The Lapinski Family: Jack's 3rd Birthday Party

It's no secret around these parts that Jack loves his plastic chainsaw that he received from Grandpa for Christmas. And he loves cutting logs/wood/trees -- anything that is outdoors and considered rough and tough. He is all boy ...

My inspiration for this party all began with a picture that Steve took of Jack last fall when they were cutting logs out at the orchard. Really, it was quick photo taken with Steve's phone, but it turned out to be the perfect picture to use on the invitation for Jack's Lumberjack Party. (I couldn't resist the extra play-on-words with Jack's name in the theme either!).

I like to stick with a main color scheme for each of my parties because it allows me to mix in colors at an inexpensive price, and to potentially pull from other decorations used in the past. For this party, I used red and black (lumberjack buffalo plaid print) with some burlap brown for a real rustic feel.

The banner was made with a $1.00 burlap flag decoration. I cut the letters out myself and glued them on and then hung the banner from the fireplace mantle.

The cake table is always a focal point for me. I seem to invariably cover this canvas print that usually hangs on the wall with some sort of decoration that fits with the theme and makes for a nice backdrop. The tree print paper on the left was wrapping paper that I already had (part of a grouping of camo wrapping paper left over from Steve's Christmas/birthday/Father's Day gifts) and I stumbled upon the buffalo plaid tissue paper and couldn't resist it. Jack's name was cut out of scrapbook paper that I found that looked like wood grain. I attached a copy of the invitation in the upper left corner and set it back up on the wall ... Perfect.

The weekend before, we went out into the woods for a quick photo shoot with my little lumberjack, and while we were there I asked Steve to cut a few sections of logs for me to use on my dessert table.

I used three of them to make the cupcake stand (the wooden candlestick holders were on a clearance end cap at Hobby Lobby -- which is why they don't completely match one another) and another to hold the cake (after I covered it with scrapbook paper to provide a sterile layer). I used another log to hold the campfire decoration .

The cake and cupcakes are always my favorite part of every party! My kids LOVE to see how their cake turns out every time and then to think back and decide what their favorite ones have been over the years. It's always a true labor of love (I'm usually up quite late the night before), but I wouldn't have it any other way.

The cupcakes were designed to look like little campfires: chocolate frosting, chocolate-covered raisins for the stones, a kit-kat bar cut in half for the log and multi-colored frosting for the fire flames. For the frosting, I simply made a bowl of red frosting and a bowl of yellow frosting. Then, I added the red to one half of my piping bag and yellow to the other. Once I piped the frosting out the tip, it blended to make a beautiful flame!

The cake was a three-tier chocolate cake with brown buttercream frosting. Then, I made the "bark" along the outside using chocolate shavings. I poured a thin layer of chocolate onto wax paper and rolled it into a tube and stuck it in the fridge. After it hardened, I unwrapped the wax paper and let the chocolate break into pieces. Then I ~~painstakingly~~ placed them all around the outside of the cake. Finally, I used a toothpick to make the wood grain on the top.

One of the tables, set up with some camping lanterns that I borrowed from my mom, some trail mix and nuts for snacks and a faux birch tree log vase. That's right -- I just wrapped a piece of scrapbook paper around the vase to make it look like a log.

And how perfect were these flowers to go with the red and black theme? $7.99, and enough to fill two vases.

The other table. More snacks, including twix and kit-kats, both of which resemble logs.

We served hamburgers and hot dogs with all of the fixings, broccoli salad, watermelon, veggies and dip, chips and some apple harvest punch.

And one of the best parts??? We answered the door and saw Grandpa dressed up like a lumberjack. I loved it! The beard colored on, the shirt, the suspenders, the boots, the hat and the axe!