All Aboard!! The 3rd Birthday Express is Here!

My oldest turned 3 last week and it still amazes me that I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old.  They are no longer babies and part of me is very sad about that.  Despite my melancholy, we had to celebrate Sammy's big day in a big way and there is nothing more exciting to a 3 year old boy then trains, lots and lots of trains!  My inspirations for this party came directly from pinterest and none of these crafts were difficult at all, I promise.

I started out with a fantastic template from Paper and Cake for the banner, signs, etc.   I got this on sale for only $10!  I never used anything from Paper and Cake before and I loved it.  I was really easy to use - I just put in Sammy's name where I wanted it and printed it out.  I didn't use all of the ideas that came from packet, but for only $10, it was worth it to me.  Here is an idea of what I did use to decorate. Please ignore my spelling mistake on All Aboard - can't believe I did that and that no one told me until I posted a few pictures on Facebook and an old college friend broke the news to me.  :(

Since Sammy and his buddies are pretty active I knew I had to have an "action" activity.  I started with just having his train table in the family room instead of his room and then I got inspired....... this is what I ended up with:

I made 12 cardboard trains for the kids to play with and I have to say they were really easy to make, just a little time consuming. 

To make them I started with a diaper box or a wine box, either worked out fine.  I sprayed painted them and let dry really well.  I cut off the flaps of the box on the bottom and then cut a hole out in at the top of the box.  I didn't remove the entire top of the box so that I had a place to put the smoke stack.  The smoke stake is a canister of oatmeal, too bad I don't eat oatmeal......I attached the smoke stack with a hot glue gun and a paper fastener.  To strap it onto the kids, I just used ribbon and paper fasteners.  I found the template for Percy's face here.  For some of the trains I added a little extra dimension with a cereal box on the front and just used the glue gun to attach it.  To decorate I used electrical tape and colored duct tape.  In the beginning of this project I was really elaborate with my decorating, that waned after about 5 trains and the duct tape won out in terms of ease and patience, but it still looked great.  I also found this website that had tons of Thomas trains that gave me lots of ideas and also reminded me that I am only a weekend crafter and not nearly as serious as some people!

As you can tell, the kids were adorable in their trains, but I have to say they didn't gravitate to them like I thought they would.  The train table was a much bigger hit as well as our other everyday toys.  But each child was sent home with their train and a red bandana and an engineers hat and many moms have told me they have been a hit at home.  But isn't it so adorable!  I wish I could have gotten a picture of everyone with their trains on, but it just wasn't going to happen.  Unfortunately, a November birthday means lots of stuffy noses and coughs, including my own little guy who barely worn his James train that day.

Asher looked fantastic as Thomas

In addition to the trains, my husband became a saint for this party.  He built us the greatest train crossing with an arm on a hinge so it would go up and down and he also put a track out on the floor of the house.  He hated doing this and found it totally unnecessary, but he still did it for me, what a tropper.

Here are some other things I used to decorate for the party.  Vintage trains across the mantle, plastic shoe boxes covered with construction paper to look like a train to hold snacks for the party,and anything else I could find.

All and all it was a great party and the kids had fun. If your little one loves trains, I'd really suggest making one of these cardboard trains. So easy to do and something they can really have a lot of fun with too.

Oops, almost forgot --- for the babies, I made little tiny trains to wear with the same concept in mind. I just used wipes boxes and only put a face and straps on them.

The cake is a post for another day. So stay tuned.....