Dad's 80th Birthday Party (with Gifts, Decor & Recipes!)

I've  been absent from The Devilish Dish lately and with good reason! My Dad turned 80 years young last week, and we celebrated this weekend with an old-fashioned party in his honor.  When Mom asked for my help, my best friend since 6th grade Barbara and I were immediately on board.   Mom estimated around 75 friends and family showed up to enjoy homemade cobbler, ice cream and a lot of fun!

This was a party for the ages!
We had so much fun planning this.
Love my Dad!

Barbara designed, ordered and sent out the invitations. They featured a picture of my parents when they were dating.  (They will be married 58 years this November!) My mom had made my dad his first ever birthday cake.  (That's sweet and a little sad all at the same time.)  You can tell by all of these numbers I'm throwing around this was before running to Michael's for cake decorating tools was even possible.  She told me she used a potato peeler to "grate" a Hershey Bar to spell out "Happy Birthday Billy" on that cake.  A true labor of love.  So was this party, but totally worth it.  

Here's the adorable invitation  I'm so glad to have Barb
in my life.  We've been friends since 6th grade,
she's practically my parents other daughter.
She and her husband Keith and their daughter Emily
showed up early to the party and helped in every capacity.
Friends are truly the family you choose for yourself!

My Dad was one of ten children.  Sadly, several of his brothers and sisters including his twin brother are no longer with us.  His twin brother, my "Daddy Vernon" was just as special to me as my Dad.  We wanted to make sure and honor his memory at the party as well without making it too sad.  Vernon was Will Rogers made over.  He never knew a stranger and he would never want anyone to shed a tear at a party.  So we added a few extra special touches to remind everyone to celebrate in his memory too!

Only one picture of my Dad and his twin brother exists from their childhood.  Isn't this exactly how you picture little boys from rural Oklahoma in the 1930s and 40s?  Dusty overalls and hand me down boots.  This picture is very precious to our family and served as the inspiration for the party decor.

I used the table in the dining room to set up my display.
I wanted a true country, shabby, All-American
theme.  Those overalls are hanging on an old shutter.
(It's a curbside find that's usually on my porch)
I just love the height it provided to the display.

The little overalls actually belonged to my husband.  They aren't exactly brand new.  My Mother-In-Law saved them and Little Devil wore them.  I now have them on a decorative hanger in my guest bedroom.  They remind me so much of that precious picture I decided to feature them in my birthday display.  When we began planning the party we all agreed nothing fancy.  No prime rib or black tie.  Just an All-American birthday honoring an All-American guy.  Homemade cobbler, ice cream, soda pop and lots of red, white and blue!   Dad would only agree to the party if we said no gifts.  He's not one that enjoys a fuss, so we politely asked for cards only on his invitation.  Fortunately I had the perfect card holder.  A big wooden American Flag planter box that has enjoyed a summer full of red geraniums on my porch.  I added a little baker's twine and designated it for cards by attaching printed letters with tiny clothespins.  I love history and trivia, so I really enjoyed looking up facts about the year 1937.  Did you know that's the year of the Hindenburg disaster?  And also the year Amelia Earhart went missing?  Everyone really enjoyed the trivia.  I included facts like the cost of bread, gasoline, music hits, movies and sports too!

We opted for a cards-only party.
If you want gifts by all means shower your
loved on with gifts.  My dad has had a blessed
80 years on this earth, and the beautiful day we enjoyed
was gift enough.
(And there were STILL gifts lol)

Here's my board of fun facts.  I had originally envisioned
this on a giant chalkboard with beautiful chalk lettering.
That didn't happen so I improvised with some clip art
and printed the facts on the computer.  Whether
artistically chalk written or thumb tacked to an
inexpensive bulletin board, your guests will still enjoy
reading about years gone by.

It's not a party without party favors.  I love for guests to have a little something to take home.  I finally decided on homemade sugar cookies that I custom stamped using my kit from Williams Sonoma.  I made close to 200 cookies to remind everyone of "Billy's Birthday Bash."

Surprisingly these cookies were not at all difficult
to make.  The hardest part was making sure the letters
were facing the correct direction.
(Think mirror imaging)
I followed the directions and recipe provided with
the kit.  The one thing I will stress is definitely
chill the dough as directed.  This is what keeps them
from spreading out.  You want your images readable!
Feel free to tint the dough or decorate with frosting.
I prefer the plain "Rustic" look.
Which is code for I made 200 cookies and 6 cobblers.
Ain't nobody got time for frosting!

I found plain favor bags in quantities
of 100.  I opted to keep things simple and
use the twist-ties provided.

 

I just love how these turned out. They were the
hit of the party.  Sadly I read the kit is no longer available
from Williams Sonoma, but try Ebay!

 

I added a cute little sign with a fun quote:

Count your life by smiles, not tears
Count your age by friends not years.
Dad definitely has some great friends!

 

I included on of my favorite pictures of my
Uncle Vernon  He was a great bass
fisherman.  I'm pretty sure he spent his
birthday catching the big ones in Heaven!

Now I know we requested no gifts for Dad, but did you really think I was going to let his 80th go by without something special?  No way!  I saw an idea for chalkboard lettering on some rusty old tools a while back and I fell in love with the idea  I'm not sure my folks share my love of chalk, rust and antiques, but my Dad has always been very handy and I've spent a great deal of time next to him at his workbench in the garage.  That man had the patience of Job to let a little girl near his tools.  I thought a sweet sentiment on an old tool was the perfect representation of my memories of working alongside him, hammering nails into scrap wood while listening to The Highwaymen on an old 8-track tape player. 80 years is a big deal, and as cute as my homemade gift was, you can't just give a special guy that's lived 80 years a rusty tool.  So, Dad also got a jar of 80 gold dollars with a tag declaring, "Dad You're Golden."  I think these ideas could easily be adapted for a Father's Day gift too!
 

I found the saw at an estate sale.
It took me a while to find one with the
exact amount of rust I wanted.

 

I put the gold dollars in a little jar and added
some trim but you could put them in a
gift bag or vase too!
And you don't have to wait to 80, gold dollars
would be a cute gift for a child too!

 

I've included the printable to add to a gift of gold dollars
for your dad.

Click on the image to enlarge.
Right click and save to your computer.
Open with the software of your choiceand print onto cardstock.
These images are my exclusive artwork.
Please be courteous when using these printables
and remember they are for personal use only.

In lieu of cake we went with Homemade Cobbler because that is Dad's favorite.  I made 6 homemade cobblers for the party.  You can find the recipes for those at the bottom of this post.  Thank goodness I love to bake and have a lot of useful 9x13-inch pans with covers.  It made serving a breeze!  We rounded out the refreshments with vanilla ice cream, coffee, water,  and soda pop.  I even took my great aunt's sewing cabinet that I made into a beverage server.  It's Coca-Cola themed and the ideal way to serve beverages on a hot day!  My folks have a lovely screened in patio with a ceiling fan.  The weather was beautiful and we placed the drink server out on the patio.
 

I use this thing all of the time.  With the sewing machine
no longer inside it's pretty lightweight and easy to take to
another party location.  A great way to re-purpose!
You can read all about the project HERE! 

The guests just mingled and helped themselves to cold drinks and relaxed on the patio while they devoured:

1 Cherry Cobbler
1 Apple Cobbler
1 Peach Cobbler
2 Peach Cobblers with Hatch Green Chiles
1 Gluten Free Strawberry Cobbler 

Here's the Gluten Free Strawberry Cobbler.  I wasn't sure
if Strawberry Cobbler was even a thing.  But it turned
out to be so good. And you'll never know it was GF!

Peach & Hatch Green Chile Cobbler
Don't Knock It Til You Try It!
This one got some unusual looks but folks were more
than pleasantly surprised!

I hope you enjoyed sharing my Dad's 80th birthday with me.  It was a pleasure to plan and it's a pleasure to be his daughter.  I'm happy to say over 75 people share that sentiment and showed up to celebrate.  Even if you don't have a milestone birthday coming up in your family, feel free to use some of the ideas from this post for celebrations of your own.  Whether you choose the gift idea for Father's Day or just feel like eating a batch of Homemade Peach & Hatch Green Chile Cobbler, go the extra mile for yourself or someone you love!
 
Homemade Cherry Cobbler

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1.5 cups whole milk
2 sticks butter
2 (21 ounce) cans cherry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in the sugar and milk.  Whisk well to combine.  Melt the butter in an oven safe 9x13-inch baking pan.  Pour batter over melted butter.  Do not stir.  Pour the cherry pie filling over the batter.  Do not stir.  Bake for one hour.

Homemade Apple Cobbler

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1.5 cups whole milk
2 sticks butter
4-6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in the sugar and milk.  Whisk well to combine.  Melt the butter in an oven safe 9x13-inch baking pan.  Pour batter over melted butter.  Do not stir.  Combine the sliced apples with the sugar and cinnamon.  Pour apple mixture over the batter.  Do not stir.  Bake for one hour.

Homemade Peach Cobbler

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1.5 cups whole milk
2 sticks butter
1 (16 ounce) package frozen peaches, thawed
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in the sugar and milk.  Whisk well to combine.  Melt the butter in an oven safe 9x13-inch baking pan.  Pour batter over melted butter.  Do not stir.  Combine the peaches with the sugar and cinnamon.  Pour peach mixture over the batter.  Do not stir.  Bake for one hour.

Homemade Peach & Hatch Green Chile Cobbler

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1.5 cups whole milk
2 sticks butter
1 (16 ounce) package frozen peaches, thawed
6 Hatch Green chile peppers (4 mild, 2 hot) roasted, peeled and diced
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in the sugar and milk.  Whisk well to combine.  Melt the butter in an oven safe 9x13-inch baking pan.  Pour batter over melted butter.  Do not stir.  Combine the peaches and green chiles with the sugar and cinnamon.  Pour peach mixture over the batter.  Do not stir.  Bake for one hour.

Gluten Free Strawberry Cobbler

1 stick unsalted butter
1 (16 ounce) package frozen whole strawberries, thawed and halved1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups Gluten Free Bisquick Pancake & Baking Mix
1 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the butter in an oven safe 9x13-inch baking pan.  Combine the strawberries with 1 cup of sugar and set aside.   In a bowl combine the baking mix, sugar and milk.  Pour over the melted butter.  Do not stir.  Pour the strawberry mixture over the batter.  Do not stir.  Bake for one hour.