I Wanna RIDE on the Fire Truck!

So, My sweet little darling boy turned THREE this week. OH, it's so hard to say that! It really hit me HARD! I just can't stand that he's growing up so fast!! Anyway, since he's been old enough to hold a toy in his hands he's been in LOVE with fire trucks. This year he asked for a fire truck party. At first I wanted to go to the fire station for the party, but since it's January I decided we'd probably be too cold to do that, so we had the party here instead.
I should also say that we were on such a tight budget that I didn't have ANY money to spend on the part, so I went through the garage and sold enough stuff to make $100. I only ended up spending $75 total for everything(from decor to food), so please, don't think that you don't have the funds to do something fun! The key is CREATIVITY and shopping around for the best prices.

Here is the invitation. I just used plain white cardstock to print it on(which I already had).

I added the "3" and "Smittle Fire Dept" on the fire truck in Microsoft paint.

I used the same graphic to make food labels. I had some cute little labels we'd gotten in the mail as samples, so I used those and some red paper from our art cabinet. I made one for the party favors too. By the way, I totally hit up the fire station for party favors! They gave me all kinds of stuff for FREE! Yay!

 

How cute are these bags!?

Glow in the dark bracelets with fire safety tips on them.

 

Hypercolor rulers! My kids thought these were so cool!

 

I used my "party wreath and added a simple graphic that said fire dept. and put one of Bubby's firetrucks on it.

 

We used Bubby's fire trucks to decorate the eating table in the office and the living room table.

 

I wanted to make flames as decor(like the house was on fire), but when I started thinking about how much paper I would need I quickly decided that it was going to blow my budget. THEN, I went to Hobby Lobby and they had their giant poster board on sale! I got all that I needed for $6! I used it to make tiny flames for the birthday banner and big ones for the wall. I also used caution tape I had left over from his party last year. I loved how it turned out!!

This was NOT easy to do with my big pregnant belly hanging over the side of the banister!

 

The food was actually REALLY easy and it looked REALLY cute!

I made 2 dozen each of butter and devils food cupcakes. Then, I took three mixing bowls and put equal parts of icing in them. I dyed each bowl a different color(red, yellow, and orange). Last, I spooned each color into a piping bag, and used frosting tip 1M. I loved the way they turned out because they all looked different, and they all looked fiery.

 

Pretty cool, huh? This was the first time I'd used this method, but I'll use it again, for sure!

Cheap($.89 bags) of cinnamon and butterscotch candies.

Doritos on sale at WalMart

I also had pretzel rods(fireman poles) and fruit kabobs(flamin' fruit) with strawberries, pineapple cubes, and cantaloupe. I made the fireballs from this picture from three $.89 packs of tissue paper. I used this  Martha Stewart how-to video to make them. 

This picture cracks me up! Eli is peeking out at the bottom. There were SO many pictures I took that you could see my belly in! HA!

Bubby kept saying, "Thank you mom! This is so great! This is what I WANTED!"

He got all shy while we were singing to him!

 

So, I've always said, "It's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know." Well, turns out that is pretty true! We have some friends we hadn't seen in a long time that we knew had this old-fashioned fire truck. I emailed them to see if they still had it and if they'd be interested in showing it off for the party. They were happy to come and Mr. James even dressed as a fire man! It was a TOTAL hit!! I was so thankful to them for bringing it! I tried to repay them with cupcakes and chips! Ha!

 

My darlin' Bubby! Yes, he ALWAYS has his hand in his mouth. I'm trying to break him of it now that he's a BIG boy...

The kids went NUTS over this thing!!

At first, Isaiah was a little nervous, but after his sisters got around he was up in the drivers seat. He keeps telling me that was the best part of his day.

My Mia Jane loved it too. Large and in charge!

Even the adults liked it! Here are the girls with one of their favorite Great Aunts.

My little Smittles!

 

Our family!

 

Ronni

Brubbs and "His Harrison!" They are good buddies. I'm so thankful for our extended family! 

Sweet Little Korbyn!

My handsome boy!

 

I just love doing boy parties! I guess it's because I've done so many girl parties and there's only so much you can do with princesses! Yes, this takes me a lot of time and energy, but it's memories for my kids and fun for me! I know Bubby had a wonderful day, and that blesses my heart!!

 

Lastly, a picture of him on his birthday with the birthday meal he asked for. Lucky Charms! Ha! We NEVER buy this sort of stuff, so for him, in his sweet little mind, he thought it was EXTRA special!

Also, Manly took him to the Monster Truck JAM for his birthday. He was totally stoked!

Happy Birthday, Boo! Momma LOVES you so so much!!

When I was kissing him good night on the night before his birthday I said, "Bubby, Momma is so so glad that God put you in our family! I just love having you as my son!" He looked up at me, squished my face in his cheeks, and said, "I'm glad God gave me to you guys when I was born! You and daddy are lovely parents!" Oh what a blessed momma I am!