Plans: R's Third Birthday Party

Now that R is a little older she has lots of things that she actually enjoys herself- that aren't connected to N or I. Some of these favorites things include Cars, Toy Story, Despicable Me, Peter Rabbit, monster trucks, etc. But her most favorite thing of all is of course...

And it helps that I heartily approve of this show for my little feminist in training. ;)

So the theme is set: My Little Pony with a big dose of rainbow. Her favorite pony is Twilight Sparkle (not Rainbow Dash) but I figure that rainbows are an integral part of Ponyville, and really, I'm just looking for an excuse to be colorful. I know R is going to love it!

We're going to have the party at my parent's house again this year (it's where we had her first birthday as well) because they have a big (though awkward shaped) basement and an even bigger backyard.

Which is important because I want (for R obviously): REAL LIFE PONY RIDES!

I've already contacted a pony rental place and put down a deposit for one hour of pony rides and a small petting zoo. Is it cheap? No. Is it cheaper than what we spent the previous two years? Yes. Would it be AWESOME? HELL YES.

As far as decorations go I'm going to get all the branded MLP stuff without shame. I've slowly but surely been accumulating stuff from Zulily thinking I was smart and saving money, and then I looked at the Party City website and realized they're selling all the same stuff for EVEN CHEAPER. WTF Zulily? So yeah I'm done with them (ok not really, but a little bit.)

I also want to do some nice rainbow decorations with lots of streamers and balloons such as:

Source

With the streamers twister and balloons instead of the puffs because I've tried to make those before and it wasn't pretty...

Or:

Source

With Dollar Store tablecloths instead of tulle because while gorgeous, that is far too expensive! I love these "cake table" setups but my parents basement is strangely shaped and doesn't lend itself well to one of these. I think I will put one up against the wall where we had the photo backdrop for R's first birthday. I would put the cake and sweets on it, and put the regular food on the bar that's down there.

As far as food goes I'm hoping I can talk my mom into having our local Dickies BBQ do a delivery buffet. You see, one of Reagan's other favorite ponies Applejack is "Southern" and uh... Yeah you're right I just want the BBQ for myself. (Pulled meats are much easier on my stomach! And coleslaw for days!!!)

 

For treats I'm thinking: MLP cookies from Etsy (I can't find these exact ones anymore and am so sad!), rainbow rice crispy treats, fruit kabobs, cake pops (likely also from Etsy), and jello squares. And then all sorts of rainbow candy of course.

We'll definitely be doing a cake and cupcakes again because cupcakes are a lot easier to deal with. As much as I love Gigi's I think I'll be making our own this year, or asking a friend (or my sister if she's home) to help because as you've seen I am not very good at decorating cakes!

For R's outfit I'm going to ask this Etsy seller if she can this shirt with a 3 behind Twilight:

Source

Then I'll make her another tutu myself and get her another cupcake headband from the same seller I got her first one from:

Source

 *Phew* That is all I have for now, but I'll likely have more planning and progress posts in the future. This is the one big party I plan all year and let's be real here, what else to I have to do with all my sickly free time?