Twins Carnival Birthday Party

Come One, Come All it’s time for our twins Carnival Birthday Party! This was one super fun birthday party and the perfect theme for my fun loving, busy and silly twins.

We headed back to our favorite park for Parker and Piper’s Birthday Carnival.  This is the last year that we will probably be doing a joint party for our twins so I wanted it to be lots of fun!  When we were talking about what kind of party they wanted all my twins cared about was that it was at the same park as their Camping Party, that there was a bounce house and cotton candy.  Naturally, I thought a carnival themed birthday party would fit their checklist.

Last year I styled and photographed a Circus party for Lauren Haddox Designs and it was such a darling party package I decided to see if she could update it for Parker and Piper’s party, plus this meant a lot less work for me since I already had lots of stuff for this theme.  From the darling invitation to the giant welcome sign Lauren’s designs were perfect!  You probably won’t believe me when I tell you I started putting everything together for this party the night before.  It’s true, but the point is that it didn’t require a ton of money or time to put together an adorable party.  The super cute printables, paired with ticket covered soup cans, some ribbon and a few props is all it took to make a wide open park look like a fun carnival.

I painted a colorful new sign and used my lemonade stand as our ticket booth.  Next to the ticket booth was our carnival “concessions” where the kids could treat themselves to popcorn, peanuts, nachos, cotton candy and cupcakes.

I love having a cake front and center on the dessert table, but sometimes cupcakes are easier, especially when they party is outside and we have lots of kids to serve.  But, that doesn’t mean you can still have your cake too!  I used foam cake forms and covered the top two layers in white fondant and used tickets to cover the base layer.  Add a little ribbon, a cute pennant banner and sparkly animals and you’ve got a cake that can stand up to the heat and serve as a pretty focal point on your dessert table.

Lots of games and prizes are a must at carnival parties and I found that Oriental Trading has the best selection for all your carnival party needs.  I ordered several games including spin the prize, carnival potato sacks, and a carnival bean bag toss game.  I spray painted bottles and put them in an old coke crate for a ring toss game.  We also had a duck pond, three in a row and played musical chairs, which was one of the kids favorite activities, right after the bounce house of course.

The kids bounced from one activity to the next earning little prizes at each station.  I prepackaged lots of the prizes from Oriental Trading in snack size Ziploc bags and attached patterned paper from the carnival printable package and used old crib springs to display them.  Also, when the kids first arrived they checked in at the Ticket Booth and were given a red and white striped carnival bag with their name on it to help them keep track of all of their prizes.  I’ll admit I normally shy away from all of the “trinkets” at birthday parties and try to stick to more practical party favors that won’t add clutter, but you simply can’t have a carnival party without winning prizes.  And despite my aversion to trinkets the kids love them!

After having their fill of games, treats and bouncing the kids could stop by the “photo booth” for lots of silly pictures and fun.  I bought 1 1/2 yards of red and white polka dot fabric from Ikea and filled a bucket with carnival themed props and let the kids take silly photos.  I just love a good photo booth at a party, don’t you?

All in all I’d say that Parker and Piper’s 6th birthday carnival was the greatest show on earth…well it was at least a ton of fun!

Vendors:

Party Styling and Photography – Giggles Galore

Carnival Party Printables & Invitations – Lauren Haddox Designs

Carnival Games & Prizes – Oriental Trading

Carnival Welcome Sign Frame – Cut It Out

Candy Bar Wrappers – iCustomlabel

 This is a sponsored post for Oriental Trading. All opinion are 100% my own. Others may have a different opinion or experience with the product listed above. Giggles Galore may have received payment, trade and/or products in exchange for promoting.