Sound off! 1…2…3…4… Liam is five! Mommy and owner of Michelle’s Party Plan-It setup “Liam’s Boot Camp” – a.k.a. one AMAZING Patriotic Army Party – for her little military man!

Stellar, rugged decorations covered the entire house – from Sarge’s Surplus Hut and an equipment station (with marshmallow shooters, helmets & binoculars!) to the camouflage covered lunch tables. This party is a BLAST to look at… so, lace up those combat boots because I’m going in! 

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• Army barracks dessert table backdrop, fabric camouflage garland & ammo crate risers
• Marshmallow shooters from Backwoods Toys and mini marshmallow “ammo” packets
• Grenade cake pops + “Hope you had a blast!” plush grenade favors
• Cammo cake with military figurine accents and fondant dog tags by [Desi]gn Cakes & Cupcakes
• “Liam” stencil painted mason jars and “U.S. Army Field Ration” chocolate bar wrappers
• “Liberty” banner + American flag backdrop and cookies from Creating Awesomnessity
• Creative “Thank you for completing the mission with me” custom crayon roll favors

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Michelle…

We recently celebrated my youngest son’s birthday with an Army themed party and boy, was it a blast! With a DIY backdrop and authentic military gear (from my Uncle and Grandfather) I transformed our living and dining room into an Army Barrack for our guests.

A serious amount of DIY action took place to put this party together. Starting with the massive backdrop – my husband created an Army Barrack with large sheets of foam, a hot knife, wood trim and paint. It created the perfect background and set the stage for the party. I could not be more happy with how it turned out!

To add height to the tables, I painted and stenciled wooden crates with spray paint for the props and goodies. For the centerpiece I painted large toy army men I found at the dollar store metallic silver to match the metal letters I purchased at Michaels. I also purchased a matching drawer set at Michaels and filled it with wrapped Ration candy bars. I added some fake bullets to genuine ammo boxes for extra detail and covered the tables with burlap and canvas. I also made a fabric garland to hang on the table.

I also made a “Freedom Banner” with my Cricut Explore and displayed medals and military gear on our mantel along with a set of personalized painted mason jars made by Always the Occasion. I always design my own Stationery for my parties, everything from the Invitations to the Wall Decor. But this was the first time I had the pleasure of designing my own plates! With the help of Sandra from Create-Ur-Plate, our guests dined on personalized dinner and cake plates.

My husband constructed an area which we labeled “Sarge’s Surplus Hut” (inspired by my son’s love for the Cars character) and we stocked buckets with party favors and candy for the guests to fill their “tanks”. The awning was constructed from pvc pipe and camouflage netting. We also hung up our American Flag with pride for a backdrop. The party favors included toy grenades, personalized pencils, rockets, gliders, army men, paratroopers, bouncy balls and army men erasers.

In addition to the small party favors in the surplus hut, each child received a handmade marshmallow shooter, helmet, binoculars, dog tag necklace, a handmade camouflage crayon roll, water grenade, CandyBob and a cookie.

We played several games; War with Marshmallow shooters, Ring Toss, Bag Toss, Pinata and even a Boot Camp obstacle course complete with inflatable tires and orange cones! We also played “Medic!” and the kids raced to wrap their fellow soldier in bandages (toilet paper). It was a blast!