Woodland Themed Birthday Party

This year I asked my five year old what kind of birthday party she wanted and her reply was– “I want a kind of party that boys AND girls can come too. Not a super pink party or a princess party but a fun party I can invite by boy “friends” to, you know like an animal party”. So like a magical woodland party?

Alright sister I’ll gladly meet your request for a girls + boys party at five, just don’t tell your daddy you have “boyfriends”. Yes friends, that is intentionally plural. She may be the sweetest little I know, always making new friends. SO MANY friends, boy ones too. I couldn’t let her down.

So I did what all desperate to please their littles birthday dreams mothers do and jumped on Pinterest! Saw the woodland theme and knew it was a win! The mix of animal masks and bright floral crowns was perfect! The birthday girl agreed! Easy enough. Time to party prep!

Woodland themed snack table

Of course food is my language of love, and we’ll get to that in a minute. But as important as the food may be, the decor is what really brought the magic! I mean look at that table, heart eyes big time. The first place I hit for decorations was Tai Pan Trading. Obviously. Its my go to for everything, I may need to bring a compass next trip because I left with some amazing fall table decor too. Oops. Anyways just about everything in this picture I snagged from there! The garden gnome and bunny I already had. (Lowe’s a few years ago) The amazing wooden tiered snack stand in the center my AWESOME hubby threw together for me last minute! He’s kind of amazing like that! (Thank you Michaels Crafts for the wooden discs and Lowe’s for the oversized center dowel) It was perfect and something I will definitely use again!

The next item of business was of course was the cake! (Don’t worry were almost to the food). I had a vision…

Woodland Themed Birthday Cake

Now if you know me well, you know I DO NOT BAKE. I can cook but baking to me is not fun! I’m pretty lousy at it to be honest, unless its super simple, like my breakfast cookies. Otherwise count me out!

I made a trip to our favorite local bakery, Schmidt’s Pastry Cottage and told them what we wanted. Per the birthday girls request chocolate cake with red berries in the middle. Hi perfect. I would have picked the same exact combo, I mean if I was over bearing and trying to control the party planning or something.

After a few taste tests we happily agreed and went with a naked devil’s food chocolate cake with raspberry filling and buttercream frosting. Mmm.

Vintage Wins for woodland topper

To top it all off, I found a vintage 1960’s retro fawn on Etsy, Vintage by Jade shop and she was my inspiration from day one. Isn’t she precious. I mean she was worth every sleepless night searching for right? I had some birch straws lying around from a previous project that I attached a small tassel banner to (found at Hobby Lobby) and set in on the most perfect white washed aged wood cake stand from Tai Pan, added a lace doily and TADA the most adorable woodland cake ever! I was pretty proud of this one. It was perfect and made my birthday girl smile so big as we lit the candles I got distracted and teary eyed by her sheer happiness we almost lost the fawn to flames!

Note: vintage plastics are VERY flammable!

She now sits safely on my kitchen shelf. The cake itself was DELISH! The mix of rich chocolate and tart raspberries with a hint of buttercream was so light and refreshing! Yes you know I ate a piece! Life is far too short to not celebrate your babies with cake!

Woodland Themed Food

Okay lets talk FOOD. I was feeding five year olds, quite possibly my toughest critics. I wanted to keep it on the healthier side as that is what we are used to around here, but not be wasteful at the same time. I did a little Pinteresting and came up with some tasty snacks that were not only healthy but kid friendly too! I love having little friends over who tell me they absolutely hate something and then end up eating half the plate! Although as an after thought I would use whole wheat tortillas when feeding a young crowd. The green spinach made a few little guests qwiver.

On the menu:

• snail sandwiches (spinach tortilla + cream cheese spread + deli meat + shredded cheese)
• popped acorns (Pirates Booty)
• woodsy mix (dried fruit and nuts)
• twigs (pretzel sticks)
• leaves (Bare Snacks apple chips)
• forest berries (mixed fresh berries)
• Back to Nature fruit punch and apple juice boxes to keep it simple
• woodland cookies (made by Heidi Drake and the hit of the food table for obvious reasons)

All food items we picked up from Sprouts Farmers Market. Freshest berries in the land! We pickniced inside after Mother Nature dumped rain for two straight days and up until the party. Luckily our Gathre mat saved the day and my husband from a minor heart attack serving 11 five year olds inside on the carpet! Happy to report not a single crumb was lost!

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Let’s also pay mention to the FABULOUS floral crown on my birthday girls head. Custom made by Katie at Fancy Free Finery on Etsy! Obsessed!

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Woodland Fairy Garden

One of my favorite details from the party I couldn’t live without was the miniature fairy garden I  picked up from Sunriver Gardens in Orem. Isn’t it perfect. The girls LOVED this! Ironically none of our little gentlemen guests could attend the party so I ended up adding a little more sparkle and flare towards the end of the party planning! Their imaginations went wild with fairies following them around throughout the day, sneaking food off the table and spying on their game playing. I absolutely love five. It is simply the best age!

Woodland Fairy Dust Favors

Because we handed out felt animal masks as each guest arrived I opted out of favor bags. Because budget. But I did make these cute little fairy dust favors each guest was given as they left. Huge hit! Just glitter in a glass bottles with a little ribbon!

Woodland Scavenger Hunt

After the picnic we took the girls on a Woodland scavenger hunt. I found the cutest printable on Etsy via Helium Paper and Party shop. All hail Pinterest and Etsy and other peoples talents. Life savers I tell you! We happen to have a huge gully behind our house which was perfect for our little hunt.

I think Mother Nature was feeling guilty for the rain because she gifted us with this adorable family of deer as we were scavengering. The girls were giddy with excitement! Such perfect timing. Now if only spotting a deer was on the actual scavenger hunt sheet. Oh well still awesome! After our hunt we came inside for a few simple games (duck duck “deer”, freeze dance and ring around the rosy) I swear simple wins every time.

 Deer sighting!!! I couldn’t have planned that more perfectly!!

Woodland Animal Masks

These are the few pics we captured with the animal masks! I ordered them from The Masked Menagerie shop on Etsy. They didn’t stay on long but were a fun detail and a bonus party favor!

Woodland door decor

The wreath on our front door was the easiest DIY ever. Trust me I’m not a DIYer. I snagged the wreath from Tai Pan then painted a cardboard “K” from Hobby Lobby red and added white dots with a sponge brush. Jimmy rigged it to the door and WREATH!

Woodland party supply links:

All of the additional red and white polka dot plates, table clothes, backdrop, leaf streamers and animal balloons ect. I found on Amazon. Super easy to order and prime shipping!

Thank you to my amazing bff Rachel Gainer (@rachel_rebuilt) for these photos. They are absolute perfection my friend!

Thanks for letting me share our fun day! Woodland theme wins for best birthday thus far! Now someone give me some cake!

Xo,

Shannon