Lincoln's Cowboys & Indians Party!

Can't believe our little buckaroo, Lincoln, is five! 

(I repeat, my BABY is 5! Oh help me Rhondas! :)

Our boy plays Indian Chief, Cowboys and/or Davy Crockett almost every day... 

So naturally, we decided on a Cowboys and Indians party! 

This was a left-over piece of wood we found in the barn. I thought it made a great western-style giant letter "L" in honor of the birthday boy, Lincoln. I carried it out to the driveway as an easy way for guests to find the party.

When guests arrived, they got to choose a cowboy or cowgirl hat 

or an indian headdress to wear for the party and to take home.

We purchased this wood sawhorse from Home Depot for <$20 and added a horse head from scrap wood we had on hand. Then I added some yarn for the horse mane and tail. I wrapped a hoola-hoop in twine and tied a rope to it for the lasso. 

This was a hit with the kids!

Our oldest son enjoyed showing the younger kids how to shoot the bows and arrows (purchased on Etsy). For safety and for a target, they shot into a bale of straw.

I bought a few snakes from the Dollar Tree for the kids to toss into the basket.

Sack race - need I say more? : )

One of my favorite pictures of the day - the kids at play in an old-fashioned game of cowboys and indians. We made the tipi from a canvas drop cloth and wood rods. 

You can find a Tipi tutorial here.

The kids table was set with blue enamelware and miniature tipis made from party hats and canvas. 

The mini tipi tutorial is here.

I used a couple of real mini cacti for an authentic touch. : )

Our neighbor brought her horse, Jake, for the kiddos to ride. SO fun!

My first ride in our arena (I could get used to this! ; )

There were a few off-and-on showers, so this faux campfire (made from red and yellow poster board and real logs) was the stand-in on our back covered porch.

I made the totem pole from two old wood crates I had. The wings were cut out of moving boxes.

Lincoln got a sneak-peek at his birthday cake and asked for the piece with the rattlesnake (that's one brave cowboy!).

We used bandanas as napkins to wrap the silverware. Menu: Hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, corn-on-the-cob, watermelon, potato chips, individual mugs of macaroni and cheese, smore marshmallow pops, cake and ice cream.

I found the toy box covered wagon on Craigslist.

One of the favorites for the big and little kids was the gold panning. We filled a plastic pool with 2 of the 50-lb bags of play sand from Home Depot ($4 ea.). My mom had spray painted a few hundred small rocks (gravel size) gold. They were buried in the sand before we added a few inches of water. The kids used sand sifters (I bought at the Dollar Tree) and collected their "gold" in plastic bags.

We could hardly get the littles to stop panning! 

If you're having a western themed kids party… this is a MUST!

Before leaving, the guests got to visit the Trading Post and fill their bag with prizes.

 Happy Birthday to our little make-believe cowboy... 

And indian! 


Man, oh man, do we love you! 

So grateful that you are "The King Of OUR Wild Frontier!"

xo