A-Z Guide: Western Party Food

For the food at a western party, the possibilities are endless. What comes to mind most obviously if you need to serve a meal would be chili, or hot dogs & beans.

We timed our party such that we only needed snacks for folks. As such, we went with the Noodle's favorites which was strawberries and more strawberries. He is a bit fond of the strawberry. Okay we also threw out a bowl of chips or two.

A sign above the snack-laden table in our kitchen.
Found at Diddams

Baking is not how I like to spend my creative energy. So I opted for a local bakery's chocolate sheetcake that they wrote on for me. However, I giddily embellished the generic cake with more strawberries and a toy cowboy. You can find the details on this idea in a prior Wee Festivity post.

The most fun part was serving the cake and ice cream. I picked up some Handi-Foil pie plates at the grocery store and used those instead of standard party plates. They were one of the biggest hits at the party and the kids were adorable eating from them.

A-Z Guide: Western Party Decorations

Decorating for the Noodle's western party was so much fun!

A giant paper star from Diddams marked the house for guests.

A steer (also from Diddams) greeted folks at the front door.

Cow & horse balloons carried the theme outdoors.
(from Birthday in a Box's Cowboy theme)

Appropriate table linens were rented,
along with the child-sized round table and chairs.

Dad and the grandparents built a Western Town from refrigerator boxes acquired by mom at a random appliance store. My only regret was I didn't discover Mr. McGroovy until the night before our party. Drat!

The crowning authentic touch was a RENTED bale of hay from a local feed supply store. Because who wants to buy hay just for a party? Learn from us though: don't forget to bring gloves and two people to pick up and return the hay.

Tomorrow we will share food ideas for a western party.

Cake Wee-tails: Cowboy Theme

We could argue that aside from the invitation (which sets the tone you know), the dessert is the most important element of any great party.

If cake is the dessert, don't be afraid to decorate it yourself. Pick up a sheetcake from a local bakery if you run out of time to bake your own (as this happens often when we are focused on other more important wee-tails for our parties).

For example, with a cowboy theme, you can pick up a Wild West Toob and place it strategically on your cake.

Pick up some lollipop sticks and build a corral for the ranch hands to wrangle their bulls.

It doesn't matter if your scale is wildly off and your cowboys are in a corral as big as a skyscraper because it doesn't have to be perfect to be magical & pretty. It's only three months after the party when you're looking at your pictures that you realize how oversized you made the corral. At the party, all anyone noticed was how adorable it was!