Nope, nothing to do with Disney or running, but it is about our life and family! Robby turned ONE last week (ummm...can we just pause for a moment on THAT one???) and instead of heading down to WDW for marathon weekend, I was doing my own marathon of party planning for his first birthday party. Of course, just as the half marathon & kids races runners were disappointed when the weather foiled their perfect plans, we were too when a snow storm prevented most of our guests from coming to the party. We would have postponed, but Bill has been out of town almost every weekend and when it comes to Robby, Daddy trumps everyone else for being an essential attendant!
I'd been pinning ideas for months to make Robby's winter one-derland perfect! I couldn't be happier with how each and every detail came together to make the perfect party. This one was definitely a Pinterest WIN! Here are some of the details of the day:
Our living room:
We used some stuffed animals around the room, but the real centerpiece was our fireplace. It was decked out with balloons, a clothesline of Robby's monthly pictures, plus a few extra touches!
Robby's first piece of artwork was fun and easy! I used a hard canvas and taped off a number "1" with painter's tape. Then just squeezed some paint on the canvas and let him at it! Be sure to let each color dry before layering on a new color. I framed it using an inexpensive IKEA frame that matched the decor.
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For our party favors, we made bags of s'mores. I set them up right at the front door using a few extra tables we had. All of the signs I made were done on PicMonkey (yes, using only the free elements) and framed with cheap IKEA frames. 2 graham crackers, 2 mini Hersheys, and 2 marshmallows in a cute treat bag was a perfect little "thank you for coming".
Our Dining Room:
Well, our empty house proved to work well for this party! We don't yet have a dining room set, so we set up Robby's high chair in the dining room, front and center, and put up some folding tables and chairs for guests. Our kitchen table and island also had seating. Who knew we wouldn't actually need all this room? Dumb snow!
For Robby's high chair, I intended to do more, but this time of year is tough, so I kept it simple. I hung some snow garland, cut out a free-hand '1' out of scrapbook paper and hung a few of those snowflake ornaments. I also made Robby's hat to match the outfit I bought him from Etsy (the prices for the hats were outrageous!). I got a dollar store hat (so I wouldn't have to free-hand it) and covered it in scrapbook paper. I added pom poms along the bottom with some hot glue. All that Disney costume construction came in handy!
As a backdrop, along with some balloons, I took some streamers and created a great background for pictures. I taped them along a curtain rod at the top, twisted, and taped them under the window-sill.
The Kitchen:
All of the food and drinks were in the kitchen. I kept everything themed and it all came out so great!!!
The Hot Cocoa Bar:
The Chili Bar:
Snacks and Appetizers:
Dessert: (I didn't get enough pictures of this spread! We had a bunch of desserts all themed out)
Drinks:
We made some Polar Punch more for looks than anything else (it was SWEET). Also, we labeled all the food with some snowball labels. They were super easy to make: cut off the bottom of a styrofoam ball and sliced a slit in the top. Then printed some labels on cardstock. Wish I had a better picture, but I didn't intend on blogging about his birthday. Whoops! Blogger fail!
To finish it off, here's a few shots of Robby digging into his cake. He loved it!!! A great tip I read online: get a cheap (I think ours was $1) plastic table cloth for under the high chair. It made clean-up a breeze!
Finally, this is a shot I just love to take: the aftermath of the smash! We have a close-up after we cut our wedding cake and now we can add this one into our collection. I love how it tells the story of the day!
Happy Birthday to my sweet little boy! I can't wait to see what the next year brings!!!
