I'm a fan of simple, thoughtful birthday parties, especially ones that pay attention to detail. A great kids party doesn't need to be elaborate, or cost a ton of money, or require renting out the local bounce house. I think this baseball party, thrown by my good friend Emily for her son Thomas, proves just that.
The invitations were cardstock circles printed with the party details and then "stitched" with wax twine to form a baseball. A second card shows a map to the baseball diamond where the party was held.
The kids lined up in the infield for pre-party warm ups, coached by Thomas' dad. Emily had put together a CD with baseball songs including The Star Bangled Banner, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and We Are the Champions. They stretched, did some jumping jacks and took a few laps around the field. My favorite part was when all the kids took turns batting and the dads caught balls and tagged the runners as they ran around the bases. Games included a water balloon toss and a relay race around the baseball diamond.
The place settings were tan cardstock cut in the shape of home plate, and each child got their own box of Cracker Jacks. Dinner included submarine style sandwiches (on Emily's homemade french bread), watermelon and grapes, fresh veggies, and chips and salsa.
Cupcakes were made with white frosting and red icing stitches and Emily made little pennant cupcake toppers. (You can find some great vintage pennants online, like these.)
Favors were cellophane bags filled with baseball cards and old fashioned candies like Tootsie Rolls and Necco wafers. My children had never seen baseball cards before and spent the next week trading players back and forth trying to get more "red guys" (they know we root for the Angels!)
Happy Birthday Thomas! And well done Emily!