Whether you are throwing a horse party or cowgirl party, I hope you find inspiration in the pictures and details below.
This party was extra special to plan because it was for my daughter's fourth birthday. The cowgirl theme and color was entirely chosen by her! "Purple Cowgirl" were the instructions I received and here's what I came up with. Hope you like it!
The best part is that this party didn't cost much to put together and many of the details I made myself without a lot of time or effort.
The invitations I made using Adobe Photoshop and printed on a home computer onto linen cardstock. Below the invite is an image of little girls' boots. I had them slip them off to grab this photo.
You can pull off your cowgirl party with just a few DIY party elements. Here are some of my favorites.
Easy Cowgirl Party Theme Details
- Incorporate hay bales for an instant western look
- Provide cowgirl hats to all the little guests (this makes for great photos!)
- Gather old boots (you can look at thrift stores) and place them by the front door as decor
- Play pin the tail on the horse for an easy party game
On the porch by the front door, I placed a hay bale with the cowgirl sign, an old horseshoe, and a pair of boots she had outgrown. Even though our color was purple–I pulled these items from her bedroom to use as decor.
Tip: Look around your house to see what items you can repurpose as party decor. This can save you a lot of money!
What would a Cowgirl Party be without the horses? I set out stick ponies in a "Pony Corral" and each child was able to take one home after the party so they could continue the fun at their own ranch.
I got them from the nearby dollar store. You can also find some on Amazon, here. They worked as party decor, activities, and party favors!
I just loved the purple unicorn!
And here is a close up of our little Cowgirl.
I also created a "wanted" poster and hung it on our fence as party decor. I designed it on my computer and sent it to my local office supply store to print. It only costs a few dollars to print and was such a cute party element.
You might also like this Western Baby Shower (several ideas would work for a birthday party as well).
For dessert, our cowgirl requested cupcakes and sherbet ice cream. The purple gingham cupcake liners matched perfectly. The sunflower toppers are made out of scrapbook stickers and wooden party picks.
Tip: The night before the party, pre-scoop ice cream and place in paper cups. Fill a couple of trays and place in the freezer. Then when it comes cake and ice cream, you can easily pass them out and ditch manning the ice cream scoop.
More Cowgirl Party Decor & Details:
- Paper pennant flags hung outside on the garden gate (we also placed horseshoes along the dirt path). I made these out of scrapbook paper from my local craft store. You might remember I used these as decor for this Circus Party as well.
- Wooden cutlery displayed in mason jars.
- Striped treat bags filled with caramel corn and placed in an old wooden planter for guests to grab.
I placed bales of hay along the childrens' table to be used as benches. I was able to rent these for $2 a bale from our local feed store. It was perfect, because we just returned them after the party and didn't have to worry about what to do with all that hay!
Each guest got their own cowgirl/boy hat and sheriff's badge.
Activities included pin-the-tail on the pony (which I made using felt and hot glue), coloring paper horses and putting on temporary horse tattoos.
And then there was D.J. the horse. He was the biggest hit of the party, especially with the birthday girl!
What Party Food to Serve
Serve guests food that feels like you might find it on a ranch! I ordered catering items from our local restaurant and then transferred the items to serving dishes with cute little name cards. The menu included:
- Mustang Mac-n-Cheese
- Wild West Chicken Strips
- Tumbleweed Salad
- Bootstrap Biscuits
- Smoky Bacon Potato Salad
- Applesauce
- Ice cold lemonade
As the afternoon came to an end, the little ones left with their stick ponies, hats and badges and the parents were sent off with these popular Cowgirl Cookie Jars (recipe and DIY instructions from Bakerella!).
I hope you liked how we put together this cowgirl party theme. It was a lot of fun!
Related Party Ideas
Doreen says
Looking for some tips on making the poster...where did you have it printed? I tried using Picmonkey and uploading for printing at Walmart, but the poster is showing as low resolution at the highest size Picmonkey can do. Interested to know what size your poster was in the editing software, and where you had it printed. Thanks for any help you can provide...
Marissa says
Hi! I wanted to find out how you made your tags for the cowgirl cookies. I am doing a variation for Christmas and wanted to make red and green tags, but the only printables that say 'cowgirl cookies' are pink!!
Danica says
I love the invitation you created. Can I get an e-mail copy of the invitation so I can change a few things to work for us?
Your Hostess says
@Melissa I did a quick search on ebay and found some: http://compare.ebay.com/like/251014886225?_lwgsi=y<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar
melissa says
Anyone been able to find stick ponies since dolar general has discontinued?
LeAnn says
Tori, did you encounter any problems printing the wanted poster in a large poster size after creating it in piknic? If so, do you have any tips on how to print large posters. I am getting low resolution messages. I am using a canon rebel. Thanks
Your Hostess says
Hi LeAnn, I did not having any trouble printing the photo. I would just make sure you keep it in the highest resolution format possible to ensure it comes out clearly. Hope that helps a bit!
Melanie says
Awesome party and I will be borrowing lots of ideas from it. The stick ponies were recalled from Dollar Tree. Has anyone found them anywhere else?
Amanda says
Love it..Love it..Love it!!
My daughter will be turning 10 and she’s starting to love horses so I will be having an awesome western party due to your great ideas, thank you so much for sharing!
GREAT JOB MOMMY!!
I sent you an email with some questions.
Tori says
Hi Sarah, I can't remember exactly but I know crafts stores (like Michael's or Joann's) have little animal figurines that would work perfectly. In fact, I most likely got them at one of those stores.
Sarah says
Really great ideas! Love the purple theme! Where did you get the little horses for the cupcakes?
Tori says
Thanks Christina! I did make it -- I just used felt pieces from the local craft store and cut out the pony and the tails. Then I hot glued little bows to the tails and Velcro dots to the back of the tails (so they attached to the felt on the pony). Hope that helps!
Christina says
Love this so much! Did you make that "pin the tail on the pony" yourself or did you purchase it somewhere?
Wes @ Party Ideas For Girls says
Nicely done! You must have spent a lot of time and effort preparing this and she looks so cute and adorable in her cowgirl outfit. A perfect fit. :)
Jessica says
Thank you very much! I love the picnick website!! It was fun to make-up a poster! Did you print from them? How big was your poster? It looks huge! Thanks for all your wonderful info!!
Jessica says
LOVE LOVED your party! Our little girl is turning 5 in November and she requested a "barn party"! She has her own pony at her Nana's house and they have a tiny barn that I'm hoping I can do something with! I really loved your poster idea!! I would love to do this for her!! I also loved that you didn't spend much for party favors(which I am having difficulty trying to do, but I'm gonna use some of your ideas!) I was wondering what kind of plates did you use?! And what about that wooden cutlery?!?! I love it!!!!
Your Hostess says
Hi Jessica,
So happy to hear that you are finding some inspiration for your little girl's party!! I just used purple paper plates and the wooden cutlery was purchased here: https://fortandfield.3dcartstores.com/24-pieces-disposable-wooden-cutlery--knives-forks-and-spoons_p_116.html --hope that helps!
Your Hostess says
@Tiana - the stick ponies were a killer find at my local Dollar Store! You might be able to check ebay or Amazon?
Tiana says
I love this idea!!! Where did you get the stick horses?
Your Hostess says
Hi Michelle, I ordered the cowboy hats from Oriental Trading Company: http://www.orientaltrading.com/
Michelle says
Where did you buy all the cowboy hats on tables?
Sandra says
Wow this is like the coolest cowgirl birthday party! My niece would love this, you did an awesome job!
Tori says
@Kelley - I got the Cowgirl sign about a year ago at a store called Ross.
@Tammy - I created the poster using this free service http://www.picnik.com/. It was pretty easy! Good luck on your party!
Tammy says
Tori
Can you please tell me where or how you made the wanted sign. I am having a horse party for my 3 year old daughter and I actually made all the stick horses (she has named them all will be interesting day of party when kids leave with them)because the dollar store no longer sells them. I loved the way you decorated your whole party what a awesome job.
Tam
Kelley says
Hi Tori,
Can you tell me where you got the cowgirl sign you used at the front door. Love it!
Tori says
Hi Shanna,
Do you have a program on your computer that you can use? I used Adobe Photoshop, but I bet you could even use something like Microsoft Word. Just insert the image and then add the text you want. You can download fun western fonts to use. For fonts, I recommend dafont.com. I made these invites 7X5.
If you are not up for it yourself, I recommend searching Etsy for designers who can help you out. Often, they'll design and then send you a printable file. You can email me if you need any more help or tips (I'll do my best!). hostess@thoughtfullysimple.com
shanna says
Thanks Tori- I found the hats from oriental and already have them at home! I really like the invitation because it is super cute but how do you make an invite with a picture on it? what size did you make yours? I have some great pics of my daughter and I want to roughly do the same (i am so UNoriginal) for her bday invites. If you have tips I will sure take them ;) thanks
DrBabyMamaDrama says
My daughter is obsessed with the color purple and her cowboy boots as well. I will be definitely using some of your great ideas for her upcoming party!
Tori says
Shanna, the straw hats are from Oriental Trading Co. - Here is the link!
Stacey - I am sorry, I do not have a shop to sell anything.
Stacey says
LOVE this party! My 5yr old is obsessed with anything that has to do with horses. I was wondering, do you have a shop where people that don't have adobe can purchase some of your party supplies?
shanna says
I loved this party! My daughter just told me she wants a cowgirl theme this year and I am def. taking some ideas ;) My daughter is older (will be 9) but I think it is still not too young for her (i hope cuz I am so in love with this idea). Can you tell me where you got the straw hats from? Thanks for posting!
Virginia Quarmby says
Oh this reminds me of parties when mine were younger, it looks like they had a ball of a time - well done you! The Cowgirl Cookie Jars are way too cute :)
Stay-At-Home-Chef says
Yet another fabulous party theme...might have to use this idea for my daughter's birthday :)
AutumnJo says
Pony corral and wanted posters?! What fun! And a purple blanket for the horse... you always hit every detail perfectly!
Melanie (The Wedding Bistro at Bellenza) says
This is just too cute! Luv the pony sticks as favors :)
Brittany @GreyGrey Designs says
LOVE that this is purple and not pink! Purple is my FAVORITE!
Tori says
Thank you all for the sweet comments!!
Erin - thank YOU for the eye candy inspiration :).
Erin Volante says
OH MY GOODNESS! I saw a bunch of traffic coming from your blog and popped over here, only to see all this CUTENESS! What an amazing job you did, and beautiful images too. I feel so amazed that our little party has inspired others, that's the best part of this whole creative-mama gig. :) Thanks so much!
Kim @LittleLadybugDesigns says
Love this! You did an amazing job. I love all the details.
Michelle@Everyday Celebrating says
Adorable! Love the stick horses! Dollar Store rules!
Sandi says
This is amazing! Love the all use of hay bales! and your daughter is adorable!
Shelley@DivinePartyConcepts says
What a great party!!! The wanted poster is adorable!!!
Wendy says
Love it! Reminds me of my son's cowboy party this summer.....but a much prettier, girly take on it. :)
Kori Clark says
I just adore all of the details! You did a smash up job and I am sooo in awe of it all! I know my 3.5 yr old would have been in heaven so I imagine all the guests we thrilled!! I am super partial to stick horses, so they have to be my favorite!! And the stick unicorn, adorable!!
Jennifer Birkhead says
Tori, this is just gorgeous!!!! Love it ALL!!! x
Melissa says
This party is amazing! Love all the personal touches.
Jessica Gabriel says
amazing job momma... wondering how you are going to top her 5th! haha
Tori says
THANK you all!! The best part was how SUPER excited my little one was -- she loved every details which made it SO fun!
Tiffany says
You did an amazing job & I was anxiously awaiting your photos.
Courtney says
Oh my gosh I love it! I love the purple theme too! And the "Wanted" Sign HAS to be my fave :) And the ponies on a stick - such a cute favor idea!
Not Just A Mommy! says
Yes, I did like it! So many fun details, I love the look of glee on her face as she rides DJ; good job mama!