Cars Photo Op

Today is the big day! The big Cars birthday bash!

I wanted to add one more pre-party planning Pinspiration before the big party. This Pinterest inspiration wasn't one particular pin, it was a bunch of pins based around one theme. A Photo Booth!

I love all the silly props and photo sets that are all over Pinterest. They have photo booth pins for weddings and all sorts of parties. My photo staging was fairly simple. I used a curtain rod, placed it outside in a window, hung my handmade checker curtains, and used a red plastic table cloth.

I did get my inspiration for one set of props from this pin:

I used foam sheets from the craft store and made the Cars character faces, and the Ka-Chow sign. Here is the birthday boy testing out the photo booth fun...

I also used the picture frame from the toddler photo shoot and hot glued fabric and ribbon to make it Cars photo booth ready.

The last set of props are a paper mache Piston Cup and some checker flags. Xander was over the photo fun, so I got my husband to pose for the camera. :)

Another Pinterest Success! And we are all ready for the birthday fun!!!!!!!

Cozy Cones

Party planning and execution have been in full force this week. We are very excited about the big toddler Cars bash this weekend. Between my ideas and Pinterest, we have come up with some pretty fun decorations and activities for the party. This next Pinspiration was both a marriage between decoration and activity.

We needed a good center piece for our coffee table, but with an abundance of children coming to the party we had to make sure it was very kid friendly. So why not have a functional decorations?

The Pinterest Pin that inspired this decorations was for Cozy Cones:

The tutorial for the pin is at this website: Pick Me. I did mine a little differently. I wanted the cones to be "functional", so kids could drive their cars in and out of them.

I found the same cones at Walmart for $3.50 per four pack. The tutorial says to stack and offset two cones because of the slits on the sides. I just used orange construction paper so that I didn't waste a cone. I also cut a "garage door" out and hot glued that plastic piece to the inside of the cone. Then that glued plastic piece was my support for the foam awning.

Here is a top view of the Cozy Cones...

And here is a close up of Sally and McQueen getting Cozy at the Cones :P...

This was another Pinterest Success and a great addition to the big Cars bash!

Racing Cars

Kid's birthday parties always have great food, fun decorations, but what about the entertainment? While bounce houses are fun, they are overpriced and way out of our budget (that and the birthday boy is afraid of them). So what do you do to keep toddlers entertained?

Our first Cars themed birthday party fun was inspired by this pin:

You can't have a Cars themed party without cars and races. I mean you can, but where's the fun in that. Having organized fun at a birthday party where the median age is 2, is almost impossible. So why not give them a track to roll their cars down?

Since parties can be very pricey, I wanted to keep this project as cheap and simple as possible. I think I did a fairly good job at that. 

Supplies:

- Ply Wood - We found 2 perfect cut pieces in the scrap bin at Home Depot, so they were a dollar each!

- Nails and screws - We had these on hand. 

- 2 pieces of 1/2 inch PVC - $1.29 each. We had a Home Depot employee cut them in half for a total of 4 pieces.

- Paint - I had white on hand, and I purchased black spray paint from Michael's for $3.25 (price after 50% coupon). 

The total cost of this project was under $8.00! 

Here is a bear bones look at the race track. We used some of the second piece of ply wood to brace the two pieces together underneath. We also used a piece of the second board to make a "stopper" at the end of the track. The boards were nailed together and the PVC was screwed on. 

Since we have a nice hill in our back yard, we make legs to hammer into the ground, instead of elevating the board. This will be easier for the small kids because they can just sit next to the board.

Here is the final project, being enjoyed by the soon-to-be birthday boy and daddy...

I have to admit this race track is super fun. Definitely a Pinterest Success. I just hope the rest of the kids have as much fun as we did. 

Week 8 Theme...

September has been a month of toddler fun. At the end of week 8, we have a huge birthday bash planned. This week will be dedicated to pre-party birthday planning fun.

The theme for Xander's 2nd birthday party is Disney Pixar Cars. Usually I am not the biggest fan of "character" themed birthday parties. Mostly because there is too much generic decorations, party supplies, and favors. Thanks to Pinterest there was no need to buy any generic hoopla. There are so many great ideas that are handmade and still have the feel for the characters and movie.

I always thought I had a creative gene when it came to party planning, thanks to my mom. But Pinterest really puts me to shame. I have to give my mom major kudos, she planned the best parties WITHOUT Pinterest, even without the internet!

I'm excited to share some of the birthday party projects I have been working on for this big day.