Army Party

Every year I start to get anxiety the first of September. It always hits right after the kids start back to school. The cause of my stress? 3 birthdays in 2 days! My oldest son was born 18 years ago on my husband's birthday. Okay so not uncommon. However, then 2 years later my next son was born the day after their birthday! ugh.  Not to mention MINE is a week later. But really, by that point we are pretty "birthdayed" out.
This year we celebrated BIG milestone birthdays, a 16 and an 18. When they were little, we had fun with a different theme each year. One year it was a farm party (yes we rented a pony...so worth it.) that was followed by a Star Wars, Art Party, Carnival, a few Pirate parties, and even a Halloween theme thrown in. I struggled with ideas for teenage appropriate themes this year. I wanted It to be special and memorable because this is my oldest son's last year living at home. So, I finally settled on an Army/Camouflage party. Note to self..there is NOTHING on the web for teenage boys that is remotely do-able. So here's ONE.

For the decor and party favors I picked up some dog tags, parachute guys, army men amd temporary tattoos. They were a big hit even with the girls.

I originally bought some paper camo tablecloths (for easy clean up) but when I put them on the table they were too cheap looking. So I raided my fabric stash and found a large (2-3 yd) peice of cotton camo fabric. It worked perfectly and I just threw it in the wash after! I added a few flags and red, white and blue accents for variety.

                        I snuck in a few vintage props and some Mexican Coca Cola.

 The menu was simple:
Shredded chicken sandwiches with homemade buns
Bread sticks with Marinara dipping sauce
Chocolate Cake Pops
White Chocolate dipped Marshmallows
Fruit platter
Chips and Candy for the Movie

I didn't overdo it on decorations because I knew my boys would think it was too girly. One thing I did have fun with was Crepe Paper Fringe.

Here's what I did:

I chose three colors to look "camo" ish. Cream, green and brown. Each package was 20"x7.5 ft and I sewed 2 of each color end on end for a long piece that I could drape.

I folded once long ways and once again then sewed a seam up the middle.

Use scissors to cut the "fringe" but do not cut past the sewn seam!

Fluff it up a bit and drape it how you like.

I spent $1.75 on each package and I bought 6, so roughly $11.00 with tax and it was a big impact decoration.

The Boys had a great time with their friends and told me later it was just like the big birthday bashes I used to have when they were little. AWW what more could a mom ask for?
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