Friday, April 30, 2010

School Bus Party

Since my son Will's birthday falls in September, we decided his 3rd birthday party should be school buses. After all, what 3-year-old boy doesn't love that big old yellow bus? We used to count them each morning on my way to work.

I must say we had lucked out with the weather for Will's 1st and 2nd birthday parties. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate for this party and since our house is the size of a shoe box, we opted for the clubhouse at my parents' condo (aka: lots of golf wallpaper and decor-not exactly the kid-friendly look I was going for, but, hey, it kept us dry!).


I'm a total closet lover of all things "school"--there's nothing better than a fresh box of crayons and sharpened pencils (oh, and whatever happened to those amazing Trapper Keepers??-I soooo loved them!). So planning this school bus party was a blast. The goodie bags held new crayons with a coloring page, a school bus book complete with real wheels (I bought them at my beloved Target dollar bins a year in advance!), magnetic numbers (from Michael's dollar bins--those bins are dangerous for my wallet!), and miniature wooden alphabet blocks for the little ones. I decorated with mini buses, an easel, a Little People bus, bus books, a pop-up bus tent outside (found it at a garage sale for $5!!), and all things in that "school bus yellow" color. I desperately wanted to hang my signature Chinese lanterns, but seeing that this clubhouse had a million rules (all with fines attached), I didn't dare take the risk of putting small holes in the ceiling or door frames.


I decided to be economical and make my own invitations. Over the past summer, I used the amazing Cricut machine (so jealous of those who own one--oh, the possibilities!) to cut out these school bus invites. I found this verse to put on the front: "Look who's turning three! Come take a ride on the bus with me!" and added a brad to attach the back which had the necessary info using "lunch and recess" time as the beginning and end as well as "bus stop" for the location (that had to be changed last minute). I also made coordinating thank-you notes with this same school bus attached to brown cardboard paper cards.


We probably had about 60 people including kids (we have large extended families), so we kept the food cafeteria-style. I made school signs designating the food, lunch bags for the kids including: apple, lunch-size bags of chips, pb & j sandwiches, and of course a Twinkie, and a tub with milk. We also had lunch meat trays and your usual party lunch food. The kids seemed to love the chips and school bus-shaped cookies most!


We kept the kids busy with a Pin-the-Wheel-on-the-Bus game, school bus pinata (that was quite a site watching them bat at this giant bus), and coloring pictures. It was definitely a good time had by all (even our 6-week-old daughter seemed to enjoy it!).

If you love(d) to play school as a kid, give this party a try! I'll be linking to these great parties this week, so don't forget to check them out! Have a great Derby weekend!


17 comments:

Pati @ A Crafty Escape April 30, 2010 at 6:32 AM  

Love this... great attention to detail!

Becca Ross April 30, 2010 at 7:58 AM  

Oh, Amy, this is so great! You didn't miss a detail. My daughter's birhday is just before school starts and she's starting kindergarten this year. That would make such a cute party! I wonder if I can convince a 5 year old girl to go with a school theme instead of a princess theme.

Thanks for linking up at Home and Family Friday!

Becca

seven thirty three April 30, 2010 at 8:08 AM  

Great party! WOuld love for you to come link up with What are little boys made of!

Unknown April 30, 2010 at 9:09 AM  

This would be fabulous for a school party, or even a birthday party for a teacher. Of course if it was my teacher friends the menu would need Apple Martinis and lots of caramel apples. ;)

Erin A April 30, 2010 at 9:21 AM  

Amy this is incredible!! SO many fun details. I am with you about nothing better than a fresh box of crayons and new paper. I am still that way every time I get a new notepad :) Love the details about the bus stop, recess and lunchtime on the invites too, so cute!

Tiffany April 30, 2010 at 9:50 AM  

Amy, I loved this party! It is super cute and clever, just as all of your parties are. The attention to detail is awesome and the themes are so creative! Fabulous job again! Love it all.

Becca April 30, 2010 at 11:46 AM  

Hi girls!

I just love coming to your site! Always beautiful and inspiring! i would love it if all of you would submit a tutorial for Blue Cricket Design! an entire day just for you! I've turned BCD into a feature site where I feature the hottest designers and coolest new tutorials! Come check out my submissions guidelines. I have a tab at the top of my blog! I hope to see some of your amazing creations!

Becca

Mel April 30, 2010 at 2:45 PM  

Love this! So cute! Great idea for my son's birthday next summer, before he goes to Kindergarten. Love your site!

Wendy May 1, 2010 at 5:41 AM  

What a Great party idea! You really went all out with the Great ideas!

Katherine @ Grass Stains May 4, 2010 at 10:08 AM  

ADORABLE! I have a first-grader and a rising Kindergartner who would probably LOVE a school bus cake. Thanks for the inspiration!

Bird May 4, 2010 at 2:06 PM  

You gals never disappoint me! :)

What a fun party!

Thank you for linking up to my Link Party, and please don't forget to place the party button on your post so others can join us too, ok? :)

I could not find it on your links page :(

Hugs,
Bird

Kaysi May 4, 2010 at 2:42 PM  

What a fun idea! I love the cake!

Stacey May 4, 2010 at 11:52 PM  

What a great idea! I love a school bus theme! Thanks for sharing at 'Look at me, I'm SO Crafty!' at Fun to Craft.

Allison May 5, 2010 at 7:46 AM  

What a great theme!!! You did an awesome job for your sweet little boy!
Visiting from Design LIFE ... found you on Life in the Pitts. :)

Leigh of Tales from Bloggeritaville May 6, 2010 at 5:00 PM  

Amy,

This is so stinkin cute its not even funny. Its ADORABLE!!! Well done! Thanks for linking up to Thrifty Thursday!
Leigh, Bloggeritaville
www.lbratina.blogspot.com

RenĂ©e May 7, 2010 at 4:17 PM  

Cute as can be!

Fawnda@Fireflies and Jellybeans May 8, 2010 at 10:07 AM  

This is so fun! : )

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