Yodelaheehoo! Brush the dust off those cowgirl boots and gather ’round for this rootin’ tootin’ Jessie the Cowgirl Themed Birthday {Toy Story Party} by Ashley Whitlow Photography and family! I am a big Toy Story fan, and I LOVE that this party focuses on our favorite lil’ cowgirl! I am obsessed with all the precious details –  the amigurumi Jessie doll, the adorable “Yard Sale” photo booth, the cute cow-print milk bottles, and those AMAZING handmade sock-puppet horses! It’s all just too darn cute!

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• S’mores Pops Displayed In A Mini Hay Barrel
• Potted Flowers, Painted Horses and Horseshoe Centerpieces
• Water The Horse and Lasso The Horse Games
• Party Favor “Loot”, Bandana Bunting Garlands & Jessie’s Lasso Candy

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Ashley…

For the past three years, my daughter’s birthday has been a Disney theme. This year we decided to use Jessie the cowgirl from Disney’s ToyStory! We repeatedly watched ToyStory, and made the decision to use yellow and red as the main colors because Jessie’s owner’s bedroom used those colors. Once we knew the colors, everything else fell into place. Our vision for the tables were draped with yellow tablecloths, adorned with red gingham squares, burlap, flowerpots decorated with ribbon and jute, spray painted horses, and horseshoes. We wanted it to be simple but we wanted our guests to feel cozy and at home. We purchased the ribbon, burlap, and flowerpots from our local craft store, Michaels. The fabric was purchased from a local fabric store, and the horses and horseshoes were purchased from yard sales and thrift stores!

We adorned the fences in the backyard with a hand cut, hand made banner made from yellow and red bandanas. My sister cut the triangles, and I stapled the triangles to jute rope. My mom used to own a horse as a little girl, so it was very near and dear to her heart that every kid take home a stick pony! She hand made and hand sewn the ponies using socks, felt, thread, yarn and jute rope. The supplies were purchased from Michaels and the wooden dowel rods were purchased from Home Depot. Along with wanting every child to take home a pony, she also wanted every child to have their own Jessie/Woody hat. She purchased the hats from the Dollar store, and added ribbon and yarn to create a replica of the real character’s hats! To make the hats even more special, she had them autographed by the Disney World characters themselves!

I designed my daughter’s invitations, game signs, food and place cards in Photoshop CC. Everything was printed from home! I wrapped cut out pieces of foam board in kraft paper, glued the main sign on top of it, and later they were hot glued to wooden dowel rods, stuck in the ground to be placed in front of the games. I also found and used a really rustic and old window to frame Alexis’ birthday photos!

I am a professional photographer, and being one means I want photos of the kids and guests! Our first back drop was purchased from a party store, hung on the garage, and placed in front was a large wooden horse. To make it feel more like a stable, we added hay bales that were purchased from our local “Norfolk Feed & Seed”. We wanted the second picture stop to be super fun! So, we made it into a photo booth! I purchased two light blue table cloths, printed out the exact ToyStory clouds and spray painted the clouds on to the table cloths. Next, we found our props here, printed them out and hot glued them to sticks! We loved the epic yard sale scene from the movie, so we thought it would be cute to create a yard sale box and have the kids stand it! Needless to say though, the kids were more interested in jumping in the pool then taking pictures so a group photo took place instead of individuals. While the kids were in the pool, us adults had fun with it :)

A food tent was set up in the middle of the yard with 3 tables. Each table was decorated accordingly. The left table sat 3 spray painted red picture frames with the Disney characters Woody, Jessie, and Woody and Jessie together. Each picture, the character wrote something special to Alexis! My dad and aunt spent hours in the kitchen cooking everyone a southern meal! After everyone ate, we played games such as Lasso the horse, Water the horse, Ring Toss, Pin the tail on Bullseye, There’s a snake in my boot, and Stick Pony race. The little rocking horse was found from a thrift store, the buckets were purchased from the dollar store, the pin the tail was purchased from a party store, and the crate was purchased from a yard sale and the basket was purchased from Michaels. The kids really had a great time! Their favorite game was stick pony race, where each child had to race their parent around the yard :) It was fun, and funny to watch! The ring toss game was another DIY project. The vintage coke bottles/crate were purchased from a yard sale. I spray painted the bottles white, and then hand painted cow spots onto each bottle. The rope name was also a diy project that Alexis’ dad created himself!

Once the games were played, it was cake/dessert/candy time! My sister made that beautiful cake! My friend Stephanie from Stephs’spirations baked delicious home made cookies and created Jessie favor bags!

We couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.. and it’s our hopes that you too will come to love our little girl’s Jessie themed birthday party and that it can provide your readers with inspiration for their next party!