and the red is Tropical Punch Kool Aid.  I labeled them Tidmouth Sheds Tropical Punch and Sodor Sports Drink.  How Thomas-y can we get?!  These were fun to do.

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