This dino party was for an adorable five year old’s birthday! For our kids’ party table we used large garden rocks, stones and natural basket liners (turned upside down) then placed these down the center of our table. We then perched three large dinosaurs on the rocks for height and a dramatic look! For outdoor events, wind can certainly create designing challenges. Therefore I always prefer to use floor length cloth linen as the weight keeps it in place on windy days. Each place setting had colorful orange and green plates with coordinating napkins and wooden utensils; this provided a great contrast to our chocolate brown linen. We used a smaller garden rock to anchor the utensils on our napkin to avoid flyaway napkins! One of the fun party favors were water bottles with coordinating dinosaur labels customized with each guest’s name. These bottles were filled beforehand and placed on the paper plates to keep them anchored as well!
Activities were scattered through the backyard, from feed the T-Rex (bean bag toss) to a real sand pit with bones and dinosaur eggs to be excavated! Of course it wouldn’t be an excavation party without the perfect pith hat.
Our treat table was showcased with a backdrop that was quite easy to recreate. We started with a large heavy cardboard piece that was covered with paper in a faux rustic wood pattern. We then hung foliage, garlands and individual sprigs of greenery around the backdrop. Large letters were cut out of glitter cardstock to spell out “Aiden’s Dig”.
Next, our directional stand was created using an old 2 x 4 reclaimed wood piece and anchoring into the ground (if you’re crafty with a hammer, you can also make a stand for it!). The actual arrow signs were also from the Olice Party Printable’s shop. These were simply printed on extra-large paper then mounted on a piece of thick cardboard and nailed to the 2 x 4 wood piece. To top it off we added some moss on the top end of the 2 x 4 and set a large skeleton dinosaur on it!
For our treats, the highlight was the erupting, smoking volcano cake at the center of our table on a small pedestal. This four layer cake had an open well in the center where we filled a plastic bottle with dry ice. When water was poured down the center, a smoking volcano came to life. As a filling, the cake had fresh cherries for a lava effect when cut. The cake was placed on green moss and had smaller dinosaurs at the base.
A tray of chocolate pudding covered with tasty dirt (pulverized chocolate cookies) and white chocolate bones that were made using a fun silicone mold. Dino fossil foot print cookies were made using a plastic dinosaur foot as a tool to make an impression on sugar cookies sprinkled with cinnamon. A large dino egg cake was made using a large egg mold, then covered with fondant and sprinkled with food coloring to create a prehistoric feel with a hatching baby dinosaur. Surrounding the dinosaur were huge chocolate boulders.
For beverages, we used two large mason jar dispensers and filled one with “Swamp Water” — green lemonade — and the other with “Lava Sludge” — a root beer and ice cream punch. On top of each of the dispensers we used moss and a skeleton dinosaur. This created a high-low symmetry effect for our tablescape.
Start planning your kid’s birthday party with the free Evite invitation below or another one of our kids’ birthday invitations.
Vendors
Party Styling and design concept: Alice Nielsen
Invitation and Printables: Olice Party Printables
Directional Arrows: Olice Party Printables
Photography: Suzanna Bayer
Pith Party hats: Oriental Trading
Water bottles: Michaels Crafts Stores
Silicone Bone Molds: Amazon
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