Jack's 1st birthday

such a cute lil buckaroo, if I do say so!  (thanks mom for sharing your pictures!)

 

 

 

leading up to Jack's birthday felt a little hectic.  not only because it wasn't long after the holidays, but we had new flooring started in the kitchen and entry way the week before that wasn't all buttoned up until a couple days prior to the party so my house was a wreck, then Jack got sick. I didn't know if I was gonna pull it off - it was touch and go there for a little bit.

I put a picture of Jack at each month on a digital frame, and I find myself just sitting in front of it watching the slide show to see how much he's grown in a year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had the idea I could make a cactus cake with marshmallow fondant, but I ran out of steam and just went with a Wild West Toob on top of yellow cupcakes with Almond Joy frosting.  maybe next birthday I'll try something like that.  I think it still came out cute.

 

Jack seemed a little unsure of the cupcake until he got a taste of the frosting, then he dug in!

     

and he wasn't as interested in opening gifts as he was in eating the paper, so once that was taken from him he wandered off to play with other things.

 

  

one of the things I'm really glad I found was this cute little chair.  it's a rocker, but I kept the rockers off so Jack could climb on it.  he really likes it and he's just so darn cute in it!

I didn't work too hard on favors this time (sorry Jack!)  I just got jar mugs and filled them with gold nuggets and jerky.  I did embellish them a bit, and I made Leo his own little cup lined with matching paper.  his had candy rocks and toys in it - couldn't tell he was that impressed with it.  oh well!

now off to get ideas for the next birthday party - the planning just never ends!

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!