Friday Feature: Carnival Theme Family Reunion
Friday Feature: Carnival Theme Family ReunionAre you ready to have some fun? For today's feature I bring you a family reunion with a carnival theme planned and executed by my good friend, Kadie Kinney. If you have a family, chances are you will attend a reunion at some point this summer. When YOU bring everyone together….do YOU know what to do with them all? A great theme makes planning so much easier. It helps guides decisions on food, activities, decor, etc. And a carnival theme is the BEST! Take it away Kadie…
Carnival Theme
Hi guys, I'm excited to be sharing on Halfpint Design today! I was in charge of planning my family reunion this year. No big deal, right? Turns out it's a little complicated trying to juggle so many different people with separate schedules. The location of the reunion was a rental cabin at Bear Lake in Garden City, Utah. I selected a carnival theme, because I needed to entertain different parties arriving at different times. I got there early, set it up, and let everyone play at their leisure. So perfect!
Favorites
My favorite piece of the party was the prize table. I bought assorted prizes, and containers of differing sizes and shapes. We had plenty of prizes for everyone! Then I printed tags on sticker paper to identify how many tickets were needed for each prize. It turned out exactly as I envisioned it, if not a little better! {LOVE it when that happens!}
Carnival Menu
For dinner the first night we served hot dogs in a crock pot, along with chips, watermelon and pasta salad. A simple but tasty menu prepped before hand, ready and waiting as each family showed up. With arrivals spanning from 4pm – 7pm, I needed food people could serve themselves. Hot dogs stayed warm in the crock pot and the salads and drinks stayed cool in a striped carnival inflatable buffet server with minimal effort. We finished off dinner with lollipop prizes of course!
Carnival Games
- Disk Drop
- Bean Bag Toss
- Table Tennis Toss
- Duck Pond
- Photo Booth
I totally lucked out on the layout of the space we had. This whole party was planned without having ever seen our rental cabin, so I had to get there early, assess the space and then make everything fit. The photo booth backdrop fit the garage door EXACTLY, the “Carnival” banner fit the width of the window EXACTLY, and the columns from the deck above were perfect for my directional signs.
The biggest issue was uneven ground under the game table, so the bottle bean bag toss was wobbly and the bottles would sometime fall down without even being hit! I also didn't totally think through the duck pond with the toddlers. They jumped right in! My niece even started drinking from it! I probably wouldn't do that again with little ones around!
Carnival Themed Crafts
Another great feature I included to keep the kiddos busy were some craft stations. They turned out to be a real hit. I bought four craft caddies, and filled them with color-your-own paddle ball games in a carnival theme. The second craft was DIY slap bracelets, which everyone loved. I provided large crayons, markers, rhinestone stickers, washi tape, and carnival-themed foam stickers to decorate with. It was so fun to see everyone's creations!
Carnival Photo Ops
The carnival theme photo backdrops were so much fun that I got two! Here are my sister and niece getting ready for a circus performance!
My daughter enjoying photo backdrop number 2. This one is big enough for the whole family to pose in front of! I also provided photo frames and stick props.
Bottom line is that everyone loved it and played games into the night! The string lights came in handy when the sun went down. They were not only great to accent the carnival theme but really practical!
Carnival Theme Source list
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Oriental Trading
- Decor, prizes, photo booth, table runners, tickets, crafts {Oriental Trading Carnival Source Guide coming soon….}
Amazon
- Large Plastic Carnival Banner
- Red and White Striped Table Skirts
- Red and White Striped Inflatable Buffet for cold drinks
- Hot dog boats
- 3-tier Circus Carnival Tent Cupcake Stand
- Paper Striped Popcorn Bags
- 12 packs of 16 large Crayons {Washable…always washable!!}
- 100 pack Washable Markers {Also washable….she's a mom for sure}
Michael's
Etsy
Target
- Clear Globe String Lights, in Blue {Red no longer available}
Feature Summary
I love how fun this carnival theme turned a standard family reunion into an event. Keeping the children busy is priority #1 and the carnival games were perfect. It's fun that even the adults jumped in. Funny how carnivals appeal to all ages, and have since their inception. I mean, who doesn't like to have a good time? …. That's what I thought. Great job Kadie! Makes we want to have another carnival. Now that you've seen how much fun a family reunion CAN be, why would we go back to the standard, often boring, gatherings?? Answer: We won't! Take your next reunion up a notch and make it an event they'll remember with a family carnival.
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Until next time,
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What an adorable party theme idea. I love the way everything was put together, not a detail was forgotten.