Vintage Donald Duck County Fair Birthday Party!

We have the best job! Today it includes sharing this amazing birthday party with you! Who says you can’t combine themes? Donald Duck + County Fair = fabulous. I’m telling ya, these details in this party are rockin’! We are so inspired to throw our own county fair bash. Patty of Sweet Treat Stands is the mastermind behind all the amazingness here. She knew she wanted to combine a county fair theme with her son’s favorite show – Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! Themed parties can be hard to make unique but by combining Donald Duck with the county fair – oh my stars, it is amazing! As Patty said, “Bottom line is that he’s a little boy (my baby bear) and it’s HIS birthday party and we want it to be a theme that HE loves and that HE’s excited about.  Now that he’s getting older he can choose his party theme. I don’t mind going with a character themed party because I can always put my own creative spin on it.” (That she did — take a look….)

VINTAGE DONALD DUCK COUNTY FAIR BIRTHDAY PARTY

AS TOLD BY PATTY

“Who’s got the sweetest disposition? One guess, guess who…No one but Donald Duck!”  That’s one of Donald Duck’s theme songs that debuted in 1947.  This is a well-known song in our household since we love watching old classic Donald Duck cartoons (late 1930’s – 1950’s).  Our lil’ guy refers to Mickey Mouse cartoons as Donald Duck cartoons, he loves Donald Duck the best and it’s Donald Duck this and Donald Duck that. He even won a photo contest this past October dressed as guess who…Donald Duck! :)

So one day while watching one of the old Donald Duck cartoons I was really inspired.  At the beginning of the cartoon, while playing the credits, there was a white wooden fence with a Donald Duck face drawn in white paint. I knew that I wanted an old wooden fence as the backdrop to the dessert table. I didn’t have any other ideas at that point except that I knew I wanted an old fence backdrop.  That’s what sparked the start of a Vintage Donald Duck County Fair birthday party! We checked with our son to make sure what theme he wanted and the vote went to Donald Duck!

One of the challenges was finding just the right venue.  I researched and researched and finally found the perfect place for our party, Legends Ranch.  It’s  a private ranch that is used for weddings, birthdays and other events.  This location transports you from the city and desert to a different place with green grass, big trees, beautiful backdrops and lots of vintage props.  Beautiful!

Planning took months especially with the holidays and two lil’ ones at home.  But it was so much fun!  Most of the details were all handmade by me.  A labor of love, is that what they call it?  Yep, definitely a labor of love!

County fairs have so many features from rides, food, games to farm animals, baked goods, arts and crafts, etc. I was set on trying to include all or most of these features at our party and transport our guests to an old-fashioned charming county fair with cotton candy, hot dogs, cream sodas, classic games, quilts and of course Donald Duck. I had to keep all of these factors in mind when planning.

DESSERT TABLE: I especially wanted the dessert table to resemble a mini county fair.  I started out with a really old wooden fence backdrop.  Hanging on the backdrop was a beautifully designed county fair birthday sign.  The centerpiece was one of my custom cupcake stands that’s simple and rustic looking.  It displayed gorgeous fondant themed cupcakes and a super cute Donald Duck themed cake from the very talented Juliette of Fairy Tale Cakes.  The cake had the cutest lil’ fondant Donald Duck hats, bowtie and carnival marquee letter “C” as the topper. To the right of the cupcake stand was the ferris wheel, a miniature popcorn booth and swirly lollipops.  To the left of the stand was a vintage looking pickup truck with homemade mini fruit pies and barn with farm animal sugar “cookie” cupcake toppers.  The table was rounded out by rice krispy treats on a stick, a variety of cupcakes and custom designed sugar cookies up front.  The tablecloth tied in beautifully with its matching colored ruffles. I love ruffles and was determined to make the tablecloth along with a really cute bunting tablecloth that was displayed on one of the food tables.

POPCORN & COTTON CANDY BOOTH: Another big display that I loved was the custom wooden popcorn/cotton candy booth.  It was a great size for the kids.  Not only was it a perfect prop but it folds for compact storage! The homemade cotton candy was beautifully displayed at the booth alongside yummy kettle corn popcorn, bottled cream sodas, retro paper straws and gorgeous custom designed county fair tickets, wow!  Have you had strawberry lemonade flavored cotton candy?  It is sooo good! Here’s a little trivia:  Did you know that one of Donald Duck’s favorite drinks is strawberry soda?  Yep, we had strawberry soda :)

Now I can’t stress enough how grateful and impressed I have been with all of the vendors I worked with in preparing for the party. Every single vendor provided not only great products/services, delicious one too, but outstanding customer service.  Plus an extra huge thank you to all the very generous vendors. There were so many details that played a part in the party’s charm. Seriously, I could not have had all the details complete without you. Thanks Wendhy for your beautiful photos! You captured the details wonderfully.   It was a pleasure working with you again.

We had two great county fair helpers too!  They were a great help.  They passed out party favors such as the custom handcrafted prize ribbons for the boys and custom designed pageant sashes for the girls. They helped with the games, cotton candy/popcorn booth, etc.  Plus they were excited to wear the bowties I made them.  That was cool!  Thanks!

My favorite part of the party was singing “Happy Birthday” and our lil’ guy blowing out his candles (cool #3 sparkler alongside the candles)! My 2nd favorite part of the party was our friend Tim the singer/songwriter/guitarist’s performance.  He’s awesome and so much fun!  He sang a customized birthday song (super cool), two of Donald Duck’s themed songs, “Hokey Pokey”, a rendition of Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried” with some funny lyrics we sing at home with the kids and “Happy Birthday”.  Loved it!

I do have to say our son was just head over heels in love with his custom Donald Duck themed piñata.  It was exactly what our son wanted.  He wanted a star piñata but he also wanted a Donald Duck piñata.  Voila!  His piñata was a star shaped piñata that was Donald Duck themed.  About a week or two before the party  he kept wanting to check on it, hold it, take a peek at the candy inside and show it off when Papa came to visit!  LOL!

The best moments while planning the party were when our lil’ guy, the birthday boy would check in on the different items I had made and would say “That’s for my birthday? That’s pretty Mama” and “Thank you!”.  That was from a 2 almost 3 year-old.  Aaaahhh, that just melted my heart and put a huge smile on my face.  How cute!  Also seeing him have such a fun time along with our lil’ guests was wonderful.  All in all the party was a success.  Definitely worth it! A super special thank you to my husband, my Dad and our friend Don who is the best woodworker ever!

VENDORS + CREDITS:  Concept and Styling:  Sweet Treat Stands | Handcrafted accessories/décor including cupcake stand, banner, ruffled tablecloth, bunting tablecloth, backdrop, prize ribbons, cotton candy/popcorn booth and other décor and props:  Sweet Treat Stands Etsy shop | Photography:  Wendhy Jeffers Photography | Nut-free Bakery (cake and cupcakes):  Fairy Tale Cakes | Custom Cookies (letter “C” and “3” prize ribbons):  Sweet Goosie Girl | Custom Cookies (name, popcorn box, kernels, farm animal “cookie” cupcake toppers): Batches | Fresh Cotton Candy:  Sweetopia Cotton Candy | Mini Pie Pops (apple with sugar crust and raspberry with powder sugar crust):  Sweet Piefection | Custom Birthday Poster/Chalkboard Poster:   Moulage Collection | Custom Pageant Sashes: Jenna Schaal | Custom County Fair Raffle Tickets:  Risa Rocks It | Retro Paper Straws, Retro Popcorn Bags, Wooden Forks:  DK DeleKtables | Burlap Tablecloth and Burlap Sacks:  Miss Hettie | Vintage Clothes (striped dresses): Vintage Frocks Of Fancy | Party Venue:  Legends Ranch | Custom Invitations and Accessories:  The Blue Egg Events | Custom Lil’ Boy Shirts: The Baer Essentials | Custom piñata: You Buy It You Break It | Vintage 1950’s/60’s Child’s Donald Duck and Daisy Duck Handkerchief: Bex Vintage | Vintage Child’s Donald Duck Illustrated Handkerchief: Planet Alissa | Old Vintage 1970’s Wall Hanging with Donald and Huey, Dewy, and Lewey: Lisa’s Old Stuff | Vintage 1978 Donald Duck and the One Bear Book and Vintage 1979 Donald Duck and the Super-Sticky Secret Book:  Country Expressions | Disney Steampunk Handmade Donald and Daisy Duck Romantic Silhouette Charm Bracelet:  Gears Jewelry