Native American Indian Birthday Party

My youngest daughter was an American Indian last Halloween.  So we already had the beginnings of a great birthday party theme.

 

Her costume came from a large authentic-looking Native American shirt I bought at an estate sale for $3.  The shirt hung down to the ground on her like a dress, and I simply had to cut the sleeves down.  I bought mocassins on ebay for $8.  The headdress came from a yard sale for $1 that I found 2 weeks before the party.  I love those racoon tails hanging down around her ears!

My husband constructed a teepee from things he had in his workshop:  scrap wood, an old paint dropcloth, and rope.  That’s it.  Simple, but it made for the coolest centerpoint for the party.  My husband has had these fake fireplace logs since he was a bachelor, and they made for a perfect American Indian cookfire.  This other little squaw is my older daughter.

 

Here’s the retro-cool invitation.  I used a free font that looked like wood logs.  Then I individually burned the edges with a lighter.  Aren’t they darling???

 

The kids “roasted” marshmellows over the fake fire.  It was so hilarious – they couldn’t understand why their marshmellows weren’t turning brown!  Anyway, they “roasted” while I read them a Native American story about a little brave who ran away from home.

 

I served up a teepee cake made from a Pampered Chef Batter Bowl.  I used regular homemade buttercream icing, but fondant would work great, too.  This cake was such a hit! 

 

The tablescape started with a couple of Indian-look blankets draped across the dining room table.  Vintage American Indian books were set upright toward the back of the table, along with a few metal collectable tins with Indian motifs filled with turkey feathers from Michael’s.  I had a small collection of Cherokee Indian artifacts that my father had gathered as a boy, which I scattered about the tabletop.   The Indian dolls came from a yard sale and a gas station in Alabama (I found that on the way back from the beach!)

 

Besides the cake, I served brown horse cookies, popcorn, jiffy cornbread, chocolate sugarcone teepees, and edible Indian corn.

 

Click here for Jane’s Shortbread Cookie recipe.

 

For the Chocolate Teepees, simply ice inverted sugar cones with pre-made chocolate icing.  Insert 3 half-toothpicks in top and add candies for decoration.

 

Edible Indian Corn Recipe

4 tbsp butter

4 cups mini marshmellows

5 cups puffed corn cereal (corn puffs)

1 1/3 cups diced dried fruit (raisins, papayas, cranberries, apricots)

popsicle sticks

tye-dye fruit roll-ups

Melt butter and marshmellows over low heat in a large pot for about 5 minutes.  Remove mixture from stove and use wooden spoon to stir in puffed corn cereal and diced dried fruit.  Allow mixture to cool for about 15 minutes.  Using buttered hands, shape each treat by pressing 1/3 cup of mixture around a popsicle stick.  Add piece of fruit roll-up to make a husk for the bottom of the ear, slightly moistening them to help them stick if needed.  Makes 15 treats.

We made  Native American vests with left-overs from the paint dropcloth.  We gave the kids ideas for Indian symbols to write on their vests.  I pre-cut headbands and let the kids choose the color feather they wanted from Michaels.  We also made beaded necklaces by threading beads on leather laces, again from Michael’s.

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Everyone got American Indian names from  http://www.apples4theteacher.com/native-american/names/for-girls.html.  All the kids had their own special Indian names like “Princess Ottertail,” “Princess White Feather,” “Princess Sunflower,” “Princess Wind Maiden,” etc.  The moms wrote their Indian names on the backs of their vests.

 

We also played an Indian Trading Game.  I took scraps of the leftover teepee dropcloth fabric and cut it into  5 inch squares.  I gathered all kinds of “treasures” like pretty rocks, seashells, jewels (pulled out of old costume jewelry), bit-o-honey candy, feathers, etc. and tied them up in the squares with cord.  Each child got a “pouch of treasures” and took turns trading their things with the other squaws (and one brave).

 

Our trusty tinman got to dress up, too.  Kinda like my version of a cigarette store Indian.  He held the goody bags – small brown bags with an embossed bird I found last year in Target’s dollar aisle.  Goody bags were filled with plastic Indians, a dreamcatcher, and a 6″ horse, all from Dollar Tree.  The vest is vintage boy scout borrowed from my sweet neighbor.

Photo Credits:  The Decorologist.