My little man just turned FOUR. Where does the time go? {sniffle}. They just grow up too fast. Listen to me,…I am turning into my mom.
Before we moved across country, Noah had a special birthday party with his friends. Do you remember his 3rd Golf Themed Party? Or how about my twins’ 1st Sweet Shoppe Party? Well, just to show you that I simply can NOT keep up with these extravagant parties, I’d like to start with the most recent party party we had in our home. BEHOLD: The Twins’ 2nd Birthday…
Yep. That’s it. Two store bought cakes with a couple of candles on top. No, I don’t love them less this year. I actually love them even MORE than I did last year 😉 We had just moved across country, we were surrounded by boxes, and well,… it was “just what the Doctor ordered”. I needed a low key birthday. –Can I just take a moment to say how much I loved it? No stress, no planning, AND no cost. {Okay $10 bucks for the cakes}. Sometimes simplicity is a very VERY good thing.
My little man drew the lucky straw this year. All my party planning efforts went to him. He wanted a good ‘ole fashioned Clown Themed Birthday Party. When I spotted chickabug’s new rainbow themed party printables, I knew it would be the perfect fit. One Clown Themed Rainbow Birthday Party coming right up.
The Invite…
{“Wear your favorite color and come clown around”}
The Party…
The Food…
The Favors…
The most important part…THE CLOWN!
This picture melts my heart. True. Utter. Happiness. 
This is one special birthday boy. Gosh I love him.
Yes, he is four,… not five. His little fingers got confused for a minute. 😉
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This party was pulled off with some amazingly creative women. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was literally in the middle of a big move and could NOT have pulled this off without you. Here are the sources
*All of the paper goods were printables from chickabug‘s new rainbow theme collection. You know we love some chickabug around here.
*The over-the-top clown cake pops were created by Mom’s Killer Cakes. Seriously. Could these be any cuter?
*The adorable rainbow cookies were handmade by The Wacky Cookie Company. These tea cookies tasted a-mazing!
*The cute number 4 T-shirt came from 2 Sweet Tees.
*The glass bottles, straws, polka dot favor boxes, balloons, party lanterns, and colored gumballs can be found out Polka Dot Market. We use Polka Dot Market for all of our party supply needs. Watch out, it’s addicting over there.
*Lastly, the rainbow table runner, the sparkle #4, and the rainbow birthday banner were all created by Nancy from A to Zebra Celebrations. {Yes, I used her last year for the girls’ party banner too}.
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But WAIT! We are still celebrating! Our party sponsors have some gifts for you. Did you spot A to Zebra’s handmade creations? The Table Runner? The Sparkle #4? And that gorgeous detailed Birthday Banner? She is giving one of each away (in theme of your choice) to 3 HowDoesShe readers. Have you seen her handmade shop?! And Polka Dot Market wants to make someone happy with 2 lbs of rainbow gumballs. Why are gumballs so fun?! Just leave me some comment love for a chance…
**Updated, congratulations to Shera, Lisa, Julie, and Estreia! We emailed you the details! :)***
Thanks for sharing my kids’ birthday parties with me as they grow up. Awwww. We are like one big family here.
*I found much of my inspiration for this party from Emmy’s Closet. Check out her adorable details here.
OMG that is just the cutest party I’ve seen in a long time. You must have spent days and days and days getting that together. And those cake pops!! Brilliant… just brilliant. I’m sure everyone had a blast!
BTW I’m linking to your party on my FB page. I have to share all your great ideas!
Aww Thanks Debbie! You’re the best.
Wow That is amazing! What a lucky little Noah!! Inspiration for birthdays to come!!! YAY! I love all of the coordination!
ACK!!!! It’s all ADORABLE!!!! How fun!!!! I love this idea, and I love your pictures! 🙂
Super fun, super cute! And this is coming from a girl who, admittedly, HATES clowns. Finds them disturbing. Usually. In your case, the clown was friendly-looking, not frightful. 🙂 Love the rainbow cookies too. Lucky little guy!
This is a little man’s dream come true!! Awesome job Mum!
Wow, that is some SERIOUS effort. Well done! And thank you for making me feel like the world’s worst mother! 🙂 (My kids are lucky to get from-a-box cupcakes and a few balloons).
Good job, mom. LOVE the rainbow colors.
Jacey, did you not see the top picture? Of my twins 2nd Birthday!? 😉 Totally Lame. Sometimes the basic party is the best party. 🙂
WOW- I love everything! Those are the best cake pops I have ever seen. Love all the colors. Fantastic job.
Ok.. Off the top I will say that I HATE clowns but this party was totally adorable!!!.. good job mama.. and I might not hate clowsn quite as much now!
Maddie
Wow! You have inspired me. My little boy turns 2 in January and I’m already starting to plan. You thought of everything – AMAZING!
This party came out amazing. I love the numerous amounts of colors and candy. My favorite aspect is the clown cake pops. Those look wonderful. Fantastic job. 🙂
To Tina Reeves: My daughter doesn’t turn three ’til March. I started planning her 3rd bday literally the day after her 2nd bday party. Never too early to plan! It’s great to have all this inspriation out there, isn’t it?
I *love* it! I’m just sad my “little guy” isn’t so little anymore (he’s 12!) However, I’m sure I can come up with SOME reason to throw a themed party :-p
Nice work! So Cute! Been there party planning and moving it is quite a challenge!
Shelley! It is PRECIOUS! James had a circus party last year and I had the most fun planning it! I can’t believe Noah is FOUR! Holy cow!
What a fun party-the love really shows in all the details. Thanks for sharing your sources.
This party is amazing!! I love all the bright colors and those printables are SO cute! And that ruffled fabric behind the cute banner… what is that? I loooove it!
Holy Clown Party Batman!!! You. are. a. rockstar. for reals.
OH my goodness how cute! Wonderful job, as always Shelley! 🙂 You are so creative. And I am happy you did a rainbow theme because I have been trying to plan a Care Bear party for my little Mylee and was gong to use rainbow theme. Yay there are TONS of fun ideas to get more inspiration from! Thanks.
Great job! Would love to win the party pack! Also, what kind of camera do you use? All your shots are great!!
Canon 40d 🙂
One of the coolest parties EVER!! Shelley you know how to party!
I absolutely love the Clown party! And the twins party for that matter! it is nice to stop and enjoy sometimes without all of the juggling!
That is the cutest party. What a lucky boy!
Oh my goodness! That had to be one of the coolest 4th birthday parties! EVER! I love all of it! Great job!
I’ve only started on the birthday parties but I agree that an extravagant party every other year is still more than enough!! Don’t tend to love clowns but I love that you used the colors to make it your own. Got to find those straws. Looked pretty fun, even for me 🙂
You did such a wonderful job! I just threw a circus themed party for my 4 year old twin boys that was very similar. I wish I would have thought of the make your own rainbow drinks…How cute!
So cute! Love, love, love all the bright colors! He’s a lucky boy! 🙂
That is so fabulous! I love it!! 🙂
LOVE this party Shelley. I would love to see how to make a lot of things myself. THe vendors are amazing, but often pricy.
This is by far one of the cutest parties I have seen for a boy in a LONG time. I love all the colors! I love the fact that despite moving you were able to put together an AWESOME party for your little boy! It’s easy to plan parties for girls but this little boys party took the cake! I’m going to have to borrow it for my twins (B/G) when they turn 5! Super Super cute! Well done! Well done!!!!!
I love the clown theme. I also loved that you shared the simple party too! I would love to have one of A to Zebra’s table runner. Thanks for the chance!
he’s brave. I’m scared of clowns.
Gorgeous party! I love having big fun parties, but sometimes you need a low key one too so don’t feel bad about your girls’. We are going to have a half birthday party here for my 5 year old since his bday falls in the winter and he wants a water party!
Totally adorable!!! Loved everything about it! I am planning the big number 6 for my little guy right now and I’m going crazy with all the ideas!!! It cannot get here quick enough.
That’s so awesome! How long does it take you to plan all that? It just is amazing!
Super cute party! I really love all the fun colors! Your little guy looked so happy too! I think it’s fun to plan fun parties too. It’s also nice to keep them low key too! For my little boy’s 2nd birthday we had pizza and cake with just our little family of 5. (plus gram and papa of course)! I was worried I didn’t make a big enough deal, but he knew it was his day and I know he felt special! Great job again!!
Nice party! Looks like he had a great time! I’m with ya on needing a break from big parties. My kids’ birthdays are always in the fall. When my kids were younger, I decided we’d do a “friend” party on the even years and a “family” party on odd years. That keeps it simple for me without making the birthday any less important!
Love this party, so creative and colorful. Where did you get your cake stand with the ribbon woven thru? that would be so versatile to be able to change ribbon for different events:)
TJ Maxx/ home goods 🙂
AMAZING! I just love the bright fun colors & great details! I also adore A to Zebra! xoxo
Very cute. My daughter loved the clown we saw last week, so I’m considering this theme, although I had been planning an art party…either way, I think it will involve rainbows, and I’d love to win!
Love it! I’m throwing a Circus themed party for two of my boys at the beginning of September! Amazing ideas and so excited to do theirs!
Wow – what a great party! I am so inspired!
This turned out to be so cute – knew it would! What a wonderful day for your family before the big move. Thanks for including Polka Dot Market! 🙂
really cute party you outdid yourself with the theme, Gets me excited for my little ones 4th b-day party coming up…
So cute and so fun! I love it 🙂
Love this rainbow clown party–so many cute details! : )
I love the bright colors, this will also work for my daughters circus party!
LOVE your party!! I am planning a rainbow party for my daughter’s 1st birthday! Love all the great ideas. Thanks for sharing!!
I did the same thing with my little girl’s 2nd birthday…kept it super simple with just cupcakes and family! 🙂 My 9 yr olds birthday is coming up next and I can’t wait to work on his…I think he wants a Mario themed party! lol
Such great ideas for my babe’s birthday party! thank you for sharing 🙂
This party is AMAZING!! Please enter my name into the drawing. Thanks!
Love this Party! Lots of great ideas! 🙂
This party is amazing!!!! Love all the colors and details!
Oh I loved this party. I loved the bright colors and the clown cake pops are the cutest. I am going to suggest this for my granddaughter’s birthday
WOW…What a fun party! I just love the bright fun colors & amazing details! Such a cute idea.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this party idea!!! I’m thinking I might use a rainbow theme for my daughter’s 4th birthday next spring!! Never too early to plan, right?!? What a great job, the party looks fabulous, so happy!!! I love color!! Happy 4th birthday to your little boy!
we are having a rainbow party for my daughter in November and these would be perfect!! Hope I win!!
What an AMAZING party! I am jealous of your party planning skills!!
Was kind of scared to look at a clown themed party, but that was awesome! Everything was super cute!! BTW…love The Polka Dot Market too!
This is AWESOME! Everything turned out fantastic!
Love
Adorable!
Ah-mazing! I love all the attention to detail and the colors. And I love Polka Dot Market! Thank you for posting where you got all the items. I’m getting ready for my daughter’s Willy Wonka themed birthday party in a few months and I’me excited to look up some of these websites for products and inspiration! 🙂
thank you for the inspiration…I am planning our twins 5th birthday party and I got the inspiration I needed from you!
COLORFULL, BRIGHT AND CHEERY, GREAT PARTY !!
Personally, I’m embarrassed to mention that I am terrified of clowns, but i LOVE the colors of this party! They just POP!! Great Job!
Love the bright colors, great job! I agree gumballs are lots of fun!
Love the clown party!!! So cute!
you did an AmAzInG job!! i just LOVE planning my kids parties and it looks like you do too. i think it’s great to make them feel so special on their big day.
What a cute party! You have such great ideas and looks like you thought of everything. I am beginning planning my son’s first birthday party in February, I am SO EXCITED!!
*Polka dot market sent me 🙂
ABSOLUTELY A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E! Amazing job!
Bubble gum, yum, yum, yum! Sent here from Polka Dot Market!
LOVE all those bright colors! Amazing how you tied everything together so well. And I really like seeing all those products from Polka Dot Market. Going to place my order with them soon 🙂
Love it!
Adorable!!
Amazing party! You have the most adorable ideas. I love all the pictures. Great party.
Such a colorful party, jusy adorable!
what a cute party!
WOW!!! TRIPLE WOW!!!! Amazing colors and ideas… Love the clown noses… Super cute… Love the cake idea… My daughter is having a GUMBALL party this year (8yrs old) cant believe already 8!!!! And I may use your idea for her cake.. If you dont mind.. We need to purchase TONS and tons of gumballs to pull off her party!! GREAT JOB… Actually AMAZING JOB….!!!!!!!!!!
YOUR CHILDREN ARE SUPER BLESSED!!!
Super Duper Cute!
FABULOUS! YAY! I could use all those items for an upcoming party!!
what a cute party–you really went all out! Good job!
Fantastic! What a creative mom you are!
Now, I want to change the theme of my daughter’s party! Love this 🙂
Beautiful job! I love every bit of this
So cute!!!!!
What a great party!! So bright and fun!! Perfect for any child!
Such a cute party, I want one of everything for my son’s birthday 🙂
Clowns usually creep me out, but everything at this party was so bright and sunny! No creeps here! 🙂
Wow! What a fantastic party! I would have loved to have attended with my 2 sons. You sure put a lot of work into it. I can’t imagine doing all that. Your kidlets are very lucky indeed!
I just LOVE every detail! I wish I could throw a party every weekend! Too many fabulous ideas! Great job! And thanks for sharing your talent and treasure w us! :o)
Love the birthday banner. It looks like it was fun.
I LOVE it! The clown theme w/ a combination of rainbow colors and polka dots are so cute!! And, “A to Zebra Celebrations” handmade creations are adorable… I would love to be entered into their giveaway. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your wonderful party, it is truly inspiring!
Oh, what a sweet party!
Gumballs are perfect for almost any themed party.
So, so F U N!!!
Loved this theme!! Really great for any age and easy to find all the colors literally anywhere you shop!! Your son looked so happy and excited!! Way to go Mom!!
Love the whole party! Could have soo much with those gum balls:)
What a FUN themed birthday party! All the details were amazing.. great job pulling it all together!!
What an awesome party! Love the rainbow colors! 🙂
Great balls of fun!
What a fun and cheerful party! I love the polka dot balloon,
straws and gumballs! (Sent by Polka Dot Market)
Love it! You gave me some great ideas for a carnival party in having
Polka dot market is a family favorite!
Such a CUTE party!! I would LOVE the freebies for my daughter’s upcoming 3rd birthday party-SO many cute ideas:)
Adorable, so creative and fun! LOVE the rainbow colored drinks and food.
I love this party theme!! So bright and fun! Love the gumballs too!!
LOVE all of it ! SO colorful in every way.
Super cute party!!! Love polka dot shot and a to z celebrations!!!
So cute! Wish I would have seen this post before I hosted my son’s first b-day circus theme party…so many great ideas I could have added 😉
Love the party – the bright colors are gorgeous!
[email protected]
I love this party! The rainbow colours compliment the theme so well!
So cute and fun! I would love to do a theme like this one day! Thanks for the giveaway too! : )
Such a fun party!
Amazing! I love the bright colors and gumballs are always a hit!
So cute! What a fun theme and great ideas!
I love the rainbow clown party. What an amazing job you did. I love the treatbags!
Dax had so much fun! He still asks for Noah on a weekly basis! Miss ya!
AMAZING girl! No detail left undone! I love it. It was fabulous meeting you at Evo, wish we’d had more time to chat. You are amazing! xoxo
Fabulous use of colours! What fantastic ideas, I want to go to that party! x
Seriously ADORABLE Shelly! I love all the color and all the details. You are a party planning extraordinaire!
I am bookmarking this page so I can reference it for next year. My sister and I have kids (almost 2) one month apart (August/September) and we join birthdays together. We are doing a sesame street theme (we could TOTALLY use some color coordinated supplies) this year – but next year I see polka dots and clowns in our future! You have SUCH good ideas! Next I”m headed over to the Polka Dot Market!
What a cute party… Keeping in mind for future years
OMG!!! I Loooove it when You throw a party and theme is done the right way from top to bottom! Love the entire clown. You are such an Inspiration for Me. My Grandson is turning 5 in sept. And He would Love this entire party theme! G R E A T JOB!!
Wow, Shelley! Thank you so much for mentioning my little ol’ blog 😉 I’m so happy that you were able to find some inspiration from Emmy’s party. Noah’s party looked AMAZING!! Wonderful job, as always!! Thank you again! 🙂
Of course Sara! Thanks for letting me steal some ideas from you! I loved what you did. 🙂
Seriously… that’s the cutest party ever!! You did a great job 🙂
VERY cute party! Thx for sharing. I LOVE ‘Polka Dot Market’! They are the BEST!!!
You are definitely #1 Mom. Thanks for the inspiration and ideas. We are planning our own rainbow b-day party in a few weeks and love your post. Thanks!
What an amazing party! I had fun just looking at the pictures. Thanks for the inspiration and links.
Wow, awesome party! But I agree, Chickabug is awesome!
awesome party! i love every detail
So colorful, I’m pinning your pictures on interest! Would love to win!
I dont even like clowns but this is by far an AMAZING party!
This party theme brightened my day-thanks for posting! 🙂
uhm, that turned out soo freaking cute. Sad that I couldn’t be there. Maybe I will just PAY you to do my parties…that sounds much better:)
This is amazingly creative. I am so impressed.
This is so amazing! I am one who loves bright colors and parties! Great idea and so much fun for everyone! Definately sharing this with a friend who needs an idea for her son’s birthday!
Your attention to detail is amazing and I love all of the bright colors! WELL DONE!
Seriously? Can you plan my kids birthday? Please!
eek!!!! I’d love to win!!! I love your blog and all the shops! 🙂
Thank you!
This party is great. My son’s birthday is coming up and I’d love to win. Thank you.
Derek
Love this party, very colorful and bright. My kids would love this !!!
I love it.
what an adorable theme for a birthday party!!!
The gumballs are amazing because you could use them for any happy event!! They can be part of a wacky atmosphere or you can choose any color which would be complemented by the gumballs – I love it!
Super cute! My daughter’s birhtday is coming up so it would be awesome to be blessed with a win!
Awesome party! I’m working on a gumball theme for my almost 4-year old and have the same colors! Great ideas!
what!! What a GREAT party!! I would love a birthday banner!!
This is such an ADORABLE party! You did an amazing job! 🙂
I LoVe LoVe LoVe it!!!! What a perfectly colorful and FUN looking party!!
Shelley, thanks so much for including our clown cake pops and letting us be a part!!
We at Mom’s hope your 4th year is just tops, Noah!!!
So incredibly adorable! Sure to put a smile on every face.
This has to be the best clown party I have seen!!! Everything is gorgeous….I am in love with all the details!!! Great Work..u are so talented!!
Sooo CUTE – makes me wish my children were small again 🙂
I am planning a rainbow (brite) party for my daughter’s 4th birthday. I have to steal the make your own rainbow water idea! Love all the little details!
OMG! This party is fantabulous! And, it couldn’t have come at a better time. I am hiring a clown for my daughters 5th birthday this fall and was seaching online for some clown themed ideas. I hit the jackpot here. Thanks for sharing. I see some Chickbug and Mom’s Killer Cakes orders will be in my future. LOVE IT ALL!
I want to come next year. Send me an invite!
What a cute party!
How cute! I LOVE the clown pops! VERY fun!
What a fun party theme!! I love all the great ideas! You girls throw the best parties!! Sure hope I win some of these wonderful goodies for my youngest GS’s birthday party coming up soon!! Dr. Seuss theme will be lots of fun too!
You’ve done it again…another stunning party! Rainbow parties are so much fun…your photos just scream HAPPY! What a memorable day for your little guy.
I LOVE this party–I used to be obsessed with clowns when I was maybe 10 or 11- loved them. This party reminds me of that phase. Love all the little details and your photography!
This party is adorable!! I’m planning my daughter’s 4th birthday party and she wants a circus theme. I’m definitely going to use these cute ideas! Thanks for the inspiration!!
Love this theme!! I teach preschool and we always have a clown day when we learn about letter Cc!! I can’t wait to use some of your cute ideas! Thanks for always giving me some inspiration! 🙂
OMG….I cannot begin to tell you how cute this party was !!!! I can only imagine how cute it was in person. I love planning my son’s birthday parties…..ok, well I’ve only planned 2, but I had a blast planning those two and canNOT wait for #3 !!! He turns 3 in February and yeah, I’m already starting !!! You did an AMAZING job on everything !! And that picture of your little boy…OMG…he is a truly happy child !! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
SO CUTE! I am combining my daughter’s 6th birthday and son’s 3rd birthday parties this year. This is just the perfect theme for that!
This party is just adorable! I wish I could see your table spread! I’m doing my son’s 2nd birthday in October and I want to do a circus/carnival theme. Oh, its all so colorful and fun! Thanks for the vendor ideas, I will have to check them out. Have you ever heard of Sweet Lulu? I was thinking about buying stuff from her. shopsweetlulu.com. I don’t know how the prices compare, but its nice to know I have other options!
So cute!!
Simply AMAZZZZINGGGG! Thanks for all of those links to those wonderful sites. I have checked them all out and just love them. I only wish I had an inch of their creativity! WOW!
Wow! someday I will do something this crazy because I do love my little kiddos.
This looks like so much fun! I have four sons-all grown up-and I miss those days of party planning. I am hoping that I can use some of these ideas for my grandchildren. These parties are so much more fun to plan than the character themed ones they do these days!!!
WOW! What a fantastic party! Love it all!!!
Your party was spectacular! I bookmarked most of your suppliers because my litte grandson will be turning one in December! I’m terrified of clowns, but I have to admit..even I would love that party! LOL – Karen
I would love to win. My son is turning one in August. I love the pictures very nice family!
Such a cute party idea and the colors in the photos are fabulous!!!
I love, love, love planning birthday parties. My friends think I’m crazy but I love the opportunity to come up with fun, crafty ideas! And now that I have a new baby, well, he’s not even 6 mos old yet and I’m already starting to gather ideas! Thanks for sharing another great party.
This birthday is amazing! It is so fabulous, would {LOVE} to win this. I really love the colors, it is just happy. Makes me happy.
Wow! So cute. How do you muster up the energy for such a production? I love your sources. Definitely bookmarking those! Very, very cute clown party.
I love this PARTY! 🙂
This party was so cute. I’d love to copy it but my husband is afraid of clowns (seriously). 🙂
AMAZING! WOW! Don’t let my kids see this!:)
Soo Cute. We are planning a wedding rehersal dinner with a rainbow theme. These decorations will be soo cute!! Thanks for the great ideas and the chance to win!!!
Thanks for sharing! You’ve given me some awesome ideas for a circus themed YW celebration coming up in September.
LOVE these great ideas…thanks for sharing such wonderful new places to shop for parties! Hoorah!!
I am in love with this party! Such a cute idea. And I’m glad to know that not every party in your family is this big–some low-key family celebrations are great sometimes too! Thanks for sharing all your wonderful ideas.
Amazing! You did it again! The party pics and Noah are absolutely adorable 🙂
Great Ideas! I am planning a carnival theme party for my daughter’s 1st birthday! This would all look great!! Please enter me for the giveaways!
Love the bright, vibrant colors!!! I’m obsessed with gumballs and everything polka dot….I have balloons at every party!
I’m going to have to steal the color your own drink idea. Too cute & perfect for my son’s 1st birthday party next month! 😉
I felt so happy looking at your pictures!
The colors pop and put a smile on my face.
Thank you for all the ideas. My little girl will be turning 1 on Monday the 18th. We will be celebrating on Father’s Day, and I can’t wait to use some of your ideas. I will be doing a rainbow theme party….can’t wait! LOVED your decorations, you inspired me! Thanks
It’s an amazing post in favor of all the online viewers; they will get benefit from it I am sure.
all of these ideas are adorable, however, little kids should not be fed so much sugar. good grief!
Wow, this is adorable! I love the circus party theme and this one is super cute!
Absolutely AMAZING birthday party!! This is one of my favourites, by far. Your boy looked like he had so much fun, the smile photo tells it all.
Do you do your own photography? Your parties look SO fun! I love how they are captured!