Life has often been compared to a circus, and sometimes a party. My daughter Courtney put the two together for an awesome circus themed birthday celebration that was both simple and inexpensive!
Lucy, five, and Henry, three, donned their tightrope walker and strongman costumes and were more than a little excited for their friends to arrive. (This post contains affiliate links via my association with Amazon. I may make a commission off sales, your price remains the same)
The Grand Entrance into the Bigtop
As the little guests arrived they were greeted by a photo opportunity with festive balloons and and DIY circus tent!
The circus tent is a table cloth with the center taped to the wall, the sides are ‘draped’ and a star pinned to the top. A simple homemade sign, balloons and paper flag streamers add the final touches.
The children loved posing in front of this backdrop as they arrived!
The ‘ring of fire’ is made from a hula hoop wrapped with a gold streamer. Strongman barbell is a cardboard tube from wrapping paper painted black with two black balloons taped to the ends. Too cute and super simple!
The strongmen took their roles very seriously!
A bowl of red clown noses made for some additional circus fun! Aunt Octavia painted faces and the kids got all their energy out in the bounce house.
The Food: All Good Stuff!
If you remember from my post “Recipes for a Junk Food Free Birthday Party Part 1”, we don’t like to feed the little ones junk food, even at parties. So my daughter chose a menu that suited both children and adults! She made my recipe for Mac and Cheese but baked them in cupcake tins. You can find party themed cupcake papers and cupcake papers with toppers here.
Veggies with hummus and a big bowl of fruit in compote were served alongside the macaroni cups.
Rotisserie chicken was added to my “Pears and Blackberry Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette” to make a kid and adult friendly dish! White serving dishes are always a favorite for any party.
The cake was decorated with circus animals and my daughter made the “Hooray” cake topper and hoop for the lion to ‘jump’ through with gold pipe cleaners! Easy, adorable and budget friendly. Of course you could make any message you choose.
The kids and adults loved the freshly made Parmesan and Sea Salt Popcorn (recipe below) served in rolled colored paper with pom-poms glued to the bottom! Again, so simple to make and costs pennies!
Even the party favors the children left with were healthy: fruit leather and raisins in cellophane bags tied with decorative string…
And even though I was busy taking pictures of the adorable festivities, I managed to get a few grand baby cuddles in!
The Recipe: Parmesan and Sea Salt Popcorn
Tips and what you will need: A large pot, coconut oil, popcorn kernals (non gmo), sea salt (I buy the tub to save money!) and a microplane for grating fresh parmesan. Add Parmesan before sea salt. Parmesan is a little salty all by itself so if you add the salt first the popcorn might be too salty after adding cheese. Click for 11 more popcorn recipes!
Popcorn made fresh with butter from grass fed cows, sea salt and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Remember that all recipes are adjustable! Add more or less butter, cheese etc to suit your taste!
- 3 T Coconut Oil
- â…“ cup white or yellow popcorn kernels preferably NON GMO
- 1/4 cup butter melted (or more...I am a bit of a butter lover myself)
- 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- sea salt to taste
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If your pot does not have a long handle you will need oven mitts to shake safely.
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Place large pot on stove on med/high heat, add coconut oil. Drop three corn kernels in oil. Place lid on pot. When kernels pop, pour â…“ cup of kernels into the oil, replace the lid and shake pot continuously till kernels are done popping. Immediately remove from heat. Drizzle with melted butter while stirring with a knife, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, while stirring. Last sprinkle with sea salt to taste.
Please comment below with any questions you have and I will be happy to answer!
MAY I PLEASE ASK A FAVOR?
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Perfect as always!!
I love this! Thank you for all of your help yesterday. We love you!
Cute! Cute! Cute! I am pinning and sending to all my daughters and my daughter-in-law. So what games or activities did you do with the party guests?
Aunt Octavia manned the face painting station and there was a bounce house. That was it!
What a fun birthday party, everything looks so good!
Thanks Joy:)
I love those mac and cheese cups! That is such a great idea for a party! Everything looks fantastic. I did a circus party years ago when my kids were little. I wish I thought of that tent back drop for photos!
I know! I would not have thought of it either. These young girls have the advantage of Pinterest!
How Fun!! I love the cute things you made to put the popcorn in 🙂
Wow this looks amazing! What a great job on all the decorations! Last time I did a home party it was a whole lot more than I bargained for. I totally could have used pipe cleaners for stuff!! Thanks for sharing!
Not only were her decorations easy they were so cheap! Thanks for your comment:)
OH! This is so sweet! I love that cake! And the party favors are perfect – you know I am loving that – so healthy but still so yummy!
Thanks Rene. My daughter did a great job!
beautiful family, beautiful food, great junk-free options. I love everything about this post!
Aw thanks Loriel. I have to say those kids are the apple of my eye!
how cool! I love all the healthy options!
The food spread is lovely! The strongmen are hilarious. What fun and how beautiful it all was!! Yet, snuggles take the cake! 🙂
The strongmen were hilarious. Henry flexed the whole two hours lol.
This has to be one of the cutest party themes I have ever seen. I love your photos! Thank you for sharing them with us. Such yummy food too! What a great idea with the popcorn.
Thanks Emily. I ate a lot of that popcorn lol.
This is such a cute birthday theme.
So spectacular!!! I love your
Creative and healthy ideas!!!
Thanks! But it was all my daughter! I just made the recipes and took pictures:)
Seems to me she has a future as professional party planner! Just adorable 🙂
Agreed!
You’ve given me so many great ideas! I love the way you made the circus tent, the pipe cleaners in the cake, and all the food suggestions. I’m always trying to put out healthy things because I figure if we’re having cake, that’s enough sugar. Our last party we handed out bananas as the party favor (it was Minion themed). I’m saving this for my next party for ideas.
Nice Camille! I agree, cake is enough sugar!
This is crazy cute! I love all of the details and really love your ideas for the snacks!
Thanks. They were actually my daughter’s idea!
These ideas are so fun! I love your strong men. Adorable! Pinned.
Aren’t they hilarious. My daughter made those little costumes.
I can’t get over how cute this party is! You did so much detail. Super cute!
It was all my daughter!
What a cute idea for a birthday party and the popcorn sounds really good too!
It is! I love a savory popcorn!
I like this party circus. Definitely going to try it for my next birthday.
Could you tell me how to do the Mac and cheese in the cupcake tins. What. A great idea! How long is it cooked for? Is everything the same as the penne recipe?
It is the mild version of the penne but you can also use my straight up mac and cheese recipe (use the search bar on right side bar). I believe we cooked them for about 20 minutes:)
Hello. How far in advance of the party time can I make the popcorn?
I would say the morning of:)