Cowgirl Hoedown -3yr- Pin Badge on the Sheriff

For my daughter's 3rd birthday, she really wanted a cowgirl party!  I got a lot of good ideas from this website. 

I made invitations on the computer with a picture of her on a pony at the carnival. The invitation said "YEE-HAW!! There's a new sheriff in town and she's about to turn three, so mosey on over for a Hoedown Party. 

Howdy Pardners' we'll be needin' you buckeroos to help celebrate Isabelle's 3rd Birthday.  Join us at the (last name) Ranch, address, at High Noon on date.  So, rustle up yer best cowboy/cowgirl duds and head for the door, there'll be ponies to ride, games to play and fixins' galore.  (Hats and six-shooters will be awaitin')  Just have yer mama give us a holler by ____ See y'all there, ya hear!!!  I printed the invitations on parchement paper from Office Depot.  I then burned the edges to make them look old.  I rolled them up and tied twine around them. 

When the kids arrived, each got a cowboy hat and bandanna.(from Oriental Trading)  I also picked up cap guns with caps from the Dollar Store. 

For decorations, I set hay bales around for the kids to sit on.  I made a western town out of large appliance boxes.  I painted them and cut windows and doors out.  I made a jail, school house, barber shop, saloon, and general store.  Each building was named after someone in the family.  It was a huge hit with the kids and the pictures of them playing in the "town" were incredible. 

I rented two ponies that gave rides around the yard.  I bought a 5 lb. bag of gravel from Home Depot and spray painted the gravel gold.   Then I buried the "gold nuggets" in a large bucket of sand.  The kids used the sand sifters (for the beach) to pan for gold.  They were so excited about finding the gold. 

My husband drew a picture of a cowgirl and they played "Pin the Badge on the Sheriff."  For food, I made every cowboy's favorites. Hot dogs, beans, mac n' cheese, barbeque, chips, and sasparilla (bottled root beer.) 

All of the food was served on tin pie plates. I got 3 in a pack at the Dollar Store.

My daughter is a big Dora fan so I made the Wilton Dora cake and decorated it as Dora Cowgirl. 

The goody bags were brown lunch bags.  I colored a dollar sign on the outside of the bags.  Then I tied them up with twine.  They looked like old time money bags and we called them "Loot Bags."  I filled them with gold coin chocolates, pony pens, pony thumb puppets, deputy badges, and gold rush bubble gum. (All from Oriental Trading)  I bought the Cowboy photo frame magnet kits from Oriental Trading and the kids were able to make them at the party.  I printed pictures of each child in the town "jail" and they put them in the photo frame.  It was a great souvenir. 

The whole party was a huge success and I hope yours is too.