Race Car Birthday Party - with Free Printables!

Since he was born, Vinny has always been obsessed with cars! Finally, for his 3rd Birthday, he asked for a Race Car Birthday Party. At that time, I had just started in a new role at my company, and I was also early into my pregnancy with Jacob, so I didn't have a lot of time to dedicate to planning Vinny's birthday party that year. So I kept it simple. Well, my kinda simple. :) See the pics below!

People walked in on a "raceway" made out from black pastic table cloth and white duck tape. It started at the front door and led to the candy/favor table set up in the middle of the foyer. The food was served in the dining room, undecorated. I wanted to do more with it but I couldn't find the time. I've listed the additional ideas I had at the end of this post (just for you!). The details and print outs are below.

• Candy Jars - I purchased the jars from Ikea and I topped them with the R, A, C, and E medallions that I made.
• Red and Yellow Buckets - The kids were able to fill these buckets with goodies from the candy/favor table. They were $1 each from Party City!
• Green Baskets - $1 from Target! I looove the Target dollar section for party/event supplies. I got green to shake up the red and yellow theme I had going on. I figured the colors of the stoplight were appropriate for a race party as well. :)
• Red Backdrop - Red plastic table cloth hung from the ceiling.
• FREE PRINTABLES!! (Click to download)
• "Pit Crew Tools" Napkin Wraps
• Water Bottle Labels
• Happy Birthday Banner
• R-A-C-E Medallions (used for the candy jars, but you can use them for anything you'd like!)

Other ideas for a race car party:

• Fun with food!
• Use the "wheel" shaped noodles for mac n' cheese or pasta
• Serve a pile of mini chocolate donuts and put a sign on top of them labeled, "Spare Tires"
• Create a road/raceway as a table runner, then glue a salt shaker and pepper shaker to the top of two race cars, so when people ask to "pass the salt," you can roll it down the raceway to them!
• Label a bowl of trail mix "Nuts & Bolts"
• Sign for the food table: "Pit Stop"
• Sign for the drink station: "Fuel Up"

Enjoy!