Thank you kindly, ma'am

Easy, but sweet nonetheless. Turn some inexpensive market flowers into a western-themed hostess or thank you gift.

Place a few blooms in an empty root beer bottle. Tie with red and white ribbons or red bandana. Accompany with a card featuring a lucky horseshoe: "I'm so lucky to know a gal like you."

Snow Rodeo - Sledding Party

My cowboy posse put together a terrific activity for a group of teen friends, but this activity would bring out a Yee-haw from any age.

The Snow Rodeo sent everyone out sledding -- with a variety of challenges to see who could stay on their trusty mount. Each guest named their sled (Bronco, Big Red, Slippery Sam, etc.) and "branded" their steed with the name written on a label and stuck to the back of the sled. (The "branding" stickers could be a fun and easy craft activity before heading out into the snow. Decorate and draw in western-style letters.)





Rodeo Challenges:

• Bare Backwards riding (go down the hill backwards)
• Riding double (two people per sled)
• Bucking Bronco (sledding over a series of bumps and jumps created just for this race)
• 8 seconds (who could make it down in exactly 8 seconds -- harder than you'd think)

Wrangle up some easy party favors with western neckerchiefs to wear over noses in the cold. Even the party's end can be fun with a race to "round up" the sleds and "corral" them in the take-home vehicle.

Giddy-up!

Cowboy Poetry in Motion

Sometimes mamas do let their babies grow up to be cowboys--at least for a high school western-themed dance. Their day-long activities were wrassled up for teenage fun, but could be adapted for a Cowpoke Party for any age.

Breath Mint Belt Buckles

To complete their western attire, these buckaroos made rodeo-worthy, blinged-out belt buckles from breath mint containers. We got the idea from a genius who connects his duct-tape belt with a homemade Altoids tin belt buckle. However, I was nervous using the Dremel tool on metal, so we opted for plastic containers. Plus, the oval shape seemed a bit more rodeo like.

To make your own, use a Dremel disc cutter to open up the "door" side of a plastic mint container. (We chose Frost mints which have a nice sized, oval box.) Cut out the door, extending the opening about 2/3 of the way along the container. This side will be the back of your belt buckle.

Next, use the Dremel to cut a 3/8" x 1-1/2" slot on the side of the container. This needs to be tall enough for your belt to slide through and wide enough to accommodate the belt's thickness PLUS the short end of the belt after it's buckled. After cutting, try the container on your belt to see if you need to make any adjustments. Slide the non-buckle side of the belt in the back hole of the container and through the slot on the side. Put the belt on as you normally would, buckling to the right space; the plastic container will be off to the side of the actual buckle. After the belt is fastened, slide the plastic container over your actual belt buckle and snap your belt buckle inside the back hole. This will cover up your belt buckle (making it appear as if the plastic container is now the buckle). The short edge of the belt will extend through the slot.

Once you've made any adjustments so your belt fits through your new "buckle," it's time to get downright fancy. Use a hot glue gun (or craft glue for younger kids) to attach wagon wheel pasta shapes, candies, letters, whatever you can dream up and that you want to look metallic on the buckle. We used hot glue to make a floral motif. Our dream-boy cowboys used sugar letters meant for cake decorating to form the initials of their dates.

When the decorations are set and the glue dry, use gold or silver spray paint to give your buckles a good shine. The hardest part is having the patience to wait for the paint to dry. It's worth doing two coats.

Now for any other decorations you want to add on top of the "metal." Our favorites were stick-on gems and rhinestones. The boys stayed rather reserved and classic, but wow, you could really go all out. Imagine adding colored beads, colored rhinestones, glitter, polished stones, maybe some nail polish designs for an inlaid look.

Giddy-up!