Ka-Chow! Colt is 3!

Without a doubt, of all the events I plan, my favorites end up being the ones I plan for my boy. This year's birthday party was the best by far because he was old enough to understand what was going on, get in on the planning and get excited about the day that was created just for him! His first love right now is Cars...Cars movie, Cars toys, Cars books...so of course, we had to have a Cars party! The best part of the day was watching his face light up...Happy 3rd Birthday, Baby Boy!

These were the photos I took for the invitations. Colt's Cars logo was made by
this Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/kidspartykreations?ref=seller_info

Birthday Boy! His party shirt was made by BabyCakes82211 on Etsy.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/BabyCakes82211?ref=seller_info

Welcome Table

All the guests wrote Birthday messages on his birthday tablecloth. This is a tradition my Mom started for me and my brother: when he's too old for parties and we have family birthday dinners, we'll put out the birthday tablecloth for him to look back and remember all the great birthdays he had and the people that he shared them with!

It was hot on party day, but thank goodness for the breeze! The balloons were a-blowin'!

Maybe my favorite party detail: Road table covers! And so easy to make: just strips of yellow duct tape!

DIY Birthday Banner!

Food table. Flo's V8 Cafe, of course! Signs were made from actual photos I took at CarsLand in DCA, printed out in tile format and glued to poster board.

Close-up of the applesauce labels!

LOVE these little Mater cups from the Disney Store!

Drink table!

Motor Oil...aka Sweet Tea.

Antifreeze...aka Blue Lemonade.

These were a big hit! Found these on Amazon and put each child's name on them!

The Cake! Made by Skiff's Bakery.
http://www.skiffscakes.com

Favors for the kiddos: each box had a Cars cup, Cars stickers and Cars fruit snacks inside.

And favors for the grown-ups! These marshmallow pops were made by a good friend who makes delicious desserts and all of the proceeds go to fund their adoption from Ethiopia. Check out Baby Cakes on Facebook!

Our first 'Bounce' experience! Colt loved it so much, I think he spent 90% of the party in there!

Ramone's House of  "Temporary Tatoo" Body Art!

First of Many...

When my son turned one year old, I knew I wanted to throw a huge party...not only to celebrate his first year of life, but also to celebrate that my husband and I had made it through our first year as parents!  I was too excited about this...I wanted the first birthday party I threw as a mommy to be spectacular!  The Mickey Mouse theme was a given...considering what huge Disney fans we are!  I'm embarrassed to admit that I probably had more fun than the birthday boy...but I think he'll enjoy looking at the pictures when he gets older!

It all started with the invitations!  Black and white cardstock, thin red and black polka dot
ribbons and photos by JC Penney Portraits.  Colt's birthday hat and shirt were found on Etsy.com.

Inside of the invites...found the Disney font online!

Mickey Mouse bowls from Target and picture frames from Disneyland.

Mickey Mouse sandwiches!

Colt got his own "smush cake" to eat and "smush" with his hands!

The rest of the guests got Mini Mickey cupcakes!

These were so fun and easy to make! 

The tables were covered in white and black tablecloths and red and yellow "Mickey buttons"...

...and each table had a Mickey balloon bouquet!

Just before we lit his candle...

Favors

I used a Mickey Mouse punch and a 3/4 inch round punch to make the tags.

The guests signed both a mat frame and a tablecloth...a tradition that my Mom started with me!

Non-Traditional Announcements

Totally love these vellum graduation announcements I did for my friend Caitlyn!  I love that the picture she sent to her friends and family is a better size for framing...different from the traditional wallet size!

A Big Announcement for a Little Dude

Last May I became a Mommy for the first time!  "Little Dude" (as he is affectionately called) has provided my Husband and me with hours of laughter, many adventures and fun firsts!

I hate to admit it, but even before he was born I had his birth announcements designed...in my head of course.  What I failed to realize was that assembling announcements from scratch while caring for a newborn would take twice as long!  But it was so worth it...I really loved how they turned out!

Photo by Kristen Self Photography: www.kristenselfphotography.com

Those are my son's actual footprints!  I made his footprints with acrylic paint on cardstock, scanned them into my computer as jpegs and converted them to black and white to achieve the "faded" look.

Ian and Lucia

Sometimes I enjoy just doing the little details!  My good friend Lucia had a pretty good handle on planning her wedding and certainly didn't need my help!  But I did get to make her programs for her and I was so happy to be a tiny part of her special day. : )