Posted by Nicole Carney on Oct 22, 2013 in Birthday Theme Parties | 0 comments

Our oldest bug recently turned 4, and when I asked M what he wanted to do for his party, he replied with an emphatic ‘bouncy house!’, so we decided to throw him a carnival themed party. We rented gym space at Cardel Place, complete with a HUGE bouncy house and gym equipment. When we first walked into the gym, M’s whole face lit up at the sight of the bouncy house; combine that with having his family and friends there to celebrate with him, and I knew instantly this was going to be a party he’d remember!

Party Props

For M’s party I found these fun, free, printable party props from Accent the Party, and used them to get some silly shots of our guests. I also went into my Halloween bin and found a clown wig, some goofy glasses, feather boas, etc. to add to the photo booth as well.

Face Painting

I set up an area for the kids to do some face painting.

Little B and his cousin B had a great time decorating one another!

Carnival Food

We had lots and lots of yummy carnival food at M’s party too:

I made these caramel apple bites by using a melon baller and sticking a candy stick (cut in half) into each one. Then I dipped each apple bite into some melted chocolate and let them harden, before wrapping them in a caramel wrapper (I cut each wrapper into quarters) and rolling them in some colourful sprinkles.

This is the first time I made homemade, baked sugar donuts, but it won’t be my last! I used this recipe from Baker Bettie, and it is really delicious. I altered it slightly by adding a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon to the donut batter.

Crackers, Cheese, Pepperoni Sticks, and (of course) Corn Dogs

Cheese and Caramel Popcorn (and proof there were veggies too if you look to the top left!!)

Animal Crackers, Salt Water Taffy, Candy Sticks, and Caramels

Popcorn Cupcakes

I knew M would love these cupcakes because they are LOADED with mini marshmallows. I used these great printable, popcorn cupcake wrappers courtesy of Lemon Squeezy.

Invites and Water Bottle Labels

I found these free carnival printables from Printabelle at Catch My Party. I used the invitations and glued them to a popcorn bag for the guests that required a mailed invite, and I used the water bottle labels as well.

Loot Bags

For take-home gifts I stuffed some candy sticks, caramels, salt-water taffy, goofy moustache glasses, a kazoo, and a punching balloon into the popcorn bags.