Easy and Elegant Vintage Trains Birthday Party

Our son is turning four this year and I was in no way surprised when he requested a trains  party theme. He is obsessed with trains.

And although he's still so young, when he chose a vintage looking train for his party theme my heart leapt with joy. I love decorating with a bit of vintage flair and am working to decorate his bedroom with a vintage trains theme. 

Most of the pieces I used to set the mood for his party will be used in his room functionally or decoratively and were all affordable and easy to put together. 

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I scooped up these kraft chipboard pennants from Hobby Lobby for $4.99 and stenciled on the letters. Then I strung them on grosgrain ribbon to make our own "All Aboard!" banner. I love the way the black letters and ribbon look on the brown boards, so sophisticated! 

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Can you believe I printed this 15x20 vintage train poster at home on a regular printer?! Yep, I made it for a cost of $0 and couldn't be more thrilled with the way it turned out. You can check out how I did it here. 

I always like to include fresh flowers or foliage when we have a gathering and found these burgundy carnations in the floral clearance section at Kroger. I mixed them with the frosted evergreen twig and white pinecone that were from a Christmas bouquet that my hubby brought me for the holiday. 

I have to say, I love the simple, yet elegant touch the single gold balloon adds to this entry table.

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I had to include this little wood suitcase box from Hobby Lobby. I went on the week that wood crafts were 40% off so I got for about $6 and stained it myself. After the party, we will use it in his room to store special little things or toys. I love decorative storage like this. 

​I chose this vintage book from our shelf because what would traveling though the countryside be without a good book? 

I had really wanted to order the pocket watch below to set on top of this book, but stopped myself from being excessive despite the very reasonable price. Although, it would have looked stunning. And of course, our son saw the watch while I was creating this post and absolutely loved it. Figures.  

Retro Antique Bronze Pocket Watch at Amazon
$8.99

Here is our dining table with a rustic vintage trains vignette. I love the way the little evergreens set the scene for traveling across the country. I made the evergreen trees out of felt, dowel rods, wooden craft spools, and hot glue. I purchased the copper toned lantern from Amazon. It will be used to style a bookshelf in his vintage trains room and I love that it gives us an extra light source if the power ever goes out.

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I love making our kids' birthday cakes, although I've had a few "nailed it" moments. I must say though, I am super happy with the way this one turned out. 

I was inspired by the "R X R" railroad crossing sign, but didn't want a yellow cake. I really wanted white and black for a true vintage feel. So, I made my own railroad sign with our son's initial and age, of course. 

This cake was made with Ghirardelli box mixes, Pillsbury Vanilla Marshmallow icing and Ghirardelli melting wafers to decorate the top. Honestly, the melted chocolate was not my method of choice for decorating, but the grocery store was out of black icing tubes and I had this delicious stuff on hand. 

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Serveware

 I serve birthday party food buffet style and choose cute plates and napkins to complete the party theme. This year I wasn't really finding "the perfect plates and whatnot" and I was a little short on time. But this vintage trains theme had a fanciness about it and the stores that I could easily get into had the right stuff.

I picked up the elegant gold foil napkins from Hobby Lobby and good old fashioned Chinet dinner plates from the grocery store. The cake was served on elegant Chinet crystal. You know I really felt like I was on a first class train car, haha. 

Activity

​My son stays at home with me and other than our neighbors, we don't really have a lot of small children in our circle of family and friends. So I like to make sure that there's a cool activity to help focus their attention and keep it fun despite not having tons of friends to get hyper with.

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​Unpainted Train Cars with Paint and Brushes for Wooden Railway at Amazon
$22.99

I went with the Unpainted Train Cars from Amazon that came with the paint, which made it so easy for me. Our kids had so much fun painting these during the party and they will be special for a very long time. These wooden trains went perfectly with his wooden track collection and added in some cool new train car styles. 

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​All in All... 

Our son had a blast, eating cake was awesome and he thought the decor was spectacular. I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out for him. ​