This vibrant CIRCUS + CARNIVAL THEMED FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY was submitted by Dana Donley.
I have a special place in my heart for any party that has a circus or carnival theme and this one is no exception. Every detail is just adorable!
A few of the things that I like best about this lovely celebration are:
The clown head, elephant, ring master, and popcorn box cake pops
The birthday boy’s vintage style circus theme romper
The self-serve drink station with mason jars stacked on cake plates beside a beautiful glass beverage dispenser filled with lemons and lemonade
The chalkboard displaying a picture diagram of the birthday boy’s first year
and MORE!
Here’s what Dana said about planning the party- “We held my son’s first birthday party at our home. I did a lot of it on my own but also had my friend Heather Guthrie from At the Heels Wedding and Events do a lot. All table dressings came from Grand Rentals in Mooresville, NC. Beckham’s wonderful cake was done by my best friend Jamie Pursley. Cake pops were done also by a great friend Jaime Gatton. I also ordered gift bags from Oriental Express. Plates are from Target and banner. All the photo booth props from Party City. The great photos are by Gambol Photography and Taylored to You Photography. Megan and Pam did such an amazing job at capturing Beckham’s day.”
Party Planning and Styling- Heather Guthrie of At the Heels Wedding and Events and Dana Donley
Table Linens- Grand Rentals in Mooresville, NC
Cake- Jamie Pursley
Cake Pops- Jaime Gatton
Photography- Gambol Photography and Taylored to You Photography
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Striped Paper Straws Apothecary Jars Jute Twine Tin Pails Decorative Paper Shred Whirly Pops Striped Mini Gable Boxes Tissue Pom Poms Mason Jar Drinking Glasses
This fabulous CIRCUS THEMED FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY was submitted by Karyn Amado of Sweet & Clever.
I have a soft spot for circus themed parties, so there are so many things that I love about this one! So many cute carnival party ideas! A few of my favorite elements are:
The circus tent shaped cake
The mini paper fans used as clown collars on the clown cupcake toppers
The ferris wheel candy holder
and MORE!
Here’s what Karyn said about planning the party- “This dessert table was created for my friend’s grandson, Dominic for his 1st birthday party. The circus theme was a challenge but I ended up having fun crafting and doing lots of DIYs like the ferris wheel, merry-go-round and the clown head cupcake holder. It was a labor of love. The printables were created and designed by my ever supportive hubby. Sweet treats on the dessert table included vegan chocolate cupcakes, cake pops and cake created by Dominic’s aunt.”
Party Styling, Cupcakes, Cake Pops – Karyn of Sweet and Clever
Cake- Krizia’s Custom Cakes and Cupcakes
Printables, Invitation and Photography- James Amado Live Oak Photography and Design
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Circus Themed Party Supplies Lollipop / Treat Sticks Clown Cupcake Toppers Red Striped Flag Picks / Toppers Ribbon Cupcake Liners
I’m so excited to feature my CIRCUS TRAIN BIG TOP CARNIVAL BIRTHDAY PARTY with you today! This party is one of my favorite parties from my book!
The moment I found a lovely carousel outside of City Hall in St. George, Utah my mind just couldn’t stop dreaming of all the fun things this Circus Train Birthday Party could include. I set the stage with three circus train cars, which I made out of baby cribs. I transformed the regular white cribs into a real life circus train by adding painted wooden scroll pieces and paper bunting for decoration, and fanned flowers to serve as wheels! I then connected the train cars using red and blue crepe paper. Each train car provided the perfect space to display much of the party food, treats and decor.
The beautiful photos were taken by Valerie Hart Photography.
All of the party items/decor used in this party are available in the Kara’s Party Shop.
{Full product list can be found at the bottom of this post}
Circus Tent Sugar Cookies—All Things Exquisite
Cake & Cupcakes— Dippidee
Clown Cake Pops—Autumn Lynn’s Chocolate Sin’s Online Shop
As the children moved through the various party activities, they collected tickets. Once they had enough tickets they were able to pick a prize off the prize wall. I made the prize wall using a wooden free-standing chalkboard that I covered in fabric and topped with a “prizes” sign. To make the prizes I filled clear cello bags with plastic balls, games, noise makers and yoyo’s. The bags were then sealed with striped wrapping paper and blue crepe paper streamers and pasted to the wall.
The guests also played the infamous carnival game “Ring Toss” using rope rings and some old “Pop Shop” glass bottles that I found at an antique shop.
The middle circus train car held a large faux cake that I made out of hat boxes and tickets. Next to the cake were cute three-ring circus train boxes and ceramic circus letters. I placed fun cups shaped like circus tents at the front of the table, and next to them, put a darling cupcake tower made with a kit from my shop. The cupcake tower was accented with fun silver cording, yellow pom ribbon, blue crepe paper, and a cute mini bunting banner. It was finished with a clown nose at the top! The circus clown cupcakes couldn’t have been cuter sitting there amongst ceramic circus figurines. The circus tent-shaped sugar cookies were a hit, as were the “peanut” cups filled with orange candy circus peanuts. Peeking out from the back of the train car was a darling vintage “Tiddlywinks” clown game and a “Circus Parade” book.
A drink station was situated in an old galvanized bucket. I used two long wooden dowels to hang the “Drinks” banner I made using an ornate circus font for the lettering. Inside the bucket were old fashioned-style soda bottles. There were also water bottles labeled “Circus Water”.
Paper tickets are so versatile and cute that I couldn’t resist using them a lot throughout this party! The first train car featured vintage suitcases covered in white tickets. The focal point of the middle train car was the ticket “cake” I made. On the food train car, I used them as napkin rings to secure forks to red and yellow polka dot napkins. Plus, I wrapped tickets around the ketchup and mustard bottles. As guests arrived at the party, they were greeted with a happy ceramic clown on top of stacked ticket rolls. I made a fun wreath out of clown noses and tickets to place on the table next to the clown. Guests also walked past a bright ticket booth. I made the booth with a wooden puppet stand, painted and decorated to match the circus theme and colors. To add to the ambiance, I strung a red, white, and yellow felt “celebrate” banner between the ticket booth and the “Welcome to the Carnival” sign.
The third circus train car held the majority of the food. I love the miniature electric hot dog warmer that I used to heat the hot dogs! I also had a matching popcorn machine full of the buttery yummy stuff on the opposite side of the table. In the center of the train car was a white metal tub with rubber duckies inside. There were also several sizes of apothecary jars that I filled with suckers, miniature rainbow candies, and red gumballs. I ordered the darling clown cake pops from an online Etsy Shop and they couldn’t have been cuter in the stacked silver milk bottles! I made “lion tamer whips” out of chocolate licorice and placed them in a clear shallow glass bowl. I also filled cute carnival treat boxes with cupcakes for the guests, just in case they didn’t get enough sweets!
The focal point of the first circus train car was the darling Balancing Elephant Cake. The other fun circus items surrounding the cake included: toy animals that I “dressed up” with paint and ribbon; a miniature metal Ferris Wheel dispenser with bowls full of toys and treats; a sweet vintage Humpty Dumpty Lumps penny candy tin; a rotating wooden container filled with colored paper straws, candy mustaches, bright party blow outs, and candy peanuts; strongman dumbbells made with striped straws and round suckers; animal crackers and more!
I arranged Mason jar glasses on a small beverage table. Behind the glasses was a fun lollipop display. I made the display using an old Coca-Cola crate, some Styrofoam, and various fun and colorful lollipops and jawbreaker pops. I strung a delicate bunting flag banner {made with tickets and silver pipe cleaner} between two glittery batons nestled in the back of the crate. There were also two glass apothecary jars on the table, filled with yummy cookies.
All of the party guests had a chance to have their picture taken at a festive carnival-themed photo booth! I made the booth using pvc pipe, hot glue, and colorful polka dot fabric. I strung a homemade, fabric “happy birthday” banner across the back of the booth. To the side of the booth was a gumball machine and balloons tied to a yellow ducky balloon weight. I found a vintage suitcase online and filled it with photo booth props like silly glasses, hats, noses, bow ties, gloves, a xylophone, and even a rubber chicken! I think that it looked just like a traveling circus clown’s suitcase would have.
This adorable CONEY ISLAND VINTAGE CARNIVAL + CIRCUS BIRTHDAY PARTY was submitted by Danielle Arcese of Cutie Putti Paperie! WHAT a party! Danielle did an incredible job at planning this amazing celebration….a soiree FULL of ideas & inspiration!
Danielle said- “Summer is winding down, but the fun isn’t over! I jumped at the opportunity to design a Vintage Carnival theme. Some of my favorite memories as a kid were days spent at the carnival, wandering in wide-eyed amusement at all of the spectacles; a belly full of funnel cakes and popcorn, and my sticky cotton candy fingers handing over a ticket in hopes of winning that JUMBO teddy bear….”Step Right Up, and try your luck”
Carnival games are one of the most favored part of the experience, therefore I really wanted to make that a prominent element of my dessert table. I came up with fun dessert interpretations of some of the most popular game attractions including:
Find the lucky duck push pops (mini vanilla cupcakes topped with a ducky topper) Ballon dart cupcakes (vanilla cupcakes with vintage balloon cluster topper); Win a fish Jello bowls (blue raspberry jello with a swedish fish inside; bowls from Michael’s craft store); and Ring Toss Lemonade (lemonade bottles with cute multi colored rings around their neck, displayed in a vintage crate)
Little carnies got to “take a prize” of vintage game capsules filled with candy, and labeled with a favor tag stating “You’re a Winner! Thank you for coming!”
Also, included on the table were treats representing some nostalgic ride attractions including:
Tilt A Whirly Pops (Whirly Pops); Funhouse Macarons (buttercream macarons decorated with multicolor sprinkles); & the Ball Pit (jumbo gumballs). And who could forget the classics! Good ole’ fashioned popcorn in vintage popcorn boxes, cotton candy, salt water taffy, and candy dots!
The super sweet Mika Beverly of PartyCreative on Etsy, made me the most amazing tissue paper and mylar garland. I was so impressed with it, as soon as I took it out of the box I knew that the garland and the birthday banner were the only two things I needed to make my backdrop POP, and boy did it work!
The vintage details and vivid colors of the printable party goods added the perfect touch of nostalgia that brings you back to the fun and excitement of Vintage Coney Island! Of “days gone by” filled with thrilling roller coaster rides, delicious carnival treats, sun drenched boardwalks, and carefree summer days!”
Re-create this party:
Styling, Party Printables and Photography- Cutie Putti Paperie Tissue Paper and Mylar Garland- Mika Beverly from Party Creative
Vintage Balloon Toppers- PistachioPaperie
Duck toppers- NY Cake Supply
Glitter Paper, mini fish bowls- Michael’s Crafts
Items used in this party that are available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Push Pop Containers Paper Straws Whirly Pops Popcorn Containers Rock Candy Salt Water Taffy Polka Dot Nut/Cupcake/Candy Cups Candy Scoops Lollipop Sticks Ribbon Apothecary Jars Gumballs
Come one, come all, and see this SPECTACULAR party! It’s a CIRCUS + CARNIVAL EXTRAVAGANZA submitted by Charlene Caal of Chakoda Design! Now if this party doesn’t blow you out of the water I don’t know what will! Absolutely amazing in every way! The ideas are incredible!
Charlene said- “I put this birthday party together for my son Tyler’s 3rd birthday. It was a Circus Carnival Extravaganza! It took me about a year to plan & collect my decor! It was so much fun and all of the guests were so excited. We served hot dogs, lemonade, cotton candy, peanuts, popcorn, snow cones, & some other really yummy treats.We had a friendly clown who performed a magic show and madeballoon animals for the kids. There was also a face painter who displayed her art beautifully on the kids faces. Everyone said they felt like they were really at the circus!”
Vendors and Credits:Cake- The Cake MamasPhotographer- HMP by Monique ReneeFacepainter- Jessica Daniele from Mia JoyaClown/Balloon animals- Ganal’s Amazing Magic Show (Dana the Clown)Candy Apples- My Fantastic Event
Party Styling and Planning- Chakoda Design
Items available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop:
Apothecary JarsCandySwirl LollipopsTicket RollsDirectional Carnival SignGumballsFace Painting Kits
Items available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop:
Apothecary JarsCandySwirl LollipopsTicket RollsDirectional Carnival SignGumballsFace Painting Kits
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