There’s creative people, and then there’s Annika of Cakes Like a Party – who threw this incredibly unique “TRASHY” 2nd Birthday Party for her son {who happens to be “obsessed” with trash & trash trucks!}. I’m a huge fan of thinking outside the box when it comes to party themes, but Annika took that box and used it as decoration! From the trashy garland and garbage picker-uppers (which she turned into a kids game… simply brilliant!), to the dirt cupcake table and matching waste management attire, Annika seriously nailed this theme.

I’m loving that this party was not only incredible, but eco-friendly too. What a great way to “recycle” all of your recyclables by using them as birthday decor. {GENIUS!} In addition to the trashy garland, more fun details include things like JUNK food, a “Don’t Get Trashed” sign on the drink station, and a birthday invitation what was mailed out in brown paper bags along with the opener: “We’re talking trash… for Brooks’ 2nd birthday.” I love how this party was not only creative, but humorous too!

Read on for more TRASHY photos + details from Annika…

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Annika…

PARTY THEME

This was a party for my son Brooks who turned 2 in June. He is OBSESSED with trash and trash trucks and literally (at the time) would wait for you to take the wrapper off of something just so he could run it to the trash. So hey… we went with it. And it turned out to be the PERFECT party for our trash-loving boy.

PARTY DECOR

Basically, we trashed our house. I collected “trash” recyclables – for about 2 months before the party and decorated our house with boxes, bubble wrap and every container imaginable. I hung trash from the mantle, from our overhang on the porch outside, and littered each table with newspaper and boxes and even cardboard flowers.

INVITATION

I designed the invite. It said: “We’re talking trash for Brooks’ 2nd birthday! So dump everything and head over to our collection site for a stinking fun time, games, and junk food! …. at our dump…. litter us know if you can come …..”

We mailed it in a brown lunch sack and put torn up newspaper inside. The back of the invite was newspapered as well.

FOOD

We literally served total JUNK FOOD – licorice, pigs in a blanket, oreos, cheez-it’s. NOTHING was good for a human there but it was cute (and I am big on cute). I mean, we went all out – even got the cheese whiz! Yuck!

ATTIRE

My husband, Brett, Brooks, and my other son Wiley and I all wore trash man outfits. I made patches that said BBL Waste Management (Brooks’ initials) and our names underneath, then sewed them onto our outfits. The grease on our faces is actual grease from our car tire. I couldn’t not do it. I rubbed my hand on the tire then covered all of our faces. My face was NOT loving me after that but it looked cool! My mom dressed in a trash bag and my uncle showed up like “white trash” – we all like a theme around here.

ACTIVITIES/DECOR CONT.

We had an arts & crafts station (that no 2 year old cared about!), the dirt cupcake table, our outside table with the food on it, a bar that said “don’t get trashed” and outside we played our game! We dumped balled up newspaper all over our backyard and gave each kid a trash picker upper (or kitchen tongs for the smaller kids) so that they could put the trash in the galvanized trash can. I cannot believe what a hit that game was. They played it all day! It never stopped getting fun for them.

FAVORS

For favors, we sent the kids home with their trash picker-upper, a trash truck cookie that my mom made, and a green bean sprout in a peet pot that we had planted the week before.

It was a fabulous day and we ended up having people over until 2am! Who knew a kid’s party could be so fun for adults!