A Cars Themed Birthday Party

by | Jun 23, 2012 | Birthday Parties, Happy Birthday | 9 comments

On Thursday our little Snuggles turned 5 years old!  He still loves his Woody and Buzz toys, and they are the ones that will always stick out in my mind when I think of his childhood, but this past year he has really been enjoying race cars (especially the “Cars” and “Cars 2” themed race cars), so he asked if he could please have a “Race Car Birthday.”   I went back and forth on whether I wanted to go with a  “Cars/Lightning McQueen” theme, or just stick with a “Classic” racing theme, but after looking though all the fun ideas online I couldn’t resist going with the movie theme.

I had all sorts of ideas that I wanted to try, but since his birthday fell right after Family Camp, and in the middle of Golf Camp, I had to keep it somewhat simple.   I decided to skip all the extra games and activities and just stick with making some fun foods for the party and purchasing a pinata.   It was perfect!   A few friends joined us, Snuggle’s best friend along with three of his brothers (who came home with my kids from golf camp to spend the night) and my dear friend Janet and her two children (who just arrived home from Virginia for the summer). We all enjoyed the company and Hubby even set up a tent in the back yard so the boys could “camp.”  Nevertheless, Friday morning was just a little crazy trying to get all the kids to the golf course by 8:30 for their last day of camp and “golf tournament!”

Here are a few pictures from the party! 

~ Cars and Cars 2 Themed Party Foods ~
I had so much fun creating a menu for this party.   The birthday boy requested Race Day Hot Dogs, which Daddy grilled, and I set up a table with all the sides and drinks. 
Piston Cup Pasta Salad 
(my favorite pasta salad recipe made with wheel shaped pasta)
Dinoco Oil Dipsticks (Pretzel Rods) • Cheese Cubes with Race Flags

Mater’s Tow Cables (red licorice) • Luigi’s Casa Della Tires (mini donuts)
Rust-eze (applesauce) • Mater’s Taters (potato chips)
Motor Oil (root beer) • Allinol (sprite)
Radiator Springs Stop Lights
(for these I mixed peanut butter with ground cocoa for on top of the graham crackers with the m&m’s)
…and of course we had to have some Pistachio Ice Cream
I ran across this fun tub at our grocery store for a couple dollars and decided to make a drink bin with a homemade sign for Flo’s Cafe inspired by this party.   It only took a few minutes to quickly make the sign the morning of the party!  
~ Lightning McQueen’s Crash Test ~ 

Some of the boys mentioned that it was really sad that they were going to hit poor Lightning McQueen with a bat, so I told them that they were just going to give him a “crash test!”  lol  Lightning didn’t pass the test, but the kids all loved all the goodies he had hidden inside.  🙂

Eventually we had to make a few modifications to the pinata/rope… 
But even this “scene” reminded the boys of some part of the movie! 

~ The Birthday Cake ~ 

I already posted a couple pictures of the cake in this post.   If I had it to do over, I would probably do a couple things differently.  Since I used two box mixes, I made the 6″ cakes on top with a gluten free cake mix which ended up being much heavier than the 9″ triple chocolate cake on the bottom.   I decorated the cake the night before, so by the time we were ready for cake the top had started sinking/tipping into the bottom cake.  Only I noticed, the kids didn’t care one bit! 🙂

~ Birthday Gifts ~ 

The birthday boy had so much fun opening his gifts!  He received a new bike and a Playmobil Royal Ship of Egypt (which has been discontinued, but will be great to have for studying Ancient Egypt) from us, a few Car themed toys from his little friends, and Janet’s family found him the perfect Playmobil Soldier Boat!  

My friends know me well… Janet was able to find a toy that I loved just as much as the birthday boy, combining favorite toys with CATHOLIC SYMBOLISM!!!   

*See the Fluer-di-lis on the back of the boat?!  How perfect is that!?


~ Backyard Camping ~ 

Despite the excitement with “camping” outback, the birthday boy and his  5year old friend ended up sleeping inside, and even the big kids were nervous about sleeping “by themselves in the woods.” (Apparently our home is considered in the woods/mountains to our friends that live in town!)  All the wind rustling through the leaves on the trees didn’t help, so Hubby grabbed his sleeping bag and slept in the tent too.


Happy Birthday Snuggles! 

9 Comments

  1. Anonymous

    What a wonderfully creative, happy, and memorable occasion; every good wish to Snuggles and all your family; bless you, and thankyou so much for sharing these special times – and the 'ordinary' days as well. [Valerie, NZ]

    Reply
  2. Collette

    One of my favorite things to read on your blog is all of your birthday party ideas – always so creative and fun! (Actually, my kids like to look over my shoulder at these posts, too, lol…) Everything turned out so cute! What a sweet memory to give to your son. 🙂

    Reply
  3. Charlotte (WaltzingM)

    I can't wait to show BigBoy this post tomorrow! I know he'd going to love it. And yes, you totally live "out in the woods". What a great Dad to go camp out with them. I love everything, but I think the Casa Della Tires is my favorite!

    Reply
  4. Christine

    Wow.. great ideas for the birthday boy. Happy 5 to him. I remember when he was a baby. Time flies!

    Reply
  5. Banana

    What a fabulous party, I love all your creative details!

    Reply
  6. Melbourne Kidsman

    Great party and good pics as well.
    We recently went to a five year old's party where they
    had one of those mobile reptile parties where the kids handled snakes and lizards. The children at the birthday party had the time oif their life and didn't overindulge on junk food either.

    Reply
  7. Anonymous

    Thanks for sharing your awesome party ideas!! Can't wait to use them. Glad your son's party was a success. 🙂

    Reply

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