My 3 year old loves firetrucks and firemen. His birthday is in the middle of July.  For his Fireman Birthday Party I incorporated the red, white, and blue theme. I think it is very appropriate for the time of year, and works well with the theme. The time of year allowed me to shop for tablecloths, cups, napkins, honeycomb garland and cut outs in red white and blue. I found these decorations at Dollar Tree. I also found toothpicks with flags on them. I used these along with Duncan Hines Fun Frosters which is vanilla frosting with red, white and blue candy stars. I used these toppings to make cupcakes, using red velvet cake mix. I used Reynolds Patriotic Baking Cups (Wal-Mart). Patriotic piñatas at Wal-Mart were less than $6. Along with the bought goods I added to the decor with an emergency fire center my son had, a little tykes firetruck and a stuffed Dalmatian (Spot). The play center also entertained the children. My local insurance agent gave me coloring books, stickers and bookmarks about fire safety. We live in a rural area where the fire departments are volunteer. Most of them rent out their buildings for a small fee. I got a refrigerator box from an appliance store, spray painted it red, cut out windows, drew the doors and used construction paper for headlights. I used a long narrow box for the big lights on top. I used paper towel dowels to make a ladder, taping them together. The ladder is only for looks, not sturdy enough for children to really climb on. With decorations and location ready, we made our invitations. Using clip art from my computer I invited everyone to "one hot party". Each child was greeted by the little Fire Chief and he gave them their own fire hat(Dollar Store). As guests arrived they were invited into the fire truck (box) which was filled with pillows and fireman/truck books. We used Spot to play Fireman Fireman Where's Your Dog, a variation of Doggy Doggy Where's Your Bone. Hot dogs, tortilla chips, mild salsa, red fruit punch were served. After blowing out the candle, and eating cupcakes, gifts were opened. Everyone was ready to stir by now, so we took turns at the piñata which was filled with the goody bags to ensure everyone got their share. These bags were filled with fireman stickers, candy, and one hotwheels/ matchbox emergency rescue vehicle each. Last, but not least, I took a picture of all the children on the "real" firetruck. We made copies of this picture and wrote a big thank you on the back, along w/ everyone's name and the date. This was simple, inexpensive, and the everyone had fun!