confession: i have a small party problem. i like, wait, make that love, going above and beyond for these parties. and i couldn’t make four any exception. (the excuse of being eight months prego was not a valid one in my mind. yes, i should have given myself a break.)

so, let the party planning begin…with pinterest and my new board, “four.” a theme was set…toy story. little mr. re-nest even weighed in and said he wanted the party to be more focused on “woody” than “buzz lightyear.” oh, and i should mention that it was just about this time that “toy story” started showing in our house pretty much anytime little mr. re-nest was awake. i have now seen 1, 2 and 3 more times than i thought possible. (but it made the little man excited for his party and that’s all that mattered.)

it all starts with the invitation. bring in cardstock from paper source and an idea that just sort of grew through sketches and trial and error. i knew i was going more of the cowboy route with the theme, and i knew i wanted the focus to be on the “four” aspect…and i should note here that i would typically have gone straight to the cricut craft room and purchased the “toy story” cartridge. unfortunately, i have been having some issues with the craft room and linking up to my cricut expression 2 machine, so i was a little hesitant to drop the $$ on something i wasn’t going to be able to use. so, this party was “toy story” cartridge-less this year…but it did include crazy-cakes, handmade cow print paper…

once the invites were out, it was time to plan banners. if you’ve followed my parties for two and three, you’ve seen the banners i’ve made. confession: i scaled this back this year. i managed to find some super cute red bandana print scrapbook paper at hobby lobby, paired this with some plain ‘ol white and black scrapbook paper and came up with a couple of pennant-esque banners. these little gems managed to give a little punch to our fireplace and across our bannister in our foyer. 

then there was the happy birthday banner. again, scaled back. a very simple “noah is four” banner in blue, red and yellow, strung along some red and white bakers twine worked like a charm. plus, once it was hung, i added a little somethin’ in the form of a barrel ‘o monkeys…yep, i snagged little mr. re-nest’s barrel of monkeys and sprinkled them across the banner. 

next up, the cake. this was all thanks to pinterest. and input from little mr. re-nest. i knew from last year that i wanted to have a local bakery in sycamore do the cake because of her amazing fondant work…so i found the cake, and worked with paige at polka dot bakery, which was a total pleasure! (plug here: for any of my local friends, i cannot recommend her enough! not only was the cake a work of art, but it was delicious. and i love my cake.) we also added a couple dozen sheriff badge cookies too, just to have a little extra something for the kiddos.

the table. this is my favorite part of the party. setting up the table. centerpiece was the cake. and was adorned with toy story water bottles, candy jars (for the kiddos to make up candy bags), soda and apple juice. oh, and i should also mention the table cover….cow print fabric as a table runner, overlaid with red bandanas, all courtesy of hobby lobby.

i have to say the big f-o-u-r was a total success….while all of the decor and cake and food was amazing, the two best parts? having all of our family there, and little mr. re-nest proclaiming, “this is the best day of my life!”

here’s to the best days of our lives,
ashley