Celebrate in style with this fun ice cream birthday party! It’s simple to put together, and I will walk you through it with DIYs, food ideas, and printables! This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and decide to make a purchase, I may make a small commission, but don’t worry, I only share products I really like.
Guys! It’s finally the day. I’ve been working on and posting about my son’s ice cream birthday party for weeks now, but today is finally the day I share all the details. Get ready for lots and lots of photos.
For the party theme, my two older kids and I tried to come up with things that my one year old likes. We considered a power cord theme for a minute (he really does like power cords), but my six year old convinced me that was a bad idea. We ended up going with an ice cream birthday party because the kid loves ice cream, it is adorable, and makes for great treats. (I had no idea July was National Ice Cream month when I was planning it – that was just a lucky coincidence.)
Even though it was a small party with mostly family and close friends, I still decided to send out real paper invitations because… I like real paper invitations, dangit. I painted an “I scream, you scream” watercolor (which you can get right here) and used that for the invitations, adding the party information at the bottom.
I printed the invitations on the wrong side of printed cardstock (similar to this) so the backs had fun designs – that’s a fun and simple way to add some extra color to an invitation without burning through your printer’s ink.
We had the party in our backyard around lunch time. It is HOT here in Vegas in July, so we decided to make it a water party. We set up a little wading pool and attached the sprinkler to spray on the trampoline to keep the kids (and, let’s be honest, some of the adults) nice and cool.
For the table backdrop, I hand painted “I scream for ice cream” on a poster board. I have created a printable version you can download and print as an engineering print to use for your own party. Visit my shop here to get it.
I made my son and daughter happy ice cream cone tees to wear for at the party. (You can get the free cut files to make your own over here.)
For lunch we had grilled cheese sandwiches that we made out on the grill, watermelon, grapes, and potato chips.
But the real stars of this party were the treats, of course! We kept the ice cream from melting by keeping it in a chest freezer we brought out from the garage and decorated with custom-made ice cream shop magnets.
Next to the freezer, I set up a little table with cones, cute Poppytalk cups decorated with “yum” labels (these are another cute option), and wooden spoons fancied up with “hooray” washi tape (cups and tape both from Target).
On the other side of the freezer, we had a toppings bar with all the goodies needed for a messy, yummy sundae.
Besides sundaes, we also had cupcakes served in cute cups with frosting piped to look like soft serve swirl, ice cream floats, and marshmallow ice cream cones.
For favors, I packaged up marshmallow ice cream cones with paper toppers, and hung them up on a piece of pegboard.
I also added some cute ice cream erasers I picked up from the dollar spot at Target to the favor table.
The smash cake was maybe my favorite part of the whole party, and it was so simple and kind of last minute. I just baked a cup cake in addition to the layers to create the scoop on top. It was a big hit.
I dressed up the high chair for smash pictures with a quick and easy chair cover, washi tape, and some tissue tassel garland.
I just – Guys, I really loved this ice cream birthday party. Ice cream! Sprinkles! I’m a big fan of sprinkles.
If you use any of my ice cream birthday party ideas, I would love to see them! Share your photos to my facebook page or tag me on instagram or twitter (@persialou), and don’t forget to use the hashtag #persialou for a chance to be featured.
Happy Celebrating and Happy Making!
Check out some of my other party ideas:
Comments + Project Love
Amy @ Homey Oh My! says
This is party is perfect. So many amazing details- the envelope lining, the cone containers for the toppings, your littlest reaching for the smash cake <3 Looks like it was a ton of fun!!
mamasonshine.com says
LOVE it! and love the ice cream marshmallow favors. super cute.<br /><br />p.s. my soon-to-be-two-year-old also has a love of power cords. and has since he could roll around on the floor.
Amy W says
I literally am crying that I wasn't invited to this party. I mean, family, close friends and then your internet pal, Amy from Delineate…. right?! So cute on every level. I just wrote my post for our Sunday link party and you possibly are two of the three features, ha. It's a little ridiculous, so no more cute ice cream posts okay. My other features are getting jealous! =)
Emma Peake says
What lucky children you have!! Such a lovely theme, and executed beautifully!!
Chrissy @ Adventures in DIY says
I love everything about this! So adorable! I just might have to have an "ice cream social" party just to do something like this. 🙂
whispering loudly says
Wow. How fun!! I'm excited to get my 6 and 8 year old's Minecraft party up ready to be shared! There are fewer things better than themed birthday parties… like… coffee… and foot massages. But that's about it. Your party looked gorgeous!! Congrats!! <br />www.whisperingloudly.com<br />www.facebook.com/whisperingloudly
Colleen says
This is amazing Alexis! I wish I had your penmanship… just gorgeous.<br /><br />I love paper invitations too gosh dangit!
Mariah says
This party is adorable! I love all of your signs, that font is killer!
Toni Barsi says
You did such an amazing job with this party Alexis! I especially love the cake! That drippy chocolate syrup has really got me craving dome ice cream now!
Abigail says
Is your "I scream, you scream" invitation available as a printable? I can't see to find it, and would love to use it!