When my oldest son said that he wanted a cowboy party, I thought this is going to be hard but a really fun party. So I started searching ideas out on the web and really didn't find anything I liked.  So I kicked my creative side in. I made the invitations myself. I used my Sizzix machine to cut out a paper doll and clothes.  I dressed the little paper doll up like a cowboy, including using a real bandana to cut out the bandana and hat band. I applied them to the card and stamped " A Birthday Roundup".  Then I set to the task of planning the cake and events. For events, I planned a bandit pinata that I created myself, complete with a hat, 3D nose, and bandana all created from newspaper, flour, and water.  Then I painted it. The next thing I planned was a beanbag throw.  I tracked down a refridgerator box,  I cut a 3x3ft square and painted a bandit on the piece and cut out one of the teeth. Then I went in search of water guns that looked like colt revovlers (cowboy guns as my son puts it).  I also bought brown fun foam on sale at Hobby Lobby. I cut out belts, and holsters to fit the guns I had found, then laced them together with lanard lacing and used hook and loop tape to make a closure for the belt. Then I took some more of the card board box and created a wood look sign for the OK Water Coral so we could have water gun duels. Then I planned a stick pony race, potato sack race, A picture scene, and the a place to do cowboy dancing. Then I planned the menu. After finding a drink picture in the shape of a catus, we decided on Green Hawiian punch and ginger ale for the drink to make "catus juice". Then we decided that cowboys ate beans on cattle drives so we are serving Beenie Weenies. The cake is a big show piece style cake. It is a 2 tier cake lemon cake with lemon icing and fondant along with flavored kandy clay decorations in the shape of catus, bull's skull, and hay bails.  The bottom of the cake is a 13x9 rectangle with fondant rope trim around the bottom and catuses and tumbleweeds piped on with buttercream icing. (instead of making too much cake I used 2 Stryofoam blocks as the bottom piece) On top of the bottom layer, there is a bandana made from fondant and the candles will set on it in white chocolate stars.  Then the next teir is a 9in round layer cake that is 4 layers tall.  It is decorated in a western city made from fondant and piped buttercream icing. It has scenes of the jail complete with a prisoner hanging out the bars, a stable, Nelly's Kitchen, and a Blacksmith.  The edges of the top tier are trimmed with rope trim again. Then on the top I created a little cowboy, horse, and stand up sign that says, "Happy 8th Birthday Matthew" out of fondant and gumpaste.  Then I decorated with the kandy clay pieces. To finish off the cake, I created a barbed wire piece out of fondant and loosely wrapped it around the cake from the bottom to the top.  For the goody bags, I got straw cowboy hats and lined them with bandanas. I placed thier guns and holsters, a cow printed and a snake printed pencil, Cowboy Harry, toy snakes, lizzards,horses, horse finger puppets, plastic sheriff's badges, and handmade white chocolate sheriff's stars candies.  For decorations, I used the remaining parts of the box to make a wanted poster that the kids can get thier pictures made with thier face in, Swinging saloon doors for the front of the porch, a birthday sign, and various other decorative signs. I used a quilt for the seating area under the tree. The final touch for it all, I used the computer and created little maps for everybody of where all the events are going to be.  My eight year old loved it, and he helped me by coming up with ideas. He and his little brother (3 yrs old) helped put together goodie bags and paint decorations.  They loved getting ready for the party almost as much as the party itself.