The Inspiration
So I found some inspiration from this picture above found on The Hostess with the Mostess blog for Jackson's 4th birthday! Jackson and I browsed their amazing ideas and just knew the camping theme was all him. Here's the blog, you have to check them out!!
http://www.hostessblog.com/2011/03/a-camping-inspired-birthday-party-adventure/
There was no turning back. I had it all planned out and ready to go...friends were going to sleep over in tents outside! We were going to set up one like the pic above for entertainment! A campfires and outdoor movie was ready to go! It was going to be awesome!!
THENn we had a lovely storm the night before a bunch of preschoolers were going to show up at my house. This was my back deck the morning of ~ yes.. that's glass...
So the party moved indoors due to a very wet outside and a possibly dangerous backyard with unseen glass shards! But the kids did get some free play running around outside to start~ 
The Decorations
Guests were greeted with some old fashioned camp signage~
~and some more just inside to direct campers to their desired location~
The "outhouse" had a lantern, some leaves scattered about and a rustic plank of wood for an outdoorsy feel.
Last minute we made do with a couple kid sized play tents, this is actually at the end of the day. Jackson is relaxing in his own cabin
The Food
Food was fun! Campers got to top their own cupcakes with a variety of outdoor & camp themed goodies found in tin pails. Things such as gummy worms and marshmallow flavored Jelly Bellys
Of course we made S'mores in the microwave since it was too wet to do a real campfire. They were extremely gooey~
And strawberry topped cake was specially for Daddy & Jack who have their birthdays 1 day apart!
The Favors
Goodybag ideas also came from the HWTM site, they had some awesome backpacks filled with camping gear. We, however, had a a much more modest budget! I was thrilled to find these polyester toddler backpacks at Oriental Trading Company and thought to personalize them with camo patterned 1st initials. They were a big hit and filled with decent toys; a real flashlight, a magnifying glass, a whistle, grow-a-critter capsules, camping stickers, a compass and forest theme foam craft kits. Older kids and teens got a mesh backpack filled with practical jokes that looked like camper's food; a container of cheetos was a can of snakes, a stick of gum snapped you when you try to remove it and some real snacks. They were a big hit~
Prior to the good find on oriental trading, I was a little too ambitious and thought I could whip out a few toddler backpacks on my own for all of Jackson's little friends. Found a great free tutorial on indietutes
and this is what I made from materials on hand~ but decided sharpie markers on polyester was way much less work!
Super cute. Happy Birthday Buddy.
