Down on the farm

Little Miss' farm-themed second birthday party was a hoot. If the barn door invitations didn't let guests know what they were in for, then the kid-size barn and animatronic pony in our living room certainly did. Howdy!

My regular blog readers will be able to correctly identify this as a Handy Freddy creation.  The large part of the barn is actually a facade attached to the television puppet theater, while the door and chicken coop are mostly free-standing structures. It's all made out of cardboard, and the only costs were for the red spray paint and some red duck tape. Thanks, Freddy!

My Big Martha handled a lot of the country-farm-themed decorations, including everything on the mantle. Folks were impressed with her collection of antique tins...my only contribution was the Clabber Girl baking powder container, which is not an antique and came right out of my pantry.  That's proof that I made a really good decision in handing off a large part of the decorating to my mom.

My Big Martha took the kids' farm toys and made a super cute display on the dining room table.  See the farm table runner underneath the toys? Yep, that's all My Big Martha.  Thanks, Mom!

Other small farm scenes were scattered throughout the house, including this tractor that I put to work next to the punch bowl. It held the bottle opener and permanent markers so that guests could write their names on the plastic cups.  How's that for fancy, y'all?

With the barn, mantel decoration, tablescapes and more, I didn't put up a lot of streamers or other typical party decorations.  The decorations were assembled from things we already had: farm toys, my mom's country-style decorations, a ton of cardboard in the basement, etc.  By using what was available to me, and with the hard work of Handy Freddy and My Big Martha, the decorations were big on country farm style and extremely small in terms of cost.  Which is exactly how I like to party. Thanks, y'all!