Hot Wheels Theme -5yr- Checkered Flags

In September of 2004  my son had a Hot Wheels theme for his 5th birthday that all the kids loved. 

The yard was decorated with checkered flags up the pathway to the front door.  A arbor had a Hot Wheels sheet draped over the back with red, yellow and blue balloons around the border. 

The front porch had cars and racetracks as you entered. There was a heavy duty plastic gas pump and tune up center for the kids to fix whatever bikes or toys they found in the yard. The dining room was decorated with streamers, balloons and Hot Wheels cars on the table. 

There was a board announcing the lunch menu like you would find at a race track. I had chicken nuggets shaped like cars and sandwiches cut with car cookie cutters which the kids and adults gobbled up. I took plastic racing hats and cut out the tops to make them into potato chip servers with older larger cars made into dip containers. 

There were two cake designs with the one being a figure eight track complete with checkered flags, cars, lines and inside pit area and the other was two car cakes from a mold placed next to one another one being orange and the other green. 

The party favor bags were yellow lunch bags turned into stop lights with construction paper.  I placed Hot Wheels cars into a large jar and the guest who guessed closest to the amount won a race track set.  We had a treasure hunt with the clues relating to cars and everyone got to pick toys from a large box for finding the stolen car.

We had the car pinata filled with non chocolate candy sice this tends to melt and doesn't take the beating of the pinata as well as the hard candy does.  We topped off the party with an ice cream bar when the cake was served and everyone left wondering what next years theme was going to be. 

Everything was bought over a period of months once the theme was final and most items were purchased from clearance racks and sales making the party seem less costly than they can really be.