EJ Birthday Part 2

Kaya birthday cake. Topper is an ornament that will double as EJ's Chrismas ornament for this year. I like to kill two birds with one stone...

 On the Saturday after EJ's birthday we had a friend party. EJ picked a "Kaya" (or Native American) theme. I tried really, really hard to talk her into a "Princess" or Rainbow theme, but with no luck. That's OK, though, because I think it turned out rather well in spite of the non-traditional theme :) 

Look! This is what my mostly-put together living room looks like!

 I was kind of stumped on how to decorate for a Native American theme party until I had a burst of inspiration in the Dollar Store.  I decided that if Kaya celebrated birthdays, they would decorate with things in nature, so we went with a "fall" decoration theme. The added bonus is that I've just left them up so we look festive!

 These fluttery fall leaves are fun. I wish I had started on them earlier. They are just fabric leaves from Dollar Tree and I just got a needle and thread and strung them on the thread

 As the kids were arriving, they made beaded necklaces with card stock Native American "amulets" that they colored. It was a lot of fun. I also made their fancy Indian headbands (super-easy, ribbon, hot glue and feathers). I took some inspiration from cousin Sarah's birthday party and had them all pick an Indian name (Running Deer, Crescent Moon, etc.)  They thought that was a lot of fun.  After they made necklaces they ate some dinner- we had turkey tortilla pinwheels (one of EJ's favorites) baby carrots and ranch and apple slices. You know, just like real Native Americans ate...

Trail Mix and beef jerky prizes. What else would you have for a hunting and gathering treasure hunt?

After they ate we attempted to have some target practice with the tiny bows and arrows we made (fun project found here).  It was kind of a fail. We underestimated our ability to teach a variety of kids with questionable fine-motor skills how to shoot them. That's OK, though, because we quickly moved on to the other games. I looked online and found a couple of Native American games that seemed age-appropriate and fun.  Then we had a Hunt & Gather treasure hunt. 

Party guests. Aren't those feather headbands so freakin' cute? I love how they turned out!

 Next came presents and reading a Native American legend I picked up from the library.  I checked out a few picture books with legends, and EJ read them and picked the one she wanted me to read. I neglected to read it myself until the party. It was slightly violent and talked about slitting someones tongue, gouging out his eyes and etc.  Oh, did I mention nearly every one of the parents stayed and were sitting there listening, too? Fun times!

Then it was time for cupcakes and candle-blowing. I decided to keep the cake low-key this year and I'm glad, too. It is hard to find Native American party favors and stuff so I spent a lot of time making things for the party- little favor bags, headbands, bows and arrows.

EJ was thrilled with her party and I was just mostly exhausted :)  but she's worth it!  DMP and I were joking that it was probably the nerdiest kids birthday party ever, since most of the activities started with "Native Americans did such and so...