Thanks guys! I couldn't remember! I thought I should post it here to inspire you lot, since most of it was DIY!

Since we don't celebrate birthdays, I thought I would prove to anyone you don't really need a good reason to throw a party! My parents always threw us parties, and I'm a sucker fo a theme party, so we chose Vincent's first party to be Cowboy + Indian's themed. It surprised a few of my mama friends, since they are from the US and we are Australian. I guess it'd be like them having an Aboriginal and White Settlers party! Anyway, to me, a Cowboy's + Indian's theme was perfect!

The invites looked like this::
 
((argh i can't find the damn picture! basically it said "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS RUFFIAN?" with a photo of the invitee under it. The party details were under that))


I used a photo of each person invited and photoshopped it ((this was before I discovered picnik.com!)) to look sepia and made them into mini wanted posters! Luckily, when the Monster was 5 months old we went to the Sunshine coast with all of Tim's family. For fun we got old west photos done! Even though the lady was a bit like a nazi, we still had a blast! So I used the photos of Tim's family in the wanted invites!

I hung up the top half of these invites on the brick wall outside so everyone else could see what the other guests invites looked like!







I made his little western shirt from gingham and did a little red ric-rac swirl on the pocket. I also made his little cowprint vest from white knit fabric and then stitched black cow-splots over it. You can barely see his pants in this one, but somehow he wet through them so we had to change him before the party even started! I used an old shirt of Tim's I had already cut up. I made a 'fringe' by cutting a long wide rectangle of fabric, then cutting every 2cm into it ((leaving about 1-2cm on the other side so I was cutting the strip in half)). Then I sewed the uncut side into the side seams of the pants. Turn them the right way out and hey-presto! Cowboy Pants!

I did a fringe across the back of Tim's waistcoat I whipped up. I used thin brown cotton ((because it's not like he'd be wearing this vest more than once!))((unless someone else throws a cowboy + indian's party!))((hint hint!)) and traced out a vest pattern based on the button up shirt he was wearing underneath. I made sure to make the armholes deeper so it would sit better over the shirt.

I threw some checkered fabric over one table as a table cloth! The green bucket in the middle is 'Cactus Juice' punch - lime cordial, lemonade and sherbet! YUMMY. SWEET. ADDICTIVE.


Also, that is a wig.


That house behind him is their house too! We're pretty lucky. My parents own the house we are in, and we even got married in this house too ((before we lived here!)) and even though alot of you might me mortified by having your parents so close, it is working out really well for us. the Monster loves it. Now he can walk he toddles down there any second I leave the back door open!



I had a bandanna for every single person to wear around their necks. I already owned them all. Because I am awesome!



ME! In a wig :) Laughing my head off in front of the teepee Tim + I made out of our clothesline folded-down and a whole heap of dowel I found in Dad's shed. We sticky-taped and pegged big pieces of fabric I had in my studio to it, and it looked ok! haha.


The wig was my mum's, she bought it ages ago from a $2 store for not much at all. I put it into plaits and made myself a little headband by sewing a length of braid together and then just tucking some turkey feathers I bought from Spotlight to it. My Mother In Law rocked up with a bag of chook feathers which would have looked better, but I stuck with my soft turkey feathers! The shirt is a beige shirt of my mum's I found in her closet :) ((see, it is HANDY having themlive so close!)). The skirt is a pair of pants mum gave me to cut up. I just cut off the legs, unpicked the crotch and made it into a skirt. I snipped a firnge into it and sewed a braid I had in my embellishments box around the bottom! I made a little belt from scraps of the pants and then tied some feathers to the end! My mocassins I bought when I was on holiday for about $8. They are so damn cute and I never get a chance to wear them!

I used mum's lipstick on my cheeks :) I am laughing with my hand over my mouth because I couldn't remember what the word was that Indians' said. I think I said "Why" and I meant "How".

WOW. SO MUCH POLITICAL INCORRECTNESS. haha.

Dad has a wardrobe malfunction. This malfunction scarred both my sister and my husband. I missed it. Yey!


The shed behind dad is one he built when they were living in the house we are in now. He converted half of it into a soundproofed room for when I moved back home for a few months. Now it's my studio! Tim likes that all my sewing gear is out of the house ((well, not any more since it's too cold down there I moved my machines back into the house!)).

With my son's best friend The Genius! He came as a little Indian as well! You have to click the picture to see the cuteness!


His clever mummy made his outfit, and she doesn't even sew! She used felt for the vest, got the pants from an op-shop. The sandals were a gift from someone and she never had an excuse to put them on him. The shirt is just a plain t-shirt. She got matchsticks and arranged them onto some contact paper, then stuck it to his shirt as a chest-plate! DID I MENTION SHE IS CLEVER? His little headband is some braid with a feather tucked into it. She also made him an arrow and a quiver! ((I'll try to get some photos of that, I'm unsure that I have any!))



She got right into the spirit of things!

Tim's father has the whip, Tim's grandfather in the green jumper. Tim's oldest brother Rob in the sunglasses. He had a really really bad toothache that day and was not a very happy little guy :(



We decorated the table with toy snakes and I raided Tim's toys when I was at his parents' and found lots of little plastic cowboys and indians! We renamed all the food into 'western' sounding food.My sister and I made little cardboard cactii to hold the food signs.


The gang! It was just mine and Tim's family, and my friend Sophie + baby Genius


My sister-and-brother-in-laws!

I used two pieces of cardboard that were used for flatpacking something. I stapled them together, then used zipties ((dad's idea!)) to hold the join together. I pencilled out my design and used really really cheap and crappy paints to paint it up! I plan on recovering it and using it for every party we have!

the Monster + his great-grand-daddy!

My damn cute sister and her fella! ((yeh that moustache is drawn on!))


Me + Tim. I think I'm a cute cactus with those plaits!

Little bubba didn;t wanna wear the wig...


the Monster passed out about 15 minutes into the party. His Uncle Adam was holding him and he just fell asleep! He didn't normally do that!


 Some guests had some fun with the plastic figures!



I don't really know... Tim is holding some tongs? haha.

Chow time! We had a bbq!

I didn't have enough cutlery ((whoops!)) but luckily I knew some really nice neighbours over the back that loaned me theirs... ((har har))

The cake
So since this wasn't a birthday party, I was still sensitive to the way that Heather raised her kids. A big tradition was making a cake from those Woman's Weekly cake books for every child each birthday. Well I decided we were going to continue that tradition! I have decided I want at LEAST 3 parties a year ((hopefully 4)) because I love parties, I like playing dress-ups and it's a great chance to see all the family together. WIN WIN!

I bought some 'cake' mix. I actually chose biscuit mix because I was like, "Cookies are yummier than cake!" Totally didn't even think about the height factor. After baking, the 'cake' was about 2cm high! ARGH! I felt like the biggest retard, but as it was during easter, everything was SHUT and no one sold cakemix! So I had to just pretend that I had intended to decorate a GIANT COOKIE.

Desicated coconut on top was coloured for grass and dirt. Chocolate wafer fingers were snapped in half to make a fence around the 'corral'

There is water on the camera because some 'kids' IE Tim + his brothers, had a water fight and were getting us all!

Games included a Knock Em Down with a water gun! It was too hard with the cups full of water, so I emptied them and it was MUCH easier and funner!

Egg and Spoon Race


Yep, that is 80-something Deedy running!

Lol my dad is so Australian.

I double dared Tim to start drinking Cactus Juice!


Woah look at my hair! I got scalped!


better view of the cake!


That was fun looking at all those photos again! It was small, but we had a GREAT time! I'm in the process of planning another party now! Stay tuned!