Hi Friends! My sweet little Easton is 3! To celebrate our special guy’s birthday we transformed the backyard into a retro outdoor drive-in movie party, complete with a fully stocked concession stand, ticket booth, and cardboard box cars for all of our little guests! It was a complete blast!
EASTON’S RETRO DRIVE-IN MOVIE PARTY: THE THEME
When I was first envisioning this party I knew I wanted it to have a very retro feel with the main colors being, red, teal, and gold. There is one drive-in about 45 minutes from our house and we have gone there every summer for as long as I can remember. It’s a bit of a tradition and certainly nostalgic, to say the least. I remember going there as a kid and now my boys love going too. I definitely used these memories as inspiration for this party. I started by designing the invitation. Then, I moved on to the ticket booth signage and the rest of the graphic designed elements of the party.
EASTON’S RETRO DRIVE-IN MOVIE PARTY: THE FOOD
Well a drive-in just wouldn’t be a drive-in without a concession stand! Our concession stand was packed full of popcorn, cotton candy, boxed candy, an amazing birthday cake, and the most adorable custom cookies! We also had hot dogs and hamburgers hot off the grill.
Sue of Munchkin Munchies is so incredibly talented and quite possibly the sweetest person on the planet. She provided all of the cookies for the party. I couldn’t believe the gorgeous details in the popcorn, ticket, and hot dog cookies. Also, I can 1000% say these cookies are as delicious as they are adorable… and I’ve tasted a lot of cookies in my day (haha!)! No, but I’m totally serious…Sue is a true artist when it comes to custom cookie designs.
My mom, Easton’s Cece, made the adorable popcorn cupcakes. Aren’t they seriously the cutest! They were vanilla cupcakes topped with white buttercream frosting and then mounded with mini marshmallow “popcorn.” She cut all the mini marshmallows to look exactly like kernels of popcorn by slicing a small “peace sign” shape in the top of the mini marshmallow and then a slight horizontal slice about half way through the marshmallow. Then, lastly, we painted the tops of the popcorn with a very small amount of yellow food coloring diluted with water. I could not get over how realistic they looked! Everyone loved them!
Easton’s birthday cake was created by our wonderful friends at Bella Christie and Lil’ Z’s Sweet Boutique. They always do such an incredible job and this cake was no different. For this cake, I drew an extremely rough sketch of what I had in mind and emailed it to them along with the invitation design. They took my chicken-scratch sketch of an idea and brought it to life in the most beautiful (and delicious!) of ways! If you are in the Pittsburgh area, definitely check them out.
The cutest little cotton candy vendor you ever did see! He sold out in minutes!
EASTON’S RETRO DRIVE-IN MOVIE PARTY: THE DRIVE-IN
To enter any drive-in you have to first get your tickets. We created a fun ticket booth for the entrance of our drive-in. This little booth might look familiar to you if you have been following along around here for a while. It has been a part of a few of our past celebrations, like our recent Lemonade Stand for a Cause, or Easton’s Party Animal Zoo 2nd birthday party, or for when it was originally created, as Easton’s Farmers Market Stand for his 1st birthday party. I had so much fun creating all of the signs for this ticket booth. I loved playing around with all of the different types of signs that you would see on a real drive-in ticket booth but then making them unique to our little 3-year-old…like $3 per car, and tuning the radio to Easton’s birthday August 4th (08.4 FM)! haha!
EASTON’S RETRO DRIVE-IN MOVIE PARTY: THE CARS
Beep! Beep! Next up, were of course, the cars! We created all of the cars out of cardboard boxes. This was such a great DIY project but way too long to describe here in this post. I’ve created a separate post to share the full tutorial on making the cars. Check it out at the link below! Also, I’m sharing a free printable of the license plates in the form at the bottom of this post. Be sure to grab it! Click here to see a full tutorial on how to make the cars!
EASTON’S RETRO DRIVE-IN MOVIE PARTY: THE SHOW
As the sun set, we got ready for the show! All our little movie goers packed up some last minute snacks and got settled in their cars. Everyone loved watching Easton’s favorite, The Secret Life of Pets, on the big screen.
EASTON’S RETRO DRIVE-IN MOVIE PARTY: THE FAVORS
That’s a wrap! After the show, all of our theater guests took a snack for the road, either a box of popcorn or a giant lollipop. It was such a fun night! I’m sharing free printables of both of these thank you tags in the form at the bottom of this post. Also, be sure to grab the license plate free printables too!
Happy Birthday Easton!
Your sweetness and joy are endless. I am so blessed to be your mama. We love you so very much!
EASTON’S RETRO DRIVE-IN MOVIE PARTY: FREE PRINTABLES
Enter your email address in the form below and I’ll send you both the thank you tags and license plate free printables. They are all editable PDFs—PDF files that contain editable fields (for the names). Just open the PDF in Adobe Reader, click where it currently says “Love, Easton,” and type the name you would like to include. Then just save and print. If you don’t have Adobe Reader you can download it for free here. To edit the license plate printables you will need Steelfish Regular font. You can download it for free, here. All of the other printable designs from this party are available in my Etsy Shop. You can find them here, here, here and here! Thanks so much for checking them out!
A huge thank you to Sue of Munchkin Munchies for providing the adorable cookies. You can see more of her amazing cookie creations on her Instagram feed, here.
All party printables are available in my Esty shop here: Just Add Confetti Etsy Shop
Photography by the amazing and talented, Jenni, of Rose Photography
Adorable popcorn, ticket, and hot dog cookies by Sue of Munchkin Munchies
Amazing cake by Bella Christie and Lil’ Z’s Sweet Boutique
PIN FOR LATER:
Aboustely love this party theme! It is perfect in every aspect! Only thing i can’t find are the blankets or fabric that I would love to make my party as beautiful as yours. Please help!
Hi Alexia,
Thank you so much for your message and kind words! I really appreciate it so very much! The blankets were a fleece fabric from Jo-Ann Fabrics that you could buy by the yard. I hope this helps! Thanks again so much!
Have a great day!
Alison
I love this idea and want to do this for my daughter’s birthday. What time did you do the party? Could they see the screen?
Thank you so much for your message and kind words! This party was so much fun! Everyone had a blast (kids and adults!). The party started at 5:30 so everyone could socialize, eat dinner, etc. We started the movie around 8:00 and it was dark enough to see the screen. The kids loved loading up their trays with goodies from the concession stand and getting into their cars for the show! It was great!! 🙂
Thanks again for your message!
Alison
Where did you get the snack bar paper plates?
Hi Helen,
Thanks so much for your message! The snack bar paper plates are from Oriental Trading. You can find them here: goto.orientaltrading.com/zvAWO (*affiliate link).
Thanks again! Have a great evening!
Alison
Hi! Curious where you got your cute little baskets and your wrappers for your hot dogs! Love the theme. Well done! 💛
Hi Megan,
Thank you so much for your kind words! I really appreciate it! The food baskets were from Dollar Tree. The hot dog wrappers were small paper sleeves/bags from Hobby Lobby. I just attached a hot dog label to the front of the sleeve. I hope this helps! Have a great celebration!
Thanks again!
Alison
Hi Megan,
Thank you so much for your kind words! I really appreciate it! The food baskets were from Dollar Tree. The hot dog wrappers were small paper sleeves/bags from Hobby Lobby. I just attached a hot dog label to the front of the sleeve. I hope this helps! Have a great celebration!
Thanks again!
Alison
What an amazing party — I love all the food and the clever little cars.
Hi Melissa,
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your kind words! You totally made my day! 🙂
Take care and thanks again!
Alison
WOW!!This is the most incredible party, and your photos are STUNNING!!!!
Hi Amy!
Thank you SO much! You are so kind! I really appreciate it so very much!
Thanks again,
Alison
So cute! Where did you find the popcorn box sign?
Hi Jocelyn,
Thanks so much for your message! The popcorn sign is from Hobby Lobby. 🙂
Thanks again and have a great day!
Alison
Where did you find the adorable blankets for the party??
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks so much for your message! The blankets are pieces of fleece that I bought at JoAnn Fabrics.
Have a great day!
Thanks again,
Alison
Hi! Great party! I’m searching your Etsy page and I see the welcome banner. I cannot find all the little tags, decoration printable. Could you send the link? Do you have a bundle set? Thanks!
Hi Wells, Thanks so much for your message! I have 4 listings on Etsy for all of the items in the Drive-In theme. These are all printable files that you can print at any local print shop like Staples, Office Max, FedEx Office, etc. I’m listing them all below. Also, if you would like personalized license plates or thank you tag printables that match this drive-in theme I have them available as free printables in the Printable Library.
Drive-In printable invitation: https://www.etsy.com/listing/622155036/retro-drive-in-movie-birthday-party
Drive-In Ticket Booth printable: http://www.etsy.com/listing/622159968/retro-drive-in-movie-birthday-party
Drive-In Pennant Banner, Bottle Labels, Food Signs, and Decor Signs: http://www.etsy.com/listing/622236786/retro-drive-in-bottle-label-printables
Drive-In Backdrop printable: http://www.etsy.com/listing/622152702/retro-drive-in-movie-party-backdrop-sign
I don’t have these listings in a bundle, but you can add them all to your cart and then check out all at one time.
Please let me know if you have any other questions. I’m happy to help!
Thanks so much!
Alison
You thought of everything! Now I can’t wait to recreate this when it gets a bit warmer!!
Thank you so much Liz! You are so sweet! I’m so happy you can use the party ideas for some summer movie night fun!
Have a great day! Thanks again,
Alison
This is sooooo cute!!!
Thank you so much Amy! I hope you can use the party ideas and inspiration for some backyard summer fun!
Have a great day,
Alison
This party looks so cool and so much fun. It inspired me to make smth special for my kid’s birthday celebration. Thanks, Alison, for the inspiration, ideas and also for the printable license plates)) you are doing such a great job!
Hi Victoria,
Thank you so much for your message and kind words! I really appreciate it! I’m so happy you can use the printables, ideas, and inspiration!
Thanks again!
Take care,
Alison
Great design skills! Love the atmosphere and all happy faces, will try this with my family as well 🙂
Hi Michele,
Thank you so much for your kind words! I really appreciate it! I hope you have a fun movie night celebration with your family!
Thanks again,
Alison
Hi there! Will you share details on the red tumbler cups you have at the tables? I’m not sure if you purchased them that way or inserted a label into the cup.
Hi Malikia,
Thank you so much for your message! The red tumbler cups we used at the party were from Dollar Tree. I think they came with a coloring page insert so kids could color them. I just removed that insert and made my own. You just unscrew the top and slide the new insert in place. Very easy! 🙂
Please let me know if you have any other questions at all. I’m happy to help!
Thanks again!
Alison