Fridays with Fin :: Vintage Train Birthday Party

Like most 3 year old boys, Fin is obsessed with trains! I knew I was going to have a train themed party during Fin's 2nd birthday party when the obsession became most obvious {while opening his gifts and saying "coo coo" over and over!}. The boy loves his "coo coos" {still doesn't have that cha sound down!} So, what's a mama to do! Yeah yeah, he loves his Thomas, like the rest of 'em, but he really loves any locomotive that makes a chugga chugga sound! So, I came up with a vintage train themed party. Starting with the invites...

Each guest received a Ticket to ride the Finley Express! With spaces to punch the month and day, each guest found when the Train was boarding, err, the party was starting! An interactive Ticket made guest's excited for a fun and nostalgic Train party experience! Check out the printable Vintage Train Party Ticket Invite, with matching envelope wrap, in my etsy shop!

Let the party begin! Take a look at the fun entrance that awaited guests! A set of train tracks leading up to the front door, with kid-size Railroad Crossing signs was a sure hit! A Printable Banner on the door helped tie in all the matching decorations that awaited guests inside.

Here's my little birthday boy seeing the tracks for the first time! Pure joy! And, check out his custom designed t-shirt, that I had printed... I designed the front and back to match all the other party designs. How cute is Fin with his Railroad Engineer's Handkerchief! Each little guest got their very own in their favor bag!

Red balloons, red & white polkadot paper, red bandanas and train tracks dressed up our house nicely for this train themed party...

Each lil' Finley-Express-Passenger received a mini kraft bag filled with Railroad Essentials... a red bandana, wooden train whistle and a custom-wrapped box of crayons. Each bag was labeled with a personalized name tag, and sat nicely in front of a personalized printable banner!

Delicious, individually packaged and custom-labeled train cookies were the perfect party favor for guests both young and old! Fin's grandma {my mama} was the master behind these fabulous, and perfectly matching, "coo coo" cookies!

Every detail, down to the water and juice boxes, tied into the look of the party! With custom-designed paper wraps, I was able to spice up something simple, like a bottle of water, and make it just a little more! And yes, the water did need to be labeled with a food label tent card! One might not know its water! ;) {I think every guest made a joke about that!}

We had a delicious cake with a frosting-painted locomotive on top! A mini-pennant banner topped it off...

Aren't these printable mini-flags fun, wrapped around nostalgic red & white striped straws! Just another easy, DIY detail!

Here's a final look at the "Hydration Station"! Printable party tags, signs, wraps & labels tie in all the details.

Food label tent cards are a great way of bringing the theme of the party throughout, down to the food! I had so much fun coming up with fun, train-themed lingo for each label... Pumping Pistons Popcorn, Fizzling Fireboxes Fruit, Bubbling Boilers Boilers Birthday cake, to name a few!

Here's my cutie and his side kick {and cousin}, Landon! They had SO much fun playing with the train set that dressed up the party table!

This birthday boy had such a special weekend filled with TWO parties! Here he is blowing out the candles on two separate cakes!

And here is our happy Choo Choo Partied-out family! Navy soaked up every minute of her big brother's BIG day!

Here's the party in action!

And I think its tradition, now, to end a Fridays with Fin with a snap of Fin's cutie sister, Navy! She was all dolled up and was, by far, the cutest passenger aboard the Finley Express!

Create your own Vintage Train Themed Birthday Party! Start with these printable Train Ticket Invitations...

Decorate for the party with these matching Vintage Train Party Printables...