Horse-themed birthday party

When a girl wants a horse themed party what is a mama to do? Mind you, my daughter didn't want just any horse party--- she wanted pink and pretty. Do you know how hard it is to find things that are horse related but NOT blue, red or cowgirl? Hard, let me tell you!

Ok so here is the background... C. wanted a horse themed party and asks if we can have a real horse at the house. I looked into it and between the cost and the logistics that thought soon was tossed into the "I don't think so" pile. So off she and I went planning her party-- horse themed, at our home like every other birthday party. Ah ha! Or so she thought! Thanks to a friend who works as a horse trainer at a local barn we were able to completely shock and surprise C. by having her party at the farm and riding the horses was just the beginning! So here is a glimpse of our latest party... a surprise at-the-barn horse birthday party for my sweet 9 year old girly-girl.

I made these 4X6 invitations to match the theme and tableware. Thank you Publisher!

C. Arrives to a sea of pink cowgirl hats as her friends rush to the car to yell,

"SURPRISE" and greet her!

The Cake I made

Birthday Party favors... loves these sweet boxes from the dollar store! 12 for $1! I embellished the top with a coordinating toppers that read, "Thanks for coming to my party." Check out the horse figurines (also from the dollar store and the pink bandannas from Oriental Trading-- less then .50 each!

Inside the boxes... each of the girls got a bottle cap necklace to match the rest of the party decor. Check out my tutorial on this blog to make them for yourself!

The table set up... The plates and cups I purchased on-line. They were shipped to me from Germany... I told you that girly, non-cowgirl pink horse themed items were hard to find. I bought these nearly 6 months before the party!

I got these fun galvanized buckets from the dollar section of Target. I wrote each of the girls names on them with paint marker and then filled them with fresh cut apples and carrots for each of the girls to feed the horses.

Up close of the place setting

So it isn't the most glamorous set up, but this is the room that the barn had for us to use. The door that you see leads to the tack room so this is more of a go though space for the riders. This is the best that I could do in the 6 hours prior to the party to transform the space. Yes, I made sure to take do the strips of fly paper that the barn had dangling from the ceiling. YUCK!

:(

You can't have a girly horse party without pink cowgirl hats!

The girls arrived , surprised C. and then got a grooming lesson and went to it! Yeah, C. is just a little excited don't you think?

After grooming each on of the 10 children received a 10-12 minute horse ride... they loved the trotting and slow gallops too! She is in heaven!!!!

While two girls were riding (we had two different instructors with them) the one who had just finished their horse ride came to our craft station to help pass the time. I picked up these wooden 4X6 picture frames at Michael's for $1 each and then spray painted them ballet slipper pink and wrote each of the girls names in brown paint marker at the top before the party. A Michael's I found horse themed, pink and glittery foam stickers that were PERFECT for decorating the frame and were little is any mess! Best yet, the stickers were on clearance-- originally $3+ per package... I got then for .49 per package! Woo Hoo!!!

Here are the finished frames! Aren't they great? Along with their thank you note, each of the girls will receive a picture of herself (thanks to my picture taking hubby and friend Amy!) from C.'s birthday party riding her horse. They can simply pop the picture in and have a fun keepsake from this special day.

After grooming and riding OH.. and I forgot... after riding kids went around the barn with their buckets and fed all the different horses. It was a blast! Finally it was to it was time to celebrate (and sanitize!) with cake! Happy Birthday to you!!

Present time! Oh! the Bandannas... not only did all the girls have them, but I also had different colored ones for all the parents who stayed as well as our other family members who were guests.... I don't want to leave anyone out. We were all in the horse spirit!

Good-bye from all our riders after an amazing birthday!

And for the final party piece... the coordinating thank you note. Accompanying this will be each child's photo riding and a little note from C.

I hope that you all enjoyed our little get together!

~Blessings!