The Two Peas recently turned 9 and we had a hard time deciding what to do for a party. We finally were able to come up with the idea to have a “Jr. Ranger Party” and invite all of their friends to come along on a winter hike, etc.
You could do this theme anytime of year and gear it for boys or girls. We were lucky in that the two peas Dad happens to be a park ranger and the boss at the park where he works so we had “built in expertise!” for our event.
Invitations
We rummaged our scrap pile for these...
A scrapbooker I am not. I did have some scrapbook paper on hand and a few other do-dads. I cut the paper and added some cardboard to the inside. We decided we would stick to a nature theme. I sewed on scraps to make a butterfly on the front and used some tags to write the number 9 and the two peas names. We also personalized each invitation and put an initial sticker with the name of the girl being invited on the cover.
I just hand wrote the invitation and then attached with some brads. I told ya, scrapbooker I am not.
Cakes and Cupcakes
Kind of crazy looking, I know.
We had two parties. One at home with family. One at the park with friends. For our friends party, we had cupcakes that I decorated with owls. Yes. Those are owls. Kind of goofy looking. I used gumdrops sliced in half for the eyes. I put a chocolate chip in the middle of each one for the eyeball. Then I sliced a candied fruit wedge thing in half for the wings. And used Twizzlers rope for the talons and beak.
For our family party, we had owl cakes. I used oreo cookies and chocolate chips for the eyes and the Twizzlers rope for the rest.
Decorations
For our family party, I just used some paper lanterns we had from our party last year. I found these in the wedding stuff from Martha Stewart at Walmart in the craft section. Near the scrapbook stuff. I use them alot for parties. I found the butterflys at our dollar store and pulled one inside of each lantern.
I also bought some flowers and did a small arrangement for each girl.
At our friends party, the ranger station was full of cool critters.
They made for some pretty cool "decorations"
I reused our flowers from the day before and hung a birthday banner we already had and use for every birthday...
A balloon on each childs chair, bowls full of gummy worms on the table and we were all set. Kept it simple.
Activities
For our friends party, the two peas Dad took everyone on a winter hike to look for signs of wildlife in the snow. They were lucky enough to come upon a deer that was nestled down, they saw lots of birds and squirrels. Hikes are easy to do. You could ask your local park if their naturalist would offer a special hike for your group. Or you could do it yourself. Nature bingo is one fun hike theme. Make a bingo card for each child and they have to search for what is on the card: a bird call, a large tree leaf, a small tree leaf, a nut that has been eaten on, something shiny, a bark rubbing, etc.
With the exception of rain, hikes are great anytime of year...just be sure your guests are dressed appropriately
Once inside, we had some fun crafts to make. Sticking with our nature theme…we used those fuse beads to make critters. I had an owl, snake, flower and more as patterns for them to follow. 
We also made some pins to wear. I twirled some crafty fur things (I’m not sure what they are called) into a circle, hot glued on a pin on the back and a little stick. The girls then glued on the eyes, wings and a beak to make owls.
{this is one of the little peas}
We planned our party to last for 2 hours. We barely got it all in. Another half hour would have been good. By the time they hiked, crafted, ate cupcakes, rootbeer floats and yogurt tubes and opened gifts…we started to run out of time.
Party favors
I made a field bag for each girl. A very simple bag. Serge stitched and folding the top down to the outside, I put a decorative stitch around the cuff. I put each childs name on the strap and appliqued and owl to the bag. Each child got a monogrammed notebook to take on their hike and record their sightings.
It was a great party with very little preparation. Easy to do, loads of fun.
xoxo,
Trish
In case you didn’t already know, I love this time of year. I love especially Halloween! I love hosting parties and having campfires in the backyard and roasting marshmallows, and eating candy apples and drinking cider. All of it. I. Love. It.
