Toy Story 3 Party - My Daughter's 3rd Birthday

Toy Story 3 Party - My Daughter's 3rd Birthday

My journey into creating custom decor and gifts all began while planning my daughter's 1st birthday party. I quickly discovered how much I LOVE creating and collecting themed decor for parties! I plan to go back and create blog posts for my daughter's first birthday (Wild One theme) and second birthday (Alice in Wonderland theme), but today's post is all about her "Toy Story 3" party we just celebrated this month. 

When my daughter told me she wanted a Toy Story party (she loves Woody, Jessie, Buzz and Bo Peep), I was admittedly intimidated by the bold, primary colors and questioned if I'd be able to pull it off. I decided to go for softer Boho-colors, lots of toys and kid's activities. We held the party in our backyard, and though the weather threatened to keep us all inside, it turned out to be a great day! I started by planning the general areas I wanted to incorporate into the party, planning the menu, and starting to create. A lot of the decor I made myself, but I will link/mention everything I purchased and each of the vendors below.

Party Invitation

  • I designed the Party Invitation in Canva using Toy Story Graphics (Digital Download on Etsy) and other stock and hand designed graphics. I had these printed on Shutterfly. 

Food Table / Menu

Dessert Table

Desserts

Candy Bar

Drink Station

  • Toy Story character photos printed at Walgreens (Toy Story Graphics purchased here --> Digital Download on Etsy)
  • Glass Drink Dispensers (Walmart)
  • Various Wooden Stands (Target)
  • White Plastic Crates (Dollar Tree)
  • Crystal Light Lemonade, Peach Tea, Sweet Tea
  • Little Hug Fruit Drinks
  • I also provided various bottles of pop and water

Photo Booth Station

Make Your Own Forky Station

Outdoor Decor Table

  • Various Toy Story toys donated from friends and purchased on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Thrift Stores, Goodwill, etc.
  • Fabric Garland (various fabrics from JoAnn Fabrics & Macrame Cord)
  • Large Pictures of Everleigh's 3rd Birthday Photo Shoot (printed at Walgreens Photo Center) in 20" x 30" poster frames from JoAnn Fabrics
  • Barrel of Monkeys (Cut using my Glowforge Laser Printer) & spray painted using Rustoleum Rustic Pink, Rustoleum Vintage Blush, Rustoleum Khaki, Rustoleum Aqua
  • Wooden Woody, Jessie & Buzz (Cut using my Glowforge Laser Printer and Hand painted)
  • Everleigh's Toy Story 3 Hanging Sign (Designed in Canva and printed at Walgreens)

Gift Area

  • Custom Name Sign (Artwork designed by MigDesignStudio, Wooden frame purchased at Hobby Lobby)
  • Fabric Garland (various fabrics from JoAnn Fabrics & Macrame Cord)

Gift Opening Area / Balloon Arch

Table Centerpieces

  • Scalloped Plastic Candy Containers (Dollar Tree) - I purchased two containers for each centerpiece, turned one upside-down, and used hot glue to attach the two together.
  • Toy Story character themed decor on bottom half of the centerpieces (I designed these in Adobe Illustrator, and cut using my Glowforge Laser Printer)
  • Assorted Game Pieces (I scoured local Goodwills and Thrift Shops for months for old Monopoly, Trouble, Connect 4, etc.)
  • Faux Flowers (Dollar Tree & JoAnn Fabrics)
  • Wooden Toy Story Character Cutouts (Cut using my Glowforge Laser Printer)

Other Decor

Kid's Gift Bags

 Adult Gift Bag "The Claw"

 

  • I wanted the adults at the party to have fun with some 90's inspired party favors. I bought a selection of items from Dollar Tree (Colorform mini board games, slinkies, Rubiks cubes, etc.). I also found a plastic "Claw" at Hobby Lobby and threw it all in a white plastic tub.
  • "The Claw" Wooden Sign (Cut using my Glowforge Laser Printer)

Photography

Entertainment

  • "Bo Peep's Bounce House" - We had an existing Castle Bounce House (Amazon) from last year's Alice in Wonderland party and decided to reuse it for this year's party as Bo Peep's Bounce House! We set the Bounce House up and I added a 20" x 30" foam sign I had printed at Walgreens 


  • "Buzz Lightyear's Space Jump" - My parents purchased a smaller outdoor trampoline for my daughter last year, and I thought it resembled a spaceship! We relocated it to our house for the party, added some outer space paper garland (from Hobby Lobby), and a 20" x 30" foam sign I had printed at Walgreens. 


  • "Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head Station" - In my Goodwill, Thrift Store, and friend donation extravaganza, I ended up with a LOT of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads. I decided to setup a small table outside with all of the Potato Head toys for the kiddos to design on their own. The kids really seemed to enjoy this!

  • Playset / Slide - We have a swing set and slide / playhouse in our yard that the kids also enjoyed during the party. I didn't do anything special to decorate this or try to make it "on theme", but it was a good party addition, nonetheless.

  • Toy Story Movie - In the living room (which is connected via open concept to the kitchen / dining area), we had the Toy Story movies playing on the TV 

  • Toy Story Soundtrack - To add to the atmosphere outside, we connected a medium sized Bluetooth speaker and streamed the Toy Story Soundtrack straight off of YouTube. 

 Party Attire

 Party Scrapbook

  • Every year I struggle to find the perfect way to keep and organize memories from the party. This year, while at a Craft fair, I came across a company named Resurrected Journals that turns old children's books into journals. The front of the book is the original story, and the back of the book is blank journal paper. I purchased a Toy Story journal and decided to create a scrapbook of the mini polaroid photos, some scrapbook paper, leftover stickers from the kid's gift bags, notes from family, and each of the cards Everleigh received at her party. Add in a bit of double-sided tape, and this was super easy to create in a very short amount of time. Screen shots below.


 And phew... I think that about covers it! My daughter's party was the first week of September, and in all honesty, I started planning the party in June. My hope in documenting all of this is that it will help the next person planning a Toy Story, or similarly themed, party to save time searching or thinking of ideas.  I had so much fun planning this party and look forward to hearing what my little 3-year-old has planned for next year!

All my love,

Caleigh

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Small Business Vendor List:

- Arch You Happy

- DisynePlus (Etsy)

- Frosted & Iced

- Haute Fuse

- Made to Cake

- MigDesignStudio (Etsy)

- RedAsRoseDesignShop (Etsy)

- Resurrected Journals

- Salted Home Company (Etsy)

- Sign Gypsies Westmoreland

- Simply Sew Boutique

 

Chain/Online Retail Stores:

- Amazon

- Chick-Fila Catering

- Crumbl Cookies Catering

- Dollar Tree

- Five Below

- Glowforge

- Hobby Lobby

- JoAnn Fabrics

- Shutterfly

- Target 

- Walmart

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Affiliate Disclosure - The Salted Mama is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to The Salted Mama.

 

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