Camping Birthday Party

We celebrated Ava's 7th birthday this past Saturday with a camping party.  And as usual, our household was a crazy whirlwind up to the moment guests started to arrive.  The weather ended up being perfect and the day could not have been more fun.

Here are a few of the highlights-

It all started with the invitation created by my wonderfully talented friend Carolyn.  You can find these invitations here.

Guests were directed to the party with a "Welcome to Camp Ava" sign. 

I made seven tents for the kids to play in which were placed inside the house and in the back yard.  (Look for the tutorial in a few days.)

 The kids explored the back yard during the scavenger hunt. 

Each child received a bag, "scavenger hunt" card (available here) and a twig pencil, so they could keep track of their treasures. 

I was amazed at how much the kids enjoyed this activity. I will definitely keep this in mind when planning other parties in the future : )

The menu consisted of classic camping food with a couple added extras- hot dogs, coleslaw, chili, roasted corn, pasta salad, fruit salad, chuck-wagon beans, lemonade and chips.

I made some picnic silverware packets, so it would be easier for the kids to keep up with their silverware...and to add a little more camping feel : )

  I finally made these mason jar glasses- something I have wanted to do for a while.

The ribbon around the glasses inspired the color palette and is actually the pattern that is carried throughout the party details  (you can see it on the tents).

Ava is very un-childlike in that she does not care for icing, and so the birthday cake is always a bit of an issue.  This year, since she had decided on a camping party, I thought s'mores would be the perfect treat.   She wanted to have cupcakes for all of her friends though, so I used the s'more theme and created a s'more cupcake. 

The cupcakes were one of my favorite things at the party.  They had all of the essential elements - graham crackers, chocolate, marshmallows and the ooey gooiness (is that how it is spelled?) of a typical s'more. 

As a party favor, I made "Camp Ava Survival Kit"s for all of the kids.  Each box contained "fish bait" - gummy worms and "S'mores Trail Mix" - made of golden grahams, chocolate morsels and marshmallows. 

Another year...

another birthday...

and hopefully...

another lasting memory for my darling Ava. 

***You can find the tutorial for the A-frame tents here and for the s'more cupcakes here.