Saffy's Soirees

My son turned three last April, and with April 2025 just around the corner, I’m in my party planning bag. Lately, the nostalgic feels have been hitting me because helloo???? I HAVE A FOUR YEAR OLD??? It’s all very surreal.

Last year, he was very much obsessed with excavators and all things building construction so I decided to host a construction themed birthday party for him. He doesn’t quite have friends yet besides his classmates and unfortunately I’m a bit of a weirdo. I draw very strong lines between the various aspects of life and so I wasn’t very comfortable inviting strangers into my home, or rather his grandparents home (since that’s where we keep all parties.) I opted to have a separate dinosaur mini party at school instead; i.e. a cake cutting, as we call it in Jamaica. You can check that out here. Instead of school friends, the party was filled with the children of my friends i.e. all my nieces and nephews (iykyk.) It was such a fun way to celebrate his birthday and I planned the games, food and favours around the construction theme. 

I like to make sure the games, favours and food all tie into the theme, I think that way it all doubles as decor! Now if you know me, then you know I absolutely slive (word to Paris Hilton) for a word play or a good pun. I knew I wanted to do something excavator themed and after setting the bar for the puns super high with his first and second birthday parties, I could not quite figure out a good pun. In the end, THREE & DIGGING IT! came up while I as planning the party favours and voila! I kept it going for the plot and made sure to label all the food and dessert items with construction puns as well. Not trying to make fetch happen or anything here but as Paris would say “That’s Hot!”

Construction Theme Food

This was a late afternoon/early evening party so I wanted to have easy to eat options. I made a sign that said: “Build Your Own Plate.” I served hotdogs and nachos with toppings. I also ordered pizza from Dominoes to give options. I used some large construction toys as a part of the table setting/ food display. You can find those toys here. This video shows a little more of what the food table looked like.

Construction Themed Dessert

Sugar Cookies

Since my son’s second birthday, I’ve always ordered sugar cookies for the kid’s bday celebrations. I’ve found the perfect cookie designer here in Kingston, Jamaica and I’m pleased every time. Prior to her, I could never commit to ordering cookies because I have such high standards. For context, I am fairly okay at making sugar cookies. In fact, I used to make them in college as a way to make some extra money. So my thought process used to be; ‘I can only justify paying for them if the person will do a better job than me, otherwise I’ll just do it myself.’ Hello! Can we normalise paying for things solely for the purpose of comfort or peace of mind. Decorating sugar cookies is an intense task. In the past, I never had time in the end to do them so Im so grateful for my cookie girl @thecookiestudioja on instagram.

Dessert

For a fun dessert, and total play on words, I decided to make “dirt piles.” I simply made chocolate pudding and filled the bottom of these cups. I then added crushed Oreos, and gummy worms on top! The clean up was a nightmare but trust me here; blend the Oreos for the perfect “like dirt” texture. The kids really LOVED how fun and delicious these were and the adults seriously kept asking for more of the stuff. I truly do not half ass anything so I ordered these,  mini shovel spoons to complete the vibes.

I also had loads of other sweet treats that doubled as snacks such as a this Nature Valley nuts & pretzel mix that I labelled “nuts & bolts,” these chocolate balls that I called “wrecking balls” (duh) and one of my favs; candy corn which I called “safety cones.” I also used some biscotti cookies as “2×4” planks. Get creative and substitute your favourite snacks and treats.

Cake

I didn’t have it in the budget for an expensive custom cake this time around so I decided to grab a store bought sheet cake and do a lil DIY razzle dazzle. I used this construction themed mini toy set to top and decorate the cake. I dug out an area and filled it with crushed Oreos. I used the various construction vehicle toys to set up a scene. In the end, I totally ran out of time so I couldn’t bring my vision totally to life but this is what it looks like.

Construction Decor

Decor was entirely DIY. I bought this set of black arch covers and decorated them with caution tape. I also bought this themed numeral 3 standing marquee. It came with lights but I opted out of using those since the party was outdoors and the sun would still be out. I allowed the signs for the table setting and the photo props to contribute to the decor as well.

I really tickled myself with this added touch. I wanted to find a toolbox that could be used to display the cutlery. Once I had this idea, I obsessed with finding the perfect box. In the end, I found one that was exactly as I envisioned.

Party Favours

I already knew I wanted to use a tool box as the party favour box but after seeing the costs I realised it was not going to be affordable to purchase nearly 2 dozen of them PLUS the favour box fillers etc. I considered using a gable box as base and designing something but even that seemed too simple for what I had in mind. I custom ordered some wooden self-assembly tool boxes that came as plain wood. I painted and decorated all the pieces Check out this video to see what it looks like as well as the items I gifted as party favours. You can find all the things I used in the tool kit favour box here. I also have these tool kit gables boxes for sale if you’re searching for an appropriate alternative.

I also swapped party hats for these plastic “hard hats” instead and customised them. You can see the customisation further on in the outfit section.

Entertainment

I bought a ride on excavator for my son to enter his party on. I can’t find the exact one I bought but it looks a lot like this one. There are other construction vehicles available too. Check out this dump truck for instance. Check out this video to see my son riding his excavator!

I also rented a bumper car set up and the kids had a blast with that one too.

Outfits

Lastly, let’s talk about the fits. I bought this “three and digging it” shirt for the birthday boy and then I made custom t-shirts for the rest of the fam except baby girl cause I could not find any tees to fit her. She was cute though. no worries. My shirt said ‘digging the mom life’ and you can check the pics to see the shirt I designed for dad to wear.

Looking for more birthday party ideas for boys? Check themes out:

Some Bunny Is One

Chugga Chugga Two Two

Three-Rex

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