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!

this past weekend

for my birthday I asked Matt to get me a dapping block... and he did :) I found a small wood one at Hobby Lobby for $8.

I have a container full of bottle caps I've collected from the various soda we've tried (there's a place where you can buy it by the bottle and make your own variety 6-pack.. it's pretty cool) so I cut a couple down into small circles and domed them with my new block and made me some rings like these :)

the bike one is from my last birthday, I think. my in-laws brought over some beer for our last backyard movie night, so that's the only place I can think I got it from! I love the colors, though.

and speaking of birthdays and movie nights...
I wanted to do another backyard movie - this year it was ghostbusters! I haven't seen that in sooo long. it was a lot of fun :) I made Ecto Cooler punch from a recipe I found online.

the drink was a hit! I even did the little Slimer picks like the girls did in their video. I also made a trap out of a shoe box and put a push light in it, and drew ghosts on balloons and put them around the house.

I can't wait until Leo is old enough for themed parties! until then, I guess I'll get them :P