My daughter is OBSESSED with horses at the moment. Painfully obsessed. We have zero equestrian background but after attending a horse camp this summer she fell head over heels in love. Lucky us!
I have mixed feelings about this. I think they are beautiful animals and I love to ride leisurely while on the beach or trekking through the forest on a tour. The thought of riding often does appeal to me, but that just hasn’t ever been part of our lives. My oldest has some anxiety issues and to see how it all instantly melts away when she is working with these animals is something to behold. I’m in awe over it actually. However, it just may be the most expensive hobby around.
It was no surprise to me that she wanted her 8th birthday party to be horse themed. We found a great stable in the area that offers birthday parties and planned a get together for 15 of her friends.
I’m all about the details when it comes to parties!
First off, we had to find the perfect invitations! I was able to find the perfect design at Zazzle! Be sure to google search for a coupon code because you are almost always able to find one!
After the invitations came the fun part! Planning all the fun details. Clearly, the highlight of the party was going to be the riding. However, I had to find ways to occupy the rest of the kids while two were riding.
I found a ton of printable word searches and crossword puzzles here! I printed these out and was sure to pack some pencils. This was super easy and occupied them for a few minutes.
I found some plain wooden horseshoes for decorating as well as some paintable pony kits on Amazon.
I brought along some markers and glitter glue for the horseshoes. I decided to package all of these things up in individual boxes for each girl.
I set these up around the boxes around the room and put the decoration materials for the horseshoes on a separate table.
Then for the favors! I loved the idea of each child getting a little stuffed pony to take home so we did an “adopt” a horse theme. Amazon is my go to and I found these great stuffed horses that came four per pack and all just slightly different. I found this great Etsy shop that had printable signs and horse adoption certificates! Printed them out and done! Love when things can be easy!
I decided to be ambitious, mostly because I wanted to wrap something in these cute pink bandanas to go with the theme. I decided to make caramel apples. Heres my thought on that… just buy them! I mean they tasted great but they were a pain in the but and a total mess. Just my opinion. I’ll definitely try them again at some point, but phew, mess is an understatement. I found, yet another great Etsy Shop, and printed these cute tags to tie on the apples with some twine.
Oh, how could I forget the cake. I am one of those people who just have to try to make things myself. So, I attempted fondant for the first time. It looked fairly good initially, but by the next morning had sort of started to slump. The kids didn’t care though!
I did make some cupcakes the morning of the party, because I was sort of afraid the cake wouldn’t make it there in one piece. Those were cute before they got dumped on the ground! They were simple chocolate cupcakes, frosted, and then I put a chocolate horseshoe on the top!
All in all, I think it turned out great. The kids had so much fun. I had music playing in the background and the setting was fantastic.
I definitely have to thank Baker Creek Farm for a great party! The viewing room was great for the kids and parents, and the instructors with the girls riding were superb. I would highly recommend this venue! The stables were beautiful too!