Kentucky Derby party

It all began when Campbell saw the Kentucky Derby on TV when he was just 2. Not exactly Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but he stared at the TV for hours, which for a 2 year old is a miracle. He begged for a horse party but I already had his Cookie Monster party planned for his 3rd birthday (which he loved by the way) but I promised him we would do a horse party for his 4th party.

Well, his request for a horse party became more specific over the year. He wanted a jockey party. Since I get all of my ideas from copying other people I had NOTHING! Then I thought about going with the Kentucky Derby theme since my husband is from Kentucky. I knew he would know more about it than me. In case you're clueless about the derby, I'll give you a quick run down.

Each jockey has a silk from a farm so this is our silk representing our "farm".

There wasn't much to get ideas from since all horse parties seem to be western so I just starting winging it.

These horses were my husbands when he was young. Good thing he's a hoarder (never thought I'd say that) because these have been well loved by Campbell and they made some great table decorations.

Campbell was decked out in his jockey costume that my in-laws found for him. Can you tell he was giddy with excitement about his party?

And here were the party favors. They were almost the death of me but I think they added a cute touch and we used them for a stick horse race later. Some of the poor guys looked like they had the mange or some kind of equine disease but the kids didn't seem to mind at all.

The ONE thing I did find was a printable poster for Pin the Jockey on the  horse from Hostess with the Mostess. Justin added Campbell's face to the jockey. It looked hilarious.

After that we had our own Kentucky Derby stick horse race.

There was some serious galloping and I think even one or two that were thrown from their horse. Guess I should have put blinders on those horses.

I found this tutorial for the cupcake stand on Pinterest. It involves soup cans! Hey sometimes you have to get creative for these type of things.

The cupcakes seemed to be loved and a few messes were made.

But probably my favorite part of the whole party is that all the girls wore their big derby hats. Is it bad that's my only reason for wanting to go see a real Kentucky Derby is to wear an obnoxious huge hat?

I say when it comes to hats, the bigger, the better.

For not having a plan and not much to go off of, I'd say the party was a hit, but I'm always so glad when they're done because they're a lot of work!

But to see him smile, I'd say it's worth all of it!