Train Themed 1st Birthday Party DIY

How I love throwing theme parties, but terrible about taking pictures during parties!  For my son's first birthday, we invited a few neighbors and close friends over to celebrate his big day.  If you need inspiration for DIY projects for train parties, look no further!


The invites were created from an artist on Etsy. It was a PDF download and then I took it to Office Max to have printed on glossy card stock.  

I purchased a few train plates to help with the theme but then all other decor was pretty much DIY (except for balloons of course!)

All Aboard!  Hobby Lobby sold the black cardboard containers in their decoration aisle.  I cut out red wheels from card stock and glued to a thicker piece of cardboard and hot glued onto the containers.  This made the wheels sturdy enough to hold chips in each container.   The engine was created entirely of glue and card stock.  I eye balled everything for size and adjusted as necessary. 

A cute little banner was made out of stationary paper from Hobby Lobby and the letters were created from card stock.  I made two tissue paper pom poms to hide the tape on the wall  Finally, I made two rail road signs, one for the front door and the second display by the table. 

Instead of cake, I went the cookie route.  I made sugar cookies and piped royal icing.
Train cookie cutter and the number one were purchased from Amazon.  

DIY Valentine Mantel Decor

DIY time at my house!  I spruced up my mantel with some pink and red DIY decor that was inexpensive to do!

First off, I created a burlap banner (my go-to).  I cut triangles out of cream burlap and painted red hearts in the middle.  Then I threaded a red ribbon through all of them.  Didn't take long at all and a burlap banner always looks lovely. 

Next, I created a heart with felt, cardboard, hot glue and scissors.  I cut the cardboard into the size my heart desired and then cut a lot of felt circles.  Next, I folded each circle in half & then in half again.  Cut the bottom off (to make it flat for the glue), dab on some hot glue and voila!

Red candlesticks? Yep.  I had some old black ones laying around that I've been meaning to send to Goodwill for awhile.  So I painted them red.  Not to shabby huh?

What's in the pitcher?  A tree branch with hearts glued to it!

Last touch, I added a picture of my little valentines and glued the picture onto glitter card stock paper. 

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!