Trash Truck Birthday Party

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Sam turned five at the end of November last year.  It has been a few months and I still can’t believe it!  He completely adores our awesome trash men and runs to the door to say hello whenever they drive past.  They’re so cool about it, saying hi and honking their horn for him every single time.  He knew exactly what he wanted his party theme to be this year.  A trash truck birthday party.  I’ll post photos first and link to the sources at the end of the post, along with his yearly birthday interview.

Invitations

I found the cutest trash truck invitations through Delight Paperie.  She also had a full up party set you can download to make things easy and cohesive.

Party Decor

Honestly, I had no idea how I was going to decorate for this party until inspiration struck while going through the mail.  We get so many newspaper style advertisements.  Instead of tossing them I collected a few and used them to create trash garland streamers.  In addition to the trash streamers, I made some gathered green streamers.  You can check out my tutorial on how to make them here.

The newspaper ads were cut into strips and then ran through the sewing machine to create the garland.  Love the color and texture they add!

Cupcakes

For a larger crowd of younger kids, it’s much easier on everyone if you don’t have to cut up a cake.  We went with Sam’s favorite cupcakes, white cake and plain buttercream frosting for the birthday treat.  To go with the trash theme they were served in tiny metal cans lined with newspaper ads.  Quick and easy to pass around!

Party Games

We had three activities planned along with a rented bounce house.  The first activity was a tin can toss followed by a trash toss, which was a much bigger hit with the kids than I imagined.  We started off by having them try to toss the trash (wadded up newspaper ads) into the can from a distance.  But, what they ended up LOVING was simply having the trash tossed over the lawn and then running around to pick it up as fast they could.  If only mine were as excited about picking up their toys 😉

DIY Piñata

When I first asked Sam what he to do for his party, all he said he wanted was to have a trash truck piñata.  I had to deliver.  This was a DIY made from used cardboard boxes, packing and/or duct tape, crepe paper streamers, fringe scissors and scrapbook paper.  It truly isn’t as hard to put together as you would think.  The most time consuming is gluing on the strips of crepe streamer.

Party favors

Guest were sent home with trash bags (doggie trash bags) containing Trashy Trail Mix and sidewalk chalk.  For the trail mix we combined just about anything that sounded yummy.  Pretzels, vanilla Chex, caramel popcorn, dried blueberries, banana chips, yogurt covered raisins, sour gummy worms, and candy corn.  Seriously, anything works!

Birthday Interview

This is my favorite part because I love looking back on past years’ and seeing how his answers have changed or even stayed the same.  It’s never too late to start this birthday tradition!

  1. Favorite color?  Green
  2. Favorite toy?  Trains
  3. Favorite fruit?  Bananas
  4. Favorite TV show?  Mighty Machines, Sarah & Duck, and Tayo the Little Bus
  5. Favorite breakfast?  Waffles
  6. Favorite lunch?  Peanut butter and Chocolate (Nutella) sandwich
  7. Favorite outfit?  T-shirt and shorts (His too small on him Never Give Up shirt and navy blue gym shorts.  Think crop top and short shorts)
  8. Favorite game?  Pie Face
  9. Favorite snack?  Goldfish
  10. Favorite animal?  Dogs
  11. Favorite song?  I Can Make Your Hands Clap by Fitz and the Tantrums
  12. Favorite book?  Dream Train
  13. Favorite cereal?  Cinnamon Toast Crunch
  14. Favorite thing to do outside?  Ride my bike and Jeep
  15. Favorite drink?  Apple juice
  16. Favorite holiday?  Christmas
  17. Favorite thing to take to bed?  Snuggle Puppy
  18. Who is your best friend?  Elise
  19. What do you want to eat for your birthday dinner?  My favorite Mexican place with the yummy chicken
  20. What do you want to be when you grow up?  A train engineer, to fly planes, and a police officer

Party Sources:

trash truck invitations // door sign // metal trash can // green balloons // gold number balloon // gathered streamer tutorial // metal buckets // white cake stand // wooden forks // black and white table cloth // black favor bags // black and white twine // favor tags // toy trash truck // no. 5 photo backdrop

Shop the Party:

For more birthday inspiration, check out his past parties!

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Comments

Newest
  1. Lisa Avatar

    Shelley you are an amazing momma!! A homemade pinata??? That looks a million times better than a store bought one?? That garland?????????? The treat bags??? WHAT. Awesome, so fun for both a crafty momma and a little boy! Happy new year my creative friend!!!!!

    1. Shelley Avatar
      Shelley

      And that homemade piñata was a million times cheaper than a store bought one! It’s insane how much they cost!! Thanks so much, Lisa, and Happy New Year to you too!

  2. cassie bustamante Avatar

    you throw the best parties ever!!! i am soooo freaking impressed! what lucky lucky kiddos!

    1. Shelley Avatar
      Shelley

      Thanks, Cassie! They get so excited about coming up with ideas and planning that I have a hard time saying no!

  3. Tobi Avatar
    Tobi

    Love everything about this!! You throw one FAB party!! I want to make that yummy trash mix!! Thank you for sharing! Happy Birthday Sam!!

    1. Shelley Avatar
      Shelley

      Sam was helping me put together the trail mix and we could not stop eating it!! He was all, “Mom! It’s SOOO GOOOOOD!!!!” Can you believe how big he is getting?! I hope all is well with you!

Meet Shelley

Hi, I’m Shelley! My belief is that with a little creativity and elbow grease, you can make your home look like a million bucks without spending it.

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