Toy Story Birthday Party

When we started thinking about themes for Ryan’s party, there was no question that we’d have to go with Toy Story. He loves everything about the films and characters, especially Buzz Lightyear and Woody. The photo above was not staged and I am so glad I was able to capture it!

I found a decent image of Buzz Lightyear’s spaceship and took it into Photoshop. From there I edited the image to make it suitable, layered in a photo of Ryan and added the party details. I printed copies onto photo paper hand-cut each invitation because my cameo just wasn’t getting it right. The outline is fairly easy to cut so it wasn’t too painful.

As usual, I scoured Pinterest for party-planning ideas and I found so many. I love theme parties, and Toy Story with it’s three movies and several shorts and lots of toys provides so much of material.

We had a big turnout and my only regret is not having the chance to capture more of the details to share with you. It was busy busy! Nonetheless, here is what we did.

Decor:
I purchased a 6 foot Toy Story birthday party backdrop and matching tablecloth at a party store.
Operation birthday party army men drop using army men from the dollar store.
Printable renditions of Andy’s drawings.
Happy Birthday Banner cut using my Silhouette Cameo. Because of the wind, I opted to tape it to the siding instead of stringing it!

Food:
We served “Hamm”, Slinky Dog Pasta, Buzz’s Spaceballs (meatballs), Pizza Planets (bagel bites), Oooh (Pizza Planet Alien) Moonpies, Rex’s Herbivore Veggies (celery and carrots), Ken’s Fruit Salad and Jessie Hats. My hats did not come out perfect but people still enjoyed them and gobbled them up.

I made tent cards with my cameo and then printed the food labels with each character’s image onto adhesive paper. For Buzz Lightyear’s Refueling Fluid, I put together a design using Photoshop and printed them onto adhesive-backed waterproof labels. Both materials used were from Online Labels (review samples received).

The cupcake cake from Shoprite was amazing.

Fun and Games:
Pin the tail on Bullseye – (free printable)

Moon Bounce – this Little Tikes Shaded Bounce is a hit at every backyard party.

Toy Story Photo Props – (free printable)

Favors:
I really wanted to hand out Toy Story pez dispensers, but I couldn’t find them in stores and didn’t have enough time to order online. Instead, I decided to make the kids bottle cap necklaces. Full tutorial here.

Ryan flew a kite for the first time on his big day. At least the wind was good for something!

He enjoyed this party much more than last year’s Very Hungry Caterpillar Party. I think he’s coming out of his shell.The difference a year makes!