Leo's robot party

we had Leo's birthday party this past weekend since we'll be out of town on his actual birthday.  I did a robot/space theme to go with his new room decor.

I made the invitations with inspiration from a bunch of different invitations I saw online.  I layered the backgrounds, text, and images in my Silhouette program and printed it front and back on card stock, cut out the gears and robot for the front and added foam to the backs to raise them a bit.

I put a little bit of Glossy Accents on the robot's eye and other spots to give it more dimension.

 

I sandwiched foil between clear contact paper and cut out some gears on my Silhouette.  I was worried how they'd do, but they came out just fine.  I strung them up with fishing line and hung them above the bar.

I made a red velvet cake to look like a robot, with doughnut arms and legs and orange Sno Ball feet.  it didn't come out like I was hoping and kept sliding, but it tasted really good.  I reinforced the back with a wall of Rice Krispie treats I made from this recipe and that kept it from falling over.  I bought the pre-made snacks and put the caramel on top, but the caramel didn't soak in like it was supposed to (maybe because they were store bought?), so I heated it all up in the oven and mixed at altogether and reshaped the treats.  I was going to dip them in chocolate, but I already had banana bread and red velvet cake pops that I dipped in chocolate, so I left them as is.

I made a robot pinata from a cereal box.  I opened up the box completely and turned it inside out so it was a solid color and I didn't have to cover up the printing.  I cut off the top flaps and covered the opening with two layers of tissue so it'd have a real good weak spot and didn't take forever to break open!  I layered fringed tissue strips all over the box, added arms and legs and some print outs I drew up, put a wire on the top to hang it with, and made sure to leave an opening to fill it with candy and some toys.

I got a small tank of helium and was able to put silver and colored balloons around the house.  I'm glad I did because that was Leo's favorite part - we had a hard time getting him away from the balloons to open gifts!

for the favors I printed off cards to fold in half and staple to the top of some clear bags filled with "sweet bytes" for the ride home after the party.  I couldn't decide on what to put in them for a while, but finally decided on Butter Pecan Meringues from World Market.  I put them in a wagon Leo had that I filled with tissue paper and candy.  this year I remembered to send everyone home with one!

when I was looking for simple favor ideas I came across a bag topper someone did that said "Domo Arigato" and thought that would be too cute for thank you cards!

I printed the front and back on card stock the same way I did the invitations and used some of the Glossy Accents again for the robot's eyes on the front.

 

I feel like I've been planning this for a long time, but I still didn't get to all the projects I wanted to do.  I'm happy with how it turned out anyway, and glad it's time to move onto something else!

the party & stuff

Leo's 1st birthday was so much fun :) it turned out great despite being just a few days after we got back from Galveston. that was very stressful! I gotta be more on top of things next year and give myself a whole 2 months to get everything solid. oh, and Leo hates the beach. maybe he'll be more excited about it next year when he can walk and isn't having to crawl through the sand.

for the invitations I made a photo mosaic on a magnet sheet that fit into a sleeve with the lettering cut out so the magnet peeked trough. (I thought I bookmarked the page I saw this on, but I guess I didn't :( sorry lady who's idea I used and can't give credit to!) I found some pocket magnifiers to send along with them from DealExtreme so the recipients could see all the tiny pictures of the mosaic.

Leo's birthday shirt is was one of my favorite things I did for his birthday. I used iron-on vinyl on a black shirt. I put big 1's on the front and back, and small 1's on the sleeves, added a Lion to the front, some stripes on the sleeves, and Charlson across the back. I even did his name, and birthday with the year inside where the tag goes. I love that detail!

I made carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, and an extra big one for Leo. I put them in an apple tree I borrowed from my mom and topped each one with a different party favor toy from Party City. I figured I could get away without colorful frosting that stains everyone's teeth and just bring color in through toys. I think it came out really cute :)
I made a fruit frog that I saw here, and made punch like the Ecto Cooler from my birthday, but without green food coloring. also tried infused water for the first time. Matt just cut up a cucumber and threw it in some water with ice. came out really well.

we had a slideshow running on the TV of all the best pictures from his first year, and I put all the monthly pictures labeled with the month on a digital photo frame.

Leo got a bunch of toys and clothes - this boy's loaded! I'm afraid to see what Christmas brings!! we're gonna need more room ;)

I completely forgot about the party favors I made and had to give half of them out the next day!
I put a cover on some small note pads and did a matching insert for some black BIC pens, put those in a cup with some goodies to eat on the car ride home... or just whenever the next day for those who didn't make it home with theirs!
and I finished off the pack of magnet sheets I got for the invitations and made more with a picture of us from the party in a black frame to send out with the thank you notes.

I think it was a wonderful 1st birthday and a good warm-up to the years to follow when he'll actually remember the party!