I went into planning this party thinking, “Fall Harvest.” You’ll see from the pictures, however, that my one-track mind kept bringing me back to pumpkins. Lots and lots of glorious pumpkins!
The favors: Pumpkin finger puppets
These little finger puppets were super easy, albeit somewhat time consuming, to create. I made about 10 of them and each one had a different face. I really had fun with them. 
By the end of the party the kids were really getting into them, too. One of the kids decided he needed one for each hand!
The Games:
One of the games we played was a pumpkin roll. It was absolutely perfect for the little ones. We have a slope in the back of our yard and they had a blast rolling their pumpkin balls down the hill and then running down the hill after them to bring them back.
Not quite as popular was the pumpkin ring toss. Although a few of the kids gave it a go, it proved a bit too challenging to keep their interest for very long. Perhaps it would go over better with an older crowd. All you need is a pumpkin with a nice long stem and some rings. We made our rings by cutting some rope and attaching them using masking tape (which can be seen partially on towards the bottom of the photo).
The Cake:
For the cake I went out and bought a fancy pumpkin cake pan, which is really just two bundt cakes joined together. It was supposed to look like this:
I should know better than to try something fancy. It was doomed from the beginning. As I rushed around at the last minute trying to get everything together (as usual) I relinquished the task of putting the cake together to my mom. Who then passed it on to my dad. By the time I came back to check on it, my husband’s cousin was putting the finishing touches on it.
The cake was a excellent reminder that setting a picture-perfect, Martha Stewart-esque table is really not that important after all. Plus any attempt at something fancy would have been thrown out the window by all that debris left on the table. Good, grief… you’d think we would have cleared the table before setting out the cake, wouldn’t you? Just FYI, it was a pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese icing.
Decor:
We kept things simple by sprinkling pumpkins, gourds, and acorns throughout the tables and such, and picked up some hay bails for extra seating.
Lastly, we have the birthday girl’s dress. Which I made. Which we did not get one SINGLE good picture of. Which got icing all over it during the cake eating. Which completely fell apart when I washed it. I’ll paint a picture for you: dark green corduroy, a-line jumper, little felt squirrel applique on bottom right-hand side. Very cute. The end.
And of course I have to include a picture of the birthday girl eating her cake.
Such a fun day…happy birthday baby girl!
So, so, so awesome!!! I wish I could have come!! Happy Birthday!!
(oh, and smiling at the cake!)
What a perfect theme - love it! Those puppets are adorable. Looks like it was a very special day for your babe!!!
What a fun party. I love the finger puppets. So cute.
Happy Birthday to your little girl! Love the pumpkin roll game and the picture of the birthday girl with her cake…priceless. What a fun day!
Happy Birthday, Charlotte!! You have the sweetest mommy who is simply the most creative and determined woman i know. Cherish your dress because not every mommy makes such special things for their children. Wish we could be there to give you and the rest of your family big hugs!! We love you
It looks like you all had a great day.
I don’t know why you were going on about the cake — it looks wonderful!
Looks like you throw a great party, Mom!
What a special day! And, hey, there won’t be a cake JUST LIKE that one ever again! Unique…
I didn’t realize how bad that cake looked until now. When we were doing it, I thought it was looking pretty good. Maybe it’s the angle of the picture. Maybe it’s the camera. Maybe it’s because orange isn’t the right color. well, okay!!!!!! we really did a lousy job.
But, what the heck, we tried, sweetie. And the party was a success anyway.
Mom