With summer in full swing, fairs are popping up all over the place (including San Diego)! For her son’s first birthday, Jeannie Do decided there was no better way to celebrate her little man than to create a full on Rustic Barnyard County Fair First Birthday Party including classic fair food & games! I love the country americana feel, with cow & gingham prints and plenty of red, white & blue decor. And of course, no county fair would be complete without some bbq and funnel cake — gotta love the tastes of summer :).

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• Fresh fruit desserts like a strawberry trifle, mini blueberry cheesecakes & mini fruit tarts
• Pinwheels in Coke bottles & wooden ferris wheel centerpieces + a cupcake ferris wheel with bunting
• Balloon animal petting zoo, caricature artist & a carousel horse bounce house
• Coke bottle ring toss, rubber ducky fishing & balloon darts + a prize table to redeem your tickets

PARTY DETAILS as told by Jeannie…

Planning my son’s 1st birthday party was so much fun! I knew I wanted to do a County Fair theme from the start. For food, we had a BBQ buffet and a funnel cake truck to go with the theme. I created an area for the kids to sit and eat in a “petting zoo” filled with walking balloon animals and a DIY cardboard barn made from a tall wardrobe box from my local home improvement store. The kids loved it!

The adult tables surrounded the room and were covered with burlap, red polka dot runners, fresh flowers in mason jars, DIY pinwheels, wood ferris wheels and berry baskets. Outside, there were various carnival games the kids could play to win tickets. With those tickets, they were able to select prizes from the prize table.

Other entertainment included a magician, balloon artist, caricature artist, carousel theme bouncer and enclosed photo booth. All signage was DIY by downloading a free chalkboard background and chalkboard fonts from the internet.