Vintage Fisher Price Little People Birthday Party

It should come as no surprise that my daughter's 2nd birthday party had a "Vintage Fisher Price Little People" theme this year.  What can I say, I love little people! :)

Invitations

I looked into personalized vintage little people invitations.  There were some cute ones here on Etsy.  However, I was at Target and saw these adorable customizable invitations (on sale!!) and couldn't resist.  The primary colors work well with my theme and since I didn't need many it was a better fit for this year.  I intended on including a photo of my little girl with her FPLP toys but didn't get around to it. 

Decorations

I used our vintage fisher price toys to decorate the house.  I put up different Little People sets around the common rooms so that the kids could play in different areas.  This worked well as there was little fighting and only a couple broken pieces (don't put your very favorite ones out!).  

To go along with the vintage little people theme I used primary colors.  I had 18 balloons, bright colored party hats and a few other odds and ends.  The balloons came in handy later for a photo prop, but more on that another day.  

I am far from an artist but I made an attempt in order to put up little people decorations.  I drew (free hand of course!) some of our little people toys. They aren't perfect but they did the job.

Favors

My favorite part of this party!  I had the fun idea to give out vintage fisher price little people toys of course!  I gave each child that came a little person (matched to look as close to them as I could) and a little rider.  I had my oldest help me pick out the people.  Now, if you look at the photos you'll see that a lot of little blond people came to our party. ;)  You may know that blond (boys at least) are few and far between with FPLP.  In fact the only one I had was from the Cruise Boat #2524 and if you know FPLP you'll know that he is very rare (ie $$) so that wasn't going to work.  So a few of our boys got cowboy FPLP instead! 

I wrapped each toy in a birthday bag (dollar store) and attached a name tag to it (I cut up blank 4x6 cards and used a heart shaped hole punch).  The name tag had a cute fisher price sticker of vintage FP toys that I also found at the dollar store.  That was a fun find!

The favors were a huge hit with the kids and the parents too!  It helped them transition from my house of many toys when it was time to go since they could take something with them.

Cake and Food

I didn't take photos of the food but I kept it pretty simple.  Last year I made a homemade healthy (mostly organic) baby friendly First Birthday Carrot Cupcakes.  Not this year.  Oh no, we've moved onto ice-cream cakes.  It was a lovely chemical laden dye coated ice-cream cake from Dairy Queen and it was delicious.  Hey, we can all go crazy with food here and there, right?

I incorporated my theme by adding FPLP to the top of the cake.  I also had the decorations and writing in primary colors.  The people on the cake represent our family by the way.  My girls are in the wagon (from the Sesame Street Clubhouse) since my 2 year old LOVES wagon rides.  It seemed fitting.  

Inspiration

I wasn't able to find many ideas on the internet, but I did receive some inspiration from a blog called gerbera designs.  She had a Little People party for her son, and even includes some (free) printables.  They were very cute but since I was celebrating a little girl they weren't quite right for me. 

I also loved these cookies and thought about having someone make them for me.

Gifts

For our family gifts this year my daughter received mostly vintage fisher price toys or books. :)  Like the Change-A-Tune Carousel #170, Happy Birthday Pocket Radio #768, Timmy's Birthday Party (a vintage FP sticker book), Pocket Camera #464 (a Trip to the Zoo) and her very own made by me Fisher Price ABCs book. 

One more note about my daughter's outfit.  I considered finding something with little people on it, but nothing was quite right.  So I bought this vintage-looking fabric that fits the vintage FPLP era and made her a romper instead.  Note that I had a lot of help in making this romper, from my sewing guru Amy.  I love how it turned out and am as proud as can be that I was able to make it.

Happy 2nd Birthday to my very own Little Person!

Fisher Price Friday - Change A Tune Carousel

Today we're going to take a carousel ride on Fisher Price Friday.  It's the Change-A-Tune Carousel #170.  Made between 1981-1983 this toy is a combination of the Merry-Go-Round #111 and the classic Music Box Record Player #995.  The Change-A-Tune has a carousel and a record player that is operated by using a hand crank on the side.  No batteries required!  Just a little patience and hand coordination. :) 

The set came with three records and three people.  The three records are different than the records for the #955 Music Box Record Player.  However, the records are interchangeable between the two sets. The 3 records for the Change-A-Tune are labeled A,B,C unlike the record player which were #1-5. The records were either blue, bright red(or pink) or yellow although A, B or C could be any color. Each set should have only one color of each.  If you are a true collector there are quite a few variations for you to find!

The three people are children as shown in the photo.  I believe that there were no variations.  The yellow boy is only found in one other set, the #933 Jetport.  The orange AA boy is an exclusive to this set, so he is the rarest of the bunch!

The little people fit nicely into the three swinging carousel chairs in the colors red, purple and blue.  The top of the carousel has blue flowers around the roof.  A rarer variation of this set has blue diamonds instead.  As the carousel moves around colors change in the cutouts in the white base portion.

A: Do Re Mi (blue)

B: Music Box Dancer (yellow)

C: Round the Village (bright red)

A: Blue Danbue (blue)

B: Barbara Allen (yellow)

C: Under the Double Eagle March (bright red)

The three records are stored underneath the player.

The carousel and record player are operated by a hand crank.  Now, I need to disclose that my crank is a one-of-a-kind.  You see the original set had a yellow crank which must have broken off my (used) player.  Some handy person decided to fix it by attaching another handle/knob to the base.  Genius!  So please note that the original crank was a bright yellow color and not the green/brown combo you see in the photo.

The video is of my 5 year old cranking the carousel.  Can you guess the song playing?  Don't cheat by looking at the records above!  I'll have the answer at the very bottom of this entry. 

Don't mind the baby laughing, I couldn't keep her quiet long enough to finish the video! 

So easy even a 2 year old can operate it!  And believe me, she does.  Her favorite part is taking the records off and on.

For more record player or carousel toys check out:

Play Family Merry Go Round #111

Music Box Record Player #995

*Under the Eagle Tree March

Wordless Wednesday - Summer Desert Beauty

It may be hotter than you-know-where here but it is beautiful in the desert!

*all photos were taken within a 1/2 mile of my house in the last 2 weeks

Birthday Kid Freebies!

As you well know by now (ha!) my youngest had a birthday a week ago.  We redeemed one of her birthday freebies yesterday and I thought I'd pass it along!

It's from Toys R Us and if you sign up online they'll send goodies for your little ones (ages 1 to 10).  

The month of her birthday she received a birthday in the card from Geoffrey the giraffe that had a small $3 gift card inside.  The gift card was good for 2 months past her birthday month.  

When you show up at the store customer service gives you more goodies!  A birthday balloon and crown!  They also announce the birthday to the store (usually, they didn't this year though).  

So what are you waiting for, go sign up your kids and enjoy the oh-so-fun of bringing them to a toy store.  Ha!

geoffreysbirthdayclub.com

Fisher Price Friday - Queen Buzzy Bee

Today on Fisher Price Friday I've got quite the buzz.  It's the Queen Buzzy Bee #444 made from 1962-1985.  Fisher Price made quite a few bee toys but this one had the longest run.  The original Buzzy Bee #325 was made from 1950-1956.  This newer blue eyed sweet bee is a female version of the pull toy and it makes a fun "buzzing" sound when pulled.  It has wood body with lithographs on each side.  In my version the crown, wings, wheels and antenna's are all plastic.

The back of the bee has a lithograph of brown and yellow bee stripes as well as bee wings and the name "Queen Buzzy Bee".  You can also see the orange/red plastic wings on each side that spin around when the bee is pulled.

This is the front of the bee.  You can see her white plastic crown, fuzzy brown forehead (lithograph) and the Fisher Price logo.  The red antennas were mostly made with wood beads but they switched to plastic towards the end of production.  The blue wheels were originally made of wood as well but also switched to plastic.  You can have a plastic bead/wood wheel combo or a plastic bead/plastic wheel combo.  

The bottom of the bee shows the wood base/body and the plastic mechanism that contributes to the buzzing sound it makes when moved.

The Queen Buzzy Bee is advertised for children ages 1-3.  I'd say that is just about right as my now 2 year old thinks it's perfect.

One more little bee mystery.  I have one of the later models since both the wheels and the antenna beads are plastic.  However, I have been unable to find the version in my typical sources as the flowers on the wheels don't match.  The flowers described were white with green stems, mine are missing the stems, never mind the color (as the ones I see online look like white stems but that's another issue altogether).  My theory is that the last version (plastic wheels/plastic antenna) have different flowers as shown in my bee.  These flowers are white but scattered with no stems.  

Do you have a Queen Buzzy Bee with flowers like mine?  If so can you prove or discount my  theory? :)

SOLVED: The bee wheel mystery has been solved.  A very early edition of the bee had a lithograph of flowers with green stems on the wheels instead of paint.  It's hard to find but it is out there!

For more Fisher Price Pull Toys check out:
Pull a Tune Xylophone #870
Chatter Telephone #747
Little Snoopy #693