Airplane Party!

 I had so much fun planning my son's  
3rd Birthday party this year!  

His dad chose this year's theme - airplanes.  

Since there isn't much that's commercially available (aside from Jay Jay the Jet), I had to do a lot of custom design work to do to make the theme cute! 

It all came together based on the invitations that I purchased from a seller on Etsy!  They were so adorable - airline tickets with map envelopes!  AP Airlines stood for my son's initials!

I made fondant-covered cookies in 3 coordinating designs for favors: airplanes, giant planes and number 3s with tiny airplanes!

For the kids, I made favor boxes to look like little suitcases decorated with scrapbooking paper and Martha Stewart travel stickers on clearance, and filled each one with a passport, crayons, airplane stickers, an airplane lollipop, and a foam airplane glider.

The cookie favors I put in a super cute suitcase with a sign above that read, "Baggage Claim."

A closeup of the sign in the suitcase:

Outside I hung a giant number 3 balloon and an airplane mylar balloon on the mailbox, along with a giant gold number 3 balloon on his playhouse.

I handpainted cloud-shaped directional signs that I made out of inexpensive foam core to stake along the route to our house to help our guests navigate their way to the party...

and using Adobe Illustrator, made signs throughout the house...

Above the table, I made an aiplane mobile out of gliders hung from fishing line...

For the kids, I made my own trail mix and served them in cute little plastic cups that I decorated with handmade labels and a little handmade sign:

In addition to the buffet of food, I served fruit kabobs, giant Rice Krispy treats w/ M&Ms on jumbo popsicle sticks tied with red, grosgrain ribbons, giant lollipops tied with ribbon stuck in fountain glasses acted as centerpieces and favors for the little ones.  I found airplane chocolates and airplane gummies at a specialty candy shop.

The cake was a double layer cake decorated with fondant clouds, airplanes, a giant number 3 on top, and a fondant banner with his name on it:

Everything got rave reviews and lots and lots of compliments for its originality and attention to detail! 

Most importantly, my son loved it!

 .....

** Some answers to your questions **

I bought the airplane mylar balloon on ebay from a seller in the U.K. (pamela9248)! 

The luggage boxes I designed were made for me by a seller on etsy (favormaker's). They came plain (although they offered to embellish them for me), and I embellished them myself with scrapbook paper strips and Martha Stewart travel stickers!

No stencils on the signs - I handpainted them. As for the other baggage claim signs, I made them in Adobe Illustrator, printed them on 11" by 17" paper, and then mounted them on poster board slightly larger to give the white border and make them studier.

As for games, this was mainly an adult party - with only a handful of little ones - the games were just playing with their airplane gliders (one of their favors) and with my son's toys and playhouse!)

The favors included:

- airplane-shaped lollipops (Walmart's party section)
- foam airplane gliders (bought online)
- passport scribble books (made by nounces, an etsy seller)
- a box of crayons (Walmart)
- an airplane cookie in a cello bag (made by me!)
- a sheet of airplane stickers (from Joann's)