HWTM Contributor Jessica Wilcox of Modern Moments Designs here, excited to finally share with you my son Jackson’s {Bowlfest 2012} Bowling Birthday Party! Last year, you may remember his super fun Rock Star Birthday Party (part 1 and part 2 here), but this year we wanted to tone it down just a bit. His party wasn’t short of personalized details though. Check them all out…

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• Personalized Bowling socks with each kid’s name
• Bowling pin and bowling ball shaped suckers
• Custom printed muslin party favor bags

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Jessica of Modern Moments Designs…

Originally we were going to do a throwback “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” themed birthday party for Jackson. However, I just couldn’t come up with the right location. Now, I think there are several places that will work, so this may be a party theme popping up in the future. Ultimately, we settled on a bowling theme. I knew the bowling ally would be dark, loud, and full of flashing lights. I didn’t want my decor to try and compete with the surrounds, so I decided to keep really it simple and easy on myself. Plus, this party was about half way through my pregnancy and I was pooped (it’s okay to tone it down from time to time). Which also doesn’t mean the party can’t be fun and personalized.

I started off by designing his invitation. I wanted it to be unique and stylish and look more like a poster than an invite. Of course, we had the most talented Courtney Jade, of Courtney Jade Photography take a few shots of him. He is a total professional by this point and we had his photos done in like 20 minutes or less, no joke.

After the invite was done the real planning began. I searched Etsy and pinterest for creative blowing party ideas. I think it’s best to find inspiration and then make it your own. As you know, it’s a must to wear socks in those swanky bowling shoes. I thought it would be cute to have custom stocks made for all of the kids as part of their party favor. We also did a very small candy buffet complete with bowling ally themed candies such as coke-a-cola bottle gummies, mini hamburgers and hot dog gummies, and bowling pin and bowling ball suckers. My goal was to have everything fit on the vintage white cart that I purchased at my local Goodwill. Which is a major size downgrade from my traditional 6-foot table that we typically decorate.

We also did cupcakes with fondant toppers, mini water bottle labels, and of course, super fun party favor bags. These party favor bags have to be one of my favorite items to give out at parties. They are the perfect way to commemorate the party and make a great place to add special party favors.