Our Happily Ever After

Howdy folks, Today I am writing about a VERY special day...Makayla's 2nd Birthday Celebration! Now hold onto your hats and spurs because this is going to be one L-O-N-G post...lot's of details to share. Now I'm sure some will look at this party and roll their eyes thinking that we (by we I mean I) go WAY over the top for M's parties BUT I say why not.. Celebrating M's birth is one of the BEST days of my entire life. Some of you know what a miracle our sweet lil' girl is so the fact that she was born and is here is something worth celebrating if you ask me ;). Will I always have over the top parties for her? Well, yes absolutly positively, I will- She is Gods miracle that He gifted to David and I so I will always make it one of the most celebrated days of our years..It's just that special to me and doing all of this is just what I do :)

So, I choose a rhinestone cowgirl theme for our party not because M is a cowgirl, or likes horses, or anything of the sort but simply because I thought she would be absolutly AH-dorable in a fluffy petti coat with some pink cowgirl boots to boot!

Not to mention, I am fully aware that as she 'matures' and gets to be a big girl she will probably want anything and everything "princessy" for her parties. With the theme nailed down WAY in advance (in all honesty, I think I selected the theme before she even had her 1st b.day party.HA!) It was time to set the mood for our bash with designing the invite

All the invites were tucked inside a hand sewn burlap pouch adorned with a crepe paper medallion, bandana tie, and finished with a vintage lace bow.

One the invite was slipped out of the pouch the cutest pic. of our lil' cowgirl greeted our guest (I just adore this pic. that my friend Gail of G.Miya Photography snapped of M when she was shooting our family pics. last fall) The invitations deets were sewn to the back of the cowgirl photo

Party Time The actual party took place in our backyard and the weather could not have been more perfect- a sunny warm January afternoon. Let me give you a tour of what the lil' cowgirl and buckaroos experienced that day on the Mellstrom Ranch

The food

The buffet was set up on our covered patio and the best part of it= the food!!

My dear friend Shannon and I had the most fabulous agreement and well if you ask me, I got the best end of the deal! You see, her hubby is one of the owners of Honey Bears BBQ which is THE BEST B.bq joint we have in Phoenix and they catered the food for the party to include; Ranch ribs, 'Cowboy Clucks'-shredded b.bq chicken sandwhiches, Cowboy Slaw, Rootin' Tootin' baked beans, and corn on the cob. To say that it was delicious would be an understatement- It was down right fabulous!

Guest ate their grub out of pie tins and grabbed custom utensil bags titled 'Chow Time' with the essentials inside (including a wet wipe so they could clean up after eatin' the finger lickin' good B.BQ!) The Cake On the other side of the grub table was the cake set up

The cake was SO beyond C-U-T-E and lucky us...it was made with lot's of love by Grandma

Having a cake baker in the family has lot's of advantages :) I can design the cake however I wish and it always turns out fabulous. Some other sweet treats that accompanied the cake were cowgirl choc. pops made by mwa

and bandana cookies made by grandma

The special party hat I made for my sweets was also a part of the decor

The Cowgirl Candy Corral Moving right along the trail...the cowpokes entered the Cowgirl Candy CorralAll things sweet and savory could be found here

There were marshmallow push pops

Bandana wrapped candy

Licorice lassos,

kettle corn

Cowgirl corn served in a chicken feeder ;)

Good ol' fashioned swirl lollies

Cowgirl cakes- made by my sweet friend Cassie of Cakes by Cassie

And last but not least, good ol' fashioned taffy and some home made treat bags so the cowpokes could take take their sweet treats back to the range ya hear

I told ya all this was going to be l-o-n-g post ;) Happy Trails Trail Mix Bar Beside the Cowgirl Candy Coral was the Happy Trails Trail Mix Bar

This was geared more towards the older cowgirls/boys to include; Chex (a trail mix staple!)

Pretzels & Peanuts

Dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, and M&M's

Bandana boxes were provided for each cowboy's own mix

Adjacent to the trail mix bar was the watering hole.

Here the cowfolk could wet their whistle with sweet tea

Root beer

or choc.milk/strawberry milk/regular milk for the little cowfolk

The rest of the party festivities took place out on the range ;) This is where the party table was set up for the littles

I rented a children's sized banquet table and used hay bales for the seats (this was a great idea but a messy one at that!)I created a cute center piece with the party girls pic

Each guest had a custom place mat that I created using chalk fabric so they could doodle and daddle to their hearts content

The final touch on the kiddo table was a special chair I created for the birthday gal

All the grub, sweets, and fun was great but what would a cowgirl bash be without some cowfolk attire?!! Each cowpolk had a cowboy hat waiting for them

Along with a bandana and a badge of course

Now because this was a rhinestone cowgirl bash, I had to make sure to have some Cowgirl Glamfor all the girlies ;)

It was here the girlies received their candy necklaces, pearl beads, candy rings, and other lil' jewels. Once the cowpokes were geared up, it was time for some pony races

Some cowboy staches and cowgirl grins

And just god ol' plain birthday celebrating FUN :)!

Party Decor Other decor I created to add to the rhinestone cowgirl ambiance included Bandana and horse shoe pendent banners along with a ruffled doily photo banner. I must say I love how the photo banner added customization displaying cute pics. of our sweet lil' cowgirl

Since I'm co-owner of MonMell Designsof course I had to design some pillows to add to the decor ;)

PS- We'll have these pillows available in our shop soon Favors Once all the festivities were coming to a close we thanked everyone with some cowgirl portrait cookies and a special thank you that was enclosed

My mama made the cookies and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out (truth be told, I still have my cookie from the party and that means it is now 6 months old!!) That just shows you how much I loved the cookies- I don't have the heart to eat it ;) As you can see, I had a ball planning this party :) A LOT of work went into it, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Seeing this sweet smile makes every second of planning and preparation more then worth it!