Monday, April 19, 2010

reader question of the week #2


"My son is turning three soon and he's asking for a "big, red party." We're not doing Clifford the Big Red Dog because, well, I don't want to do a character party and--though we live in Cincinnati--we're not doing a Reds baseball party. I've got a few ideas--red, black and white decor, giant red balloons, etc.--but I'm having trouble tying everything together. To make things more difficult, we're combining his party with a backyard party we're throwing as a last hurrah for all our friends before we move to another state. So whatever decor/theme we do for the kids party has to be tasteful enough to do double duty for the adults. I'm starting to think this is too much to ask from one party! I'd appreciate any help! Thanks, Katie"

14 comments:

Brittanie said...

I just saw this party over at Ohdeedoh and I think it could be an excellent solution for tying in adults and kids. I hope it helps!

http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/my-party/my-party-kjellprovot-ut-114366

Amanda said...

Has he seen The Red Balloon? This party is adorable!

http://www.youaremyfave.com/2010/03/red-balloon-party-is-my-fave.html

nina healy said...

How about doing a red & white gingham, BBQ theme. You could even tie in either a farm or western theme into it as well. This might work for everyone. When my son turned one we did a farm BBQ and I gave out red/white gingham take out boxes with little white ceramic piggy banks and chocolate pennies for the favors... we had mason jars filled with lemonade...

jennifer little said...

My son is turning two, and we are throwing a "picnic" party Saturday. I am using big red balloons, red gingham cupcake shells from bake it pretty, red and white stripe straws from kikkerland, and red and white table gingham table cloths. It is going to be laid back with burgers and hotdogs. I also ordered plastic ants for the invitations and the table decorations.

NSMOM said...

Not sure that this could tie in for the adult part but how about a firetruck themed party? We did one for my boys' 4th b'day party and it wound up being an awesome party. We found a local private company that bought their real firetruck to the house, gave the kids (and adults) a ride around the block a couple of times, let the kids aim the house across the lawn (it was warm enough that some of the kids played in the spray), etc. We just made all the decor bright red. I found a cardboard firetruck house (I think on commongoods) that the kids could color together if they wanted. For party favors, I found a great "I can Read" book that was about Firefighters. I just gave that and some fireman/truck related stickers.

Unknown said...

My son loved the color orange when he was turning five, so we did an orange party taking inspiration from an old Martha Stewart kids. We incorporated the shape of a circle/letter O for his name. Our invites asked guest to wear orange and we ate orange foods: orange cheese, gold fish, orange m&ms, orange jelly beans, cheezits and orange juice. We decorated with orange balloons, etc. Everyone loved it and a few friends had their own color birthdays in the following months. I think the color theme all by itself is a great way to go. Have fun with it.

merrill said...

Wonderful ideas! My son is turning 3 in May and is set on a "blue party". No details from him, just blue. Please update with what you decide for the red party!

kate thaete said...

the first thing that came to mind is "what's black and white and read [red] all over?" - the riddle from childhood. the answer: a newspaper. could you do a "come celebrate our news" party - the news being your son's birthday and this new chapter in your life? i think it would be a blast to plan around that theme...

bridgetwhoplaysfrenchhorn said...

I like red crayons...just having the color red may be theme enough! ...make red play doh, have red frosting on the cake, play a game with red balls, something like that...

H said...

maybe you could get a bunch of cardboard boxes and have the children decorate them as red cars or firetrucks, like so http://media.onsugar.com/files/upl1/2/22864/39_2008/Fire.larger.jpg simple and fun. they'd have a blast playing around with them while the adults party. LOTS of red balloons are a must.

Double the Giggles said...

You could do a sock monkey themed party - I know you said you didn't want a "character party", but this is a bit more generic. Use reds, browns and whites. It'll work for the kids, and be nostalgic for the adults!

carla felix said...

Vintage Carnival! Red Balloons, Red Stripes, Red Clown noses. Tasteful enough for adults too!

Christy said...

You could use apples as a theme. At 3 kids are learning colors/letters by associating them with an object. A for Apple, Apples are Red. You could use solid color paper products (plates, napkins etc) & the big round balloons. You could even take it a step further by adding felt shaped leaves to the top of the balloons to make them "apples". You could also incorporate the letter A. You could have caramel apples with a buffet style toppings, so guest can chose if they want cookies, graham crackers, nuts etc to coat their apples. Apple tarts set up on different size pedestals. For the kids serve apple juice & for the adults "appletinis". Have apple bobbing contests. You guests could wear red. Bake cupcakes like these just in red: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ediblecrafts.craftgossip.com/files/2009/03/apples1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ediblecrafts.craftgossip.com/easy-apple-cupcakes/2009/03/28/&h=400&w=318&sz=23&tbnid=ADbaIaMFsdHJwM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=99&prev=/images%3Fq%3DApple%2Bcupcakes&usg=__JeHC8Ec8V0jsHJcbOsOtMQCZlKc=&ei=39LcS53LJ4OI8wTh4_CdBw&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image&ved=0CBsQ9QEwAw.

Unknown said...

I may be too late (and I love the red balloon idea) but I recently threw a party for a non-prof in Hartford, Ct and used a big red ball as the theme. Decorated using 5 ft balls from Oriental Trading - they are white but we painted the, For kid, you can give them smocks and finger paint. The invite was an actual inflatable red 10 inch beach ball from a local promotional company. We inflated them and sent them through the mail with the party info, address and stamp affixed. USPS delivered them just like that and it was a big wow to invitees. Catering ideas for kids might be an "all ball" menu: meatballs, popcorn balls, gumballs, fireballs...