Thomas' Dapper First Birthday

If you heard a loud weird noise two weekends ago, it was me crying as I threw my last 1st birthday party. T Bone turned one December 26th so I waited until after the holidays to have his birthday party. We decided to invite just family this time around and this was one of my favorite parties to date! I found this super cute dapper party and used it as my inspiration. I am using the term 'inspiration' rather loosely and perhaps copied some of her party verbatim. That is how much I liked it!

I whipped up these cute invitations on Photoshop. Sure, it isn't fancy with gold foil, but it did the trick.

I am so glad I put 'best party dress requested' because that gave us full reign to dress to the nines (or at least dressed up more than usual!). I was also so happy to see that my family participated in getting dressed- lots of dresses, suits, and even a tux! I bought Thomas a suit from Walmart and each of the older boys get dress pants from Walmart that were on clearance for $5! I bought them a new dress shirt from H&M and they were quite handsome. I bought bowties from My Sweat Pea Couture Boutique and they are the CUTEST bowties! I love these photos of the boys getting all dressed up for the party. Of course, the birthday boy was not cooperating for pictures at this point.

When the guests arrived upon red carpet, each kiddo could pick out a bow tie or hair bow.

I printed out pictures from each month and displayed them. I really don't like how this turned out but left it anyways. 

The food display was largely made up of desserts,which is totally my kind of food display! Who needs 'real' food at a party? I am all for filling up on cupcakes and candy! I tried to find candy with gold wrappings- rolos, reece's, gummy bears, and twix. Don't worry though- we did have ham, potatoes, and green beans for those 'health conscious' people. I won't name names on who insisted on not eating cake for dinner...

Like I said, I LOVE that the guests dressed up! When else would I get to dress T Bone in a baby suit and when would my dad wear a tux to a 1 year old's birthday party?! I got a new outfit and Brad even went to the store ON HIS OWN ACCORD and shopped for a new outfit for himself! I was thoroughly impressed with him and he looked so handsome!

After playing outside for a little bit, (yes, it was a gorgeous January day in Texas!), we played a round of 'Pin the Bow Tie on Thomas. Even some of the adults played too!

By far the highlight of the evening was our dance party. I had some fun music playing all night but we crammed into the living room, cranked up the music and had an old fashioned dance party. I loved it and so did the kids! My niece Bella kept asking me to turn the music back up later on so she could keep getting her groove on. We played freeze dance and then took turns doing our best 'sassy dance walk' across the floor. I think burning those calories totally cancels out eating cupcakes for dinner, right?

I have said it before, and I will say it again, I really think our 'family only' parties tend to be my favorites. They are somehow more laid back but still just as action packed as when we invite all our friends. I think it is just more fun to party it up with my favorite people.

I think Thomas enjoyed his Dapper First Birthday party...perfect for my handsome dapper baby!

If you missed any of my other favorite parties, you can check them out here:

Surfer Dude Party

Christmas Milk & Cookies Party

Cars Party

Dinosaur Party

Please be a fan of lil Mop Top on facebook!! I link up to these parties!

A Cars 3rd Birthday Party

Over the summer Matthew turned three. He decided he wanted a 'Cars' birthday party which turned out cute and everyone had a fun time.

I made these invitations on photoshop and love how they turned out!

We started off at the pool because it is about a million degrees in Texas. I like the boys to wear coordinating outfits for parties but I also want it to be worn more than one time. So I got them matching Cars bathing suits and we already have the Lightning McQueen hats (which I don't particularly like, but the boys picked them out and they fit the party). At the pool we had 'Ramone's Auto Shop' set up where kids could get fake tattoos that were really cute!

After we swam for a little bit we went back to the house for lunch and a couple games. I had a kids' table set up and each kiddo got a VIP Pitt Pass to wear. 

We had a yummy lunch before heading outside again. 

Outside in the backyard we made a small race track by spray painting white lines on the grass. I got the racing flags from Oriental Trading to help decorate the track and for the 'crowd' of parents to cheer on the racers. I printed out pictures of the different cars from the movie, laminated them and then glued ribbon to it to make it into a lanyard. Each kid picked which car he or she wanted to race as. They had fun running the race track a couple times and even took turns who would win each time. It was really cute!

Last but not least we had some yummy cupcakes. I found the toppers on clearance at a party shop for $1! What a steal! I think making cupcakes at home is a wonderful way to save money for parties. I always make the cupcakes and ice them myself. They look pretty dang good if I do say so myself!

You can't have a Cars party without having some yummy spare tires!

I didn't get a picture of the favors, but each kid got a Cars 2 Little Golden book that I found at Walmart. I love giving favors that are useful or practical instead of a piece of junk that will get thrown away at the end of the day.

Overall I think Matthew had a fun 3rd birthday party! You can check HERE for some of the other birthday parties I have thrown for the boys- all have been super fun! Now, if I can finally send out those thank-you cards...

Please be a fan of lil Mop Top on facebook!! I link up to these parties!

Surfer Dude Party!

My sweet Matthew turned two a couple weeks ago and we have the MOST FUN surfer dude birthday party! We had just moved into our new house so I decided to make it a 'family only' party to minimize stress. This turned out to be one of the most fun parties I have thrown. Here's a little glimpse...

I used these invitations that I designed. I think they were cute and gave a surfer dude vibe to the party.



I had 'Matthew's Surf Shop' set up for the party favors. The kids dug into the leis and glasses immediately!







'Matthew's Snack Shack' was all set up in the kitchen. I tried to make food that you might get at a snack shack so we had sliders, french fries, mini corn dogs, chips & dip, and salad. It was VERY yummy!





The 'Beach Bar' had all the drinks, including Longboard and Land Shark beer that I found at Walmart.





I made a banner using photo shop and hung it over the gift table.



Since it is extremely hot in Texas and the party was at the end of July, we ate first and then headed outside for the water games when the sun was not blazing. I bought water guns and squirters for an all-guest water fight which was fun. I also had frisbees in the pool with sponge bombs so the kids could try to throw the sponges onto the floating frisbees. That game did not go over well and was pretty much ignored!







The best part of the party was playing with the slip and slide. The oldest kids at the party were 3 years old and they didn't quite get the hang of it. So, Uncle Tyler and Brad pushed the kiddos down the slide and they LOVED it!





Then we pulled out the inflatable surfboard that I got at Oriental Trading and the kids (and adults!) took rides on that. I was sad to miss out on the fun but I don't think a pregnant lady should be dragged across the ground on her stomach!





Lastly, we used the surfboard for an impromptu photo op for the cousins and then for each couple. They turned out really cute!







We skipped the traditional cake dessert and had an ice cream sundae bar set up (no pictures of that!) and it was a nice change of pace.

Like I said, we had a blast at the party!


Please be a fan of lil Mop Top on facebook!! I link up to these parties!