Orange Themed 4th Birthday Party

Savannah’s 4th birthday party was this past weekend and several months back she decided that she wanted an ‘orange’ themed party since her absolute favorite color is orange. When she first mentioned this theme, I was a little skeptical. I was thinking she would go for a princess or character themed party, but as we began planning the orange party, we all got really excited about the color-themed birthday celebration.

Every year, I think that I’m going to keep it small, but one thing leads to another and I end up with 50+ people planning on attending our kids parties. But I’m just going to go with it for now because in a few years we won’t be hosting all of the adults or really even choosing the guests, so for right now we are going to enjoy these early years.

Savannah wanted an orange birthday party dress, so I went through my fabric stash and found some orange fabrics that I thought really worked well together. I also had purchased this orange woven citrus trim awhile back. When it arrived about six months ago, I thought, ‘why in the world did I order this?’, but I guess it was just meant to be.

Here is the dress I created for Savannah’s Orange Party:

The orange party dress had so many pieces. It was definitely not a ‘quick sew’ type of dress, but I love the end result. Savannah could not stop twirling all day long at her party. It was the perfect dress for her 4th birthday. I used McCall’s Pattern 6497 as the base for my dress design, but modified, added and altered a few things. I bought it for 99 cents at Joann’s when they had their McCall’s pattern sale, so it was a great deal.

I like to construct dresses a certain way, so I used the pattern more for sizing and didn’t really follow their instructions. I also wanted to use the orange citrus trim, so I added that along the bottom of the dress. This dress also took a TON of fabric, I want to say it was around 4-5 yards when all was said and done.

The bodice is fully lined and buttons in the back with four orange buttons. I added piping into the cross-over bodice because I just love the way piping finishes a garment. I thought about doing green piping, but I wanted to stick to orange since that was the party theme.

I added a wider/longer sash than the pattern called for and it has a large bow that ties in the back. I also made a rolled-rose flower embellishment that I added to the sash and is accented with several corker ribbons that I made as well.

We asked all of our guests to wear orange attire, so I also made Caspian and Matilda little outfits to coordinate with the party.

I just made Caspian an easy tie appliqued onesie.

Here is Matilda with my mom (Grandma Jane) in the skirt and shirt that I made from scraps of fabric from the orange birthday dress. I didn’t want to go too crazy with her outfit because I wanted to make sure she didn’t up-stage the birthday girl.

So now onto the party details………..

We tried to do as much orange food and candy as possible. We had orange goldfish crackers, sweet potato chips, carrots with southwestern dip, macaroni and cheese and more candy than you can even imagine!

I brought out a lot of crystal serving pieces that were given to me by my Grandma Ethel. I thought this would be the best way to have the full orange impact. And it sure was……..there was no doubt what the color-theme was when you walked into our dining room.

We used little clementines as a centerpiece in a large hurricane glass, but they were also a great snack for the little ones to eat. I just love the way fruit looks on a table. So simple, yet so beautiful.

Did you know that you could find this much orange candy? I ordered all of the candy from an online store called ‘Oh Nuts‘. I found them just doing a Google search and the website is really great because you can search by color and find all the candy you need. I ordered jelly orange slices, orange M & M’s, jelly beans, rock candy, peach licorice, orange and cream salt water taffy and orange candy sticks. I found orange pixie sticks and orange tootsie pops at our local party store. We let each of the kids at the party fill a bag full of the different candy as their party favor.

For the adults, I had the idea of doing some Orange Chinese Chicken, but I really didn’t like the idea of having to be cooking while all of our guests were there, so I decided to make our life easier and order Chinese catering. Sometimes I have to realize that it’s ok if I don’t make and do everything myself. The Chinese was a huge hit!!

We ordered orange chicken, a beef dish, fried rice and lo mein noodles. Since we were feeding about 50 people, I’m really glad we decided to go this route. Not to mention the fact that Chinese food leftovers are delicious.

We made four boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for the kids and just put it in the crock-pot on the ‘keep warm’ setting. The girls LOVE Mac & Cheese from the box so I didn’t dare try to mess with it and make a version from scratch.

For drinks we served juice boxes for the kids, soda, as well as mimosas (champagne and orange juice) and home-brewed beer for the adults.

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but my husband, Brett, is an avid home brewer and has brewed a special brew or two for each of the girls parties. Of course, this will be coming to an end once we start to have kid-only parties, but for now he has a lot of fun with it. Both of these beers were ‘orange’ inspired in flavor and slightly in color as well. If you recall in my birthday post regarding Savannah turning four, her knock knock joke punchline is always ‘Pancakes on your head’, so that’s where that title came from. The other beer was called ‘Savannah Slam’.

And for the decorations……….

I used an orange tablecloth and layered some orange and white polka dot wrapping paper on top. I did one piece down the center of the table like a runner and a couple more pieces across the top of the runner in the opposite direction. I also made large tissue paper flowers that I nested in between the different serving pieces.

I used some orange fabric to make a whimsical garland. Some of the fabrics were from Savannah’s birthday dress and others were different variations of orange that I already had around. I didn’t buy any new fabric for this party – yay!

I tied this pretty pink and orange flower ball from the center of our dining room chandelier. It was pretty and brought the whole color scheme of the party together.

I ordered some orange and white straws from ‘Cupcake Social‘ on Etsy as well as this orange twine and the little cups for the goldfish crackers. All of our drinking classes are ‘ball’ jars so I just pulled some of those out of the cabinet to use as containers for candy and some other items. I tied a simple bow with twine around the top of each jar.

I did not make the cake. I’m not really a baker. I love, love, love to cook, but baking……eh, I could take it or leave it. We ordered this cake from Costco. Their cakes are super-tasty, really affordable and feed 48+ people. I just had them put orange roses on it to go with the party theme. We also served orange sherbet with the cake (which turned out to be Savannah’s favorite part).

I didn’t get a ton of great pictures of Miss S. since she was very busy during her party. She was so excited to have all of her friends there to celebrate, but I did manage to get this one before the party started.

The Cottage Papa and our little man, Caspian Finn. I wouldn’t be able to plan such fun parties for our kids if it weren’t for that man. Thanks, honey, for all you do!

The orange party was a great success and most importantly, Savannah had the best time ever! Miss Matilda’s favorite color is blue and she seems to think she is having a blue-themed party come July. I’m thinking that one might be a little more difficult.

If you are looking for the ‘orange’ party invitation, you can view the post and free printable by clicking HERE.

I still can’t believe my baby girl is 4 years old!

30 Comments

sweeter than cupcakes says

March 8, 2012 at 7:49 AM

Amazing party! You certainly carried the theme through well. I have that McCall’s pattern on my to do list too. Love your take on it!
Katy Cameron says

March 8, 2012 at 8:31 AM

The dress is fab, and love how you went all out on the orange theme… For the blue one, maybe the 4th of July decorations will help you out?
Jennifer says

March 8, 2012 at 10:18 AM

love this! absolutely beautiful! inspiring!
Claudia says

March 8, 2012 at 10:38 AM

The dress is gorgeous and to die for and the party so inspiring. What a lovely Mama you are to think of all those beautiful details.
Nell says

March 8, 2012 at 10:46 AM

This party looks wonderful! I’m with Savannah as to orange being a favorite color, and this makes me want an orange party too! What a great family you are – thanks for sharing it all with us.
Colleen says

March 8, 2012 at 10:48 AM

I wish I had your talent!!! I would love that dress for all my girls!!! I won’t be showing this to my 6 year old….she looooves orange!!
Susan @ Living with Punks says

March 8, 2012 at 11:26 AM

Absolutley gorgeous Lindsay! First, the dress….wow! Love your fabric combo. I must buy that pattern now, such a great base to work with!! Your ability to find all that orange candy (think my fave is the rock candy) is rockstar status 🙂 Thanks for all the pictures to inspire.
sandra says

March 8, 2012 at 11:52 AM

What a wonderful party and she looked so adorable in her party dress. I wish you were my Mama with such a wonderful imagination and a party to remember forever. I loved your little guy’s onesie, everything was beautiful.
Jennifer Collier says

March 8, 2012 at 11:54 AM

What a lucky girl to have such a talented mama. I hope she enjoyed her birthday.
ShirleyC says

March 8, 2012 at 2:01 PM

That was an awesome party! I love the orange theme. You kids are adorable, and I also love the orange dress. Great job!
Summer says

March 8, 2012 at 5:29 PM

What an amazing party! That dress is incredible, and I love the orange theme!
Gloria (The Little Red House with the White Porch) says

March 8, 2012 at 11:45 PM

Two words: Magnificent and Stupendous! You are just amazing, Lindsay. I don’t know HOW you thought all of this up. Everything was out of this world. The girls looked wonderful and your boys looked handsome. 🙂
I like your hubby’s hat–my son has a few of those. 😉
You truly did an outstanding job… from the goodies, to the Chinese food (all of my favs!), to the Kraft Mac & Cheese (which I like too!) — what a fantastic Mom you are!
Best,
Gloria
P.S. Please tell Savannah that I loved her orange nailpolish. Yes, I noticed! 😉
Jo says

March 8, 2012 at 11:57 PM

I LOVE that Sandi Henderson fabric!! The dress came out just beautiful!!
Anonymous says

March 9, 2012 at 9:10 AM

Wow!!! I can’t imagine all the hours it must have taken you to coordinate and pull off such a fete. Savannah is one lucky (and cute) little girl.
Lindsay says

March 9, 2012 at 9:34 AM

Wow, the party is amazing! You did an absolutely wonderful job!

And I am SO happy you found my blog, so I could check out yours! Yes, we do have much in common, I love when I find another Lindsay with an ‘A’ spelling! And two girls & then a boy, that is great! Isn’t it so nice to have a sweet boy to mix it up in a world of pink. 🙂 I can’t wait to look around your blog more, I have got to follow along now. 🙂
Wendy says

March 9, 2012 at 3:28 PM

What a wonderful birthday party! The dress you made for your daughter is lovely. Your choice of fabrics is delightful!!
Paula says

March 9, 2012 at 6:17 PM

What a great idea to do a color instead of an other theme.
Your family is adorable!! I loved the kids outfits, especially the dress.
You did a great job and your party was fantastic.
Anneliese says

March 11, 2012 at 10:39 PM

Looks like so much fun, Lindsay! I love orange too! Hooray for orange and happy birthday to Savannah!
Jill Elaine says

March 12, 2012 at 11:16 AM

That was absolutely the best!! I think color themed parties are my favorite. I did a pink party for my middle girl when she was about 3 or 4. can’t remember for sure without looking at the pics how old she was! you did a great job – love how much stuff you can find out there to go with a color theme.
My hubby would love the homebrewed beer – that is pretty cool.
Savannah’s dress is gorgeous. I love the orange piping – it’s the best finish, I agree:)
Blessings to you and your cute little family!
Eleanor says

March 13, 2012 at 11:20 AM

My daughter’s 3rd birthday last summer was celebrated with a “Pink and Blue” theme that raised a lot of eyebrows but ended up great! It was a lot simpler than your’s 🙂 but we relied heavily on fresh fruit, blue corn chips with salsa, and the kids’ favorite part: pink and blue sno-cones. Everything in the goody bags was pink and blue (marshmallows, stickers, bouncy balls, and handmade hair clips).
My absolute favorite color is orange, so I may be copying your party for myself…
Ashley says

March 15, 2012 at 10:59 PM

This is such a cute party! Love the monochromatic food table! I am totally sold on your blog. I will definitely be following The Cottage Home!

Ashley @ fromdahliastodoxies.blogspot.com
Mommy, Esq. says

March 22, 2012 at 10:13 AM

I’m making this same dress for my daughter’s 4th birthday! I found your blog entry from doing a google search for the pattern. Your turned out absolutely perfect! Well done!
Stef says

March 27, 2012 at 4:37 PM

Lindsay! I came searching for this post today because I was thinking about you and wondering when you would post about Savannah’s party – and it’s been here all along!!! You know I love a good party and this is FABULOUS!! LOVE how that dress turned out – the piping, the 5 yards of fabric, it’s all just gorgeous! I saw one of those fabric garlands on Pinterest a little while ago and I just love how you did that! Good call on the Chinese food, I bet that was yummy. And HOW MUCH FUN to have all that orange candy. I think the crystal dishes were a genious way to display everything! Beautiful!
Anonymous says

April 17, 2012 at 9:08 PM

Love the dress especially! thx for sharing!
Anonymous says

August 11, 2012 at 12:38 AM

Thank you for sharing! I have been planning my daughter’s 1st birthday and decided to do orange because she is a little redhead (well more orange)… this is very helpful so I don’t have to re-event the wheel! Thank you!!

Ashley
Rocklin, California
Frances says

October 10, 2012 at 12:19 AM

Everything’s so orange and I absolutely love it! There might be other color-inspired themed birthday parties out there which I’ve seen but as of today, this one’s definitely the best!
Party Bags Supplier says

November 6, 2012 at 4:58 AM

One good thing about an Orange party theme is that you can be very flexible with your choices. From the food you serve to the dress that should be worn. And yours is a perfect Orange party. Thank you for sharing,
Allison says

April 2, 2013 at 8:57 PM

So lucky to have found this…my daughter will be 4 in May and is obsessed with the color orange. I will be ordering orange candy…can you give me a clue as to how you estimate how many pounds of each candy to buy?

Thanks!