{Party Feature} The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Birthday Party!

We are absolutely BLOWN AWAY with this unique & creative Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn Birthday Party by Patty Smith of Sweet Treat Stands! From the mason jar chandelier to the denim ruffled tablecloth, all the party embellishments are beyond amazing. I loved reading Tom Sawyer as a child and think it is just a fabulous party theme. Patty is so detailed in all her party designs, and she has been so gracious to share all the details with us (below) so you can get a head start if you want to throw your own Tom Sawyer Birthday!

First up is the one-of-a-kind theme! Patty shared her inspiration! “When we decided on a name for our lil’ guy before he was born I remembered reading the book “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” in 7th grade. To this day I still have the book report that I wrote. For some reason it’s the only book report I saved all these years. The book report is in a folder with a drawing on the front cover that I drew and colored of “Tom Sawyer” wearing denim overalls painting a wooden fence. From our baby boy’s name and this memory my ideas, party theme and party planning started.” – Patty

Patty has been so generous to share so many party details & resources with us! So read through the creative details below for all the scoop on this darling boy’s 1st birthday! All details “as told by Patty”…

Overall Theme Ideas

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn brought thoughts of overalls, boys playing and  getting dirty, a raft, river, Mississippi River wildlife such as frogs, alligators and turtles. I thought of  grass, cattails, paint, buckets, straw hats and fresh fruit. I watched the movie and read some of the  book again too.

Desserts

Juliette with Fairy Tale Cakes designed the CUTEST cake and cupcakes. Every detail was eye catching. The cake flavor was Strawberry Shortcake and the cupcakes were Raspberry Lemonade. Some of the details included a very cute fondant designed “Tom Sawyer” boy wearing denim overalls and a hat with a fishing pole, white picket fence, grass, cattails, etc. She even added ladybugs to the design. How did you know that I LOVE ladybugs? They have a special significance to me  It’s probably because we work great together. The fondant cupcakes had lil’ fruit baskets filled with different fruits like strawberries and blueberries and greenery. Excellent!

SEE Resources list for full dessert vendors.

Table & Decor

Don B. my woodworker is SO super talented and can make anything! He made the custom wooden raft cake stand to display the beautiful cake and some of the cupcakes. I made/sewed the muslin fabric sails. It fit the theme perfectly.

I’m always trying to come up with new ideas for tablecloths. It’s kind of become my thing, lol! I made the ruffled denim tablecloth from jeans! I hadn’t quite come up with an idea yet for the tablecloth when I was looking at the stack of Levi’s my husband was going to donate when I had that “aha” moment. I couldn’t find any examples online for reference. So I winged it. I lost count on how many jeans I used but I think it took about 13 pairs of jeans. It was time consuming but worth it. I used a fabric for the tabletop that is similar to muslin but slightly heavier to go with the denim. I liked the  richer brown specks too. I love how it turned out!

The custom banner that I made was made out of burlap, denim rosettes, mason jar rings and lids and the custom cupcake toppers. The banner was hung on a bamboo stick. It came out really nice.
My husband made bamboo fishing rods for props. One of them was displayed on a side table with a Mark Twain book, vintage typewriter my Dad gave me years ago along with some other props.

I made the simple grapevine chandelier with the help of Michelle from Rustic Cottage Designs. She made the distressed hand painted mason jars with wire vine handles that I used for the chandelier
above the dessert table. I wanted something simple yet something with charm for a child’s birthday with some color to match the party’s color palette. Michelle got the colors down exactly like I described to her. She made the distressed hand painted mason jars that I used on the dessert table too to hold the retro paper straws and the wooden utensils. She also designed the super cute jute wrapped letter “S” that was used as a prop on another table with the vintage typewriter. I loved the look and the colors!

Did you see the book sculpture? I displayed it on the dessert table, front and center in front of the cake stand. This book sculpture was made by Jodi of Wet Canvas Art. It’s the actual book “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and she designed the river waves, the raft, Tom and Huck and the personalized raft sail all from the pages of the book. Talk about an amazing piece of art, wow! Definitely a keeper!

Drawings & Paintings

The gorgeous custom drawing on birch wood that Elizabeth from Moulage Collection designed is so beautiful! Its rustic charm is definitely a keepsake. She personalized it for our son and she personally
selected a quote from the book that was perfect especially since our baby boy is a summer baby.  I had adorable canvas paintings made to match the theme as well! Joe and Krystelle from The Children’s Chateau worked diligently to create this little masterpiece for us. A cute little boy dressed in overalls fishing with his Dachshund on the river came out so beautiful. Coordinating Mississippi River animals were also painted to complete the set. The little boy reminds me of our little ones and the Dachshund is a painting of one of our pups. The paintings were displayed on a vintage white door. These will look great as wall décor. I have to say that Joe and Krystelle not only provided amazing art pieces but their customer service was absolutely impeccable!

Invitations & Accessories

I LOVE the invitations and matching accessories. Lindsey with The Blue Egg Events is awesome! She is the best. We love Dachshunds and have several Dachshund family members. I asked Lindsey to
incorporate a Dachshund silhouette into the invitation design. You usually see a boy fishing with his cute dog and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to add our favorite lil’ dog to the theme. It makes it extra special.

Boys’ Outfits

Our lil’ boys wore the most super-duper cutest overalls I’ve seen! Rhiannon from Little Orange Shop custom made these “A Good Day OVERALLs” for our lil’ baby boy’s birthday photo session and for his birthday party. They fit so nice and look great! I love the names of the colors too! Blueberry Linen and Mud Puddle Brown. How cute!

Pinata

OMG! was what I said when I saw the piñata that was custom made by Emily with Almes Accessories. It was waaaay cuter that what I had envisioned. This was by far the most unique piñata I’ve seen. The piñata design was blue overalls and pockets with the cutest straw hat and a Tom Sawyer book on the back side of the piñata! The piñata wasn’t the typical fringe type paper either. I was super impressed to say the least. Our boys LOVED the piñata!

Wood Tier Stand

The custom wood tiered stand and personalized wood slice by Andrew with Home n’ Stead was super! It matched the theme SO well. The rustic wood tiered stand was used to display the fondant cupcakes and the personalized wood slice reminded me of “Tom + Becky” from the book. The items are beautiful and very good quality. The personalized wood slice is a very nice keepsake as well.

CREDITS & RESOURCES

Concept and Design: Party stylist Patty Smith with Sweet Treat Stands (including the ruffled denim tablecloth, the wooden raft with muslin fabric sails, denim/burlap banner, grapevine wreath chandelier, bamboo fishing rod with book and vintage typewriter, etc.)
Photographer: Wendhy Jeffers Photography
Fondant Cake and Cupcakes: Juliette with Fairy Tale Cakes a nut-free bakery (Strawberry Shortcake and Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes)
Custom Wooden Raft with Muslin Fabric Sails: woodworker Don B., Sweet Treat Stands
Custom Invitations and Accessories: Lindsey with The Blue Egg Events
Custom “A Good Day OVERALLs” in Blueberry Linen and Mud Puddle Brown: Little Orange Shop
Custom Distressed Hand Painted Mason Jars and Jute Wrapped Letter “S”: Rustic Cottage Designs
Custom Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn Book Sculpture: Wet Canvas Art
Custom Drawing on Birch Wood with Birthday Boy’s Name and Quote from Book: Moulage Collection
Custom Canvas Paintings: Joe and Krystelle with The Children’s Chateau
Custom Paper Tissue Tassels for Wooden Utensils:Princess Approved Shop
Custom Overalls Piñata with Straw Hat and the Adventures of Tom Sawyer Book: Almes Accessories
Custom Wood Tiered Stand and Personalized Log Slice: Andrew with Home’n Stead
Custom Personalized Tom Sawyer 1st Birthday Hat: Dainty Couture
Custom Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn Wooden Clothespin Dolls on Stand: Min and Moots
Custom Personalized Wooden Heart Straw Toppers: Amanda with Stuff by Stuff
Wooden Utensils and Retro Paper Straws: Deann and Kathy with DK DelektablesCustom
Greeting Card with Lil’ Boy Fishing with his Dachshund: Colette with Victorian 1920
Antique Finished Metal Buckets: Elizabeth with Havenshire Downs and www.beyondtheseas.etsy.com
Banana Walnut Crumble Marshmallows and White Chocolate Blueberry Crunch Marshmallows: The Realist Mermaid
Strawberry Vanilla Bean Macarons and Chocolate Vanilla Bean Macarons with a Wood Grain Design: Salt City Bakery
Crunch Top Apple Mini Pie and Toasted Pecan Mini Pie: Monica with Indayani Baked Goods
Custom Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies: Jennifer with Sugary Sweet Cookies