All photos captured by Lennie de Koker Foto and Nova Photography, are not to be used without consent.

For the last three years I have been on a mission to really tone down my kids parties. And by that I simply mean not going over board with too much planning and party decor. I reeled in all my self-imposed expectations and took a serious chill on the party front, preferring to have them at venues that did all the hard work for me. I know that for me it was important to come back to the basics and just keep it simple for my own sake.

But then I met Laura White from Teepees and Tassels and well, that sentiment went down the toilet faster than you could say Hip Hip Hooray! I went onto her website and I began to get that familiar stir in my tummy……. I wanted to throw a proper party, complete with all the bells and whistles! I knew that with her help I could manage to do something rad without putting myself out with too many late nights of sowing and sticking and who knows what else. I wanted to do something really special for Noah for his 8th birthday, something that he would remember for many years to come. When I showed him Laura’s website and showed him what kind of parties she offered, he had a lightbulb moment. He said “MOM, I have a great idea, what about a Cowboys and Indians party!!” And from there we just kind of flew with it.

I think teepee and slumber parties have become especially popular with little girls and so it was fun making it more boy focussed while still sticking with the cute element of teepees.

Laura and her team from Teepees and Tassels came on board with the most beautiful set up that was fit for a little king. Her set up consisted of four teepees, beautiful mattresses with covers and patterned blankets, a selection of beautifully suited cushions, lanterns, fairly lights, vines and even a snake and fire centre piece. It was absolutely perfect for our Native American element. Guys they even supply beautiful sleeping bags for every child if you are really having a proper sleep-out/sleepover.  I will have to allow the pictures to speak for themselves, because all in all it was just an incredibly sweet theme that suited our birthday boy so perfectly.

For food we kept it pretty simple with chocolate covered- marshmallow arrows that the kids enjoyed helping me make, a few simple snacks in cups and party bags that we sourced from Lucky Lulu. The bags and serviettes fitted our theme perfectly and I loved that instead of mounds of sweets and chips, each child had their own bag of goodies to enjoy at the party. Lucky Lulu offer an incredible range of themed party goods and decor for just about any occasion.

Our table set up was simple yet effective. I think the feather mobiles we made ourselves added a nice bright touch in the background. I sourced the bright feathers from Osmans for about R20 a bag. The ones dipped on gold were slightly more expensive but still very cost effective as dear goes.

We only had one or two games, rather allowing the kids to just run around and play on the play area behind the trees for the most part. They enjoyed a game of Pass-the-parcel and one heck of a memorable game of musical statues with real cowboy music for extra effect. 🙂 The kids seemed to love it. But it was the icing of cookies that was the main attraction for most of the kids thanks to the lovely Rowena Spöhr from Cookie Creative SA, a Paint Your Own Cookie service! We had 48 delicious cookies delivered to us the day before the party, complete with icing bags and everything. All I had to do was take them out of the beautifully presented box on the day and lay the icing bags, sprinkle decorations and cookies on the table for the kids to get tucked into. No hassle no fuss and her prices are just too good for what you get!

Such a great activity that you can just leave up for kids to do whenever they feel like it. Because the pipping bags of icing are all set up, there is hardly any supervision necessary. WIN!!

The kids really had fun and we ended off the evening with family in the teepees eating takeaway pizza. Of course I washed the pizza down with about three glasses of wine but who is counting right? The best part was that there was barely any tidying up to do because the wonderful folk over at Teepees and Tassels came to collect everything the very next day.

Thank you to Lennie de Koker and Nova Photography for capturing our special day so beautifully, to Teepees and Tassels for providing the most gorgeous party set up, to Lucky Lulu for the lovely party supplies and Creative Cookies for supplying the kids hours of fun. This mama couldn’t have done it without you! Can we all take a moment to appreciate Hunter’s cute outfit and of course her delicious tummy? 🙂

Hi I’m Leigh! Did you enjoy reading this post? I really hope so and would love you to stick around a little longer! Please feel free to browse my blog for other articles or to keep up with all the latest news and to be the first to hear about some great competitions, come and find me me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also email me directly at leeloobaggins@hotmail.com or simply subscribe below and never worry about missing out!