Sunday, April 18, 2010

Toby's Rocket Party

I cannot believe my little Toby boy is 3!! You know how people always tell you that it goes so fast? I never really realized how true it is.....it feels like no time since we had his 1st birthday party (sock monkey party)!! 

This year, it was a rocket party. Or, in Toby's words, a "wocket" party!

He had a BLAST! (sorry, I just couldn't resist the cheezy pun ;) I'm kind of all about cheese, when it comes to kids' birthday parties. I'm not talking about swiss cheese here...I'm talking about all the cheesy little details that I always tend to go overboard with. Whatever. Kids love it. And so do I :)

Here's the invitation that Toby and I had fun making. (read: momma had fun making, while Toby cut some coloured paper into a million little pieces on the floor) :)




I made one of these little cuffs/wristbands for Toby a while back and he was loving it...flying his "wocket" all around the house....so I decided they would be a fun addition to the loot bags. They're really easy to make....just a couple quick lines of stitching on a sewing machine and then a bit of hot glue-gun magic on the rockets and initials. I found the little felt sticker-backed stars at Michaels (have you ever tried cutting out a star shape? very hard!). 








Another "Toby and Me" project was making the paper rocket cut-outs. It always resulted in a colossal mess of paper scraps all over the floor, but nothing a broom can't handle. These were done with a combination of poster board and scrapbook paper. For the numbers I used stencils that I found at Michaels, and coloured them in with a black marker.


I happened to find an old vintage (80's) rocket ship wallpaper boarder at the thrift shop a month or so ago for $0.25....and I wasn't sure what I was going to use it for....but this worked really well and was so easy to do. I used the same set of stencils and black marker as before, and stenciled "Toby is 3" into the back of small paper plates. Then I stapled them to the wallpaper border and cut the ends to look more like a banner/ribbon. I tied it to my curtain rod with two thick ribbons, but that was NOT working...major sagging in the middle. A few little pieces of twine did the trick to keep it more level. 










I found these little rockets at Michaels as well (wow, this is a real plug for Michaels here!)...they came as a little kit that you're supposed to paint, etc. I had to glue them together, which was a bit of a pain. Organizing crafts at a party is not my forte....I got totally distracted and almost forgot about them....but they were fun to decorate none the less. I thought paints might be a little too messy for the occasion, so we used markers/crayons/stickers.


I came across a bunch of photos of Toby that I'd long forgotten about, so I hung them on a string with little mini clothespins.


The rocket cake! I know....I shouldn't have attempted this, but I was lucky that it turned out ok. Food colouring and Toby do NOT mix! It makes him go crazy...literally. So, this is why I made my own cake. This cake is food-colouring free :) I used an organic Dr.Oetker chocolate cake mix and made my own vanilla butter icing. (good tip I found online: do a crumb coating if you're ever making a cake like this. It's essentially a thinned down icing that you cover the cake with before the "real" icing goes on, to minimize the crumbs that will drive you insane). I decorated with Smarties (no food colouring...they use beet root, etc) and Maltezers. The rocket engines (or whatever you call those things that the fire comes out of) were silver cupcake liners and the "fire" was organic wine gums.  So what if I slightly over-baked the cake, right? I'm still getting used to my new oven. That's my excuse. ;)






I had fun making up the loot bags. I found these little white bags for $0.50 at Michaels (yes..again!), and used the same stencils/marker to do the initials. The stars were from the same packet as the ones I used on the wristbands. I found some random "rocket" stuff from various dollar stores, etc....




Dustin made these big cardboard rockets and they were a hit! Toby's still playing in them, and I'm pretty sure I'll be stuck with these monstrosities in my living room for the next month! *sigh*....the life of a mom with boys! He made them out of various cardboard boxes, and then painted them white. I got out my trusty stencils and went to work again ;)


Toby received so so many wonderful gifts from all of his adorable friends!!! He's been in his glory all day today, playing with everything! Our guests were great!....got right into the rocket theme :)

My bff Michelle is so amazingly talented, and made Toby this rocket bag! He's been carrying his cars and tractors around in it ever since. Check out her blog here and her etsy store for more cute bags like this :) I'm pretty sure she can make all sorts of custom stuff.


Her little man, Gavin, painted this picture for Toby....cutest thing ever, right?


Toby's little friend Molly brought him an awesome rocket-wrapped present! He could hardly wait even 5 seconds to get it ripped open. I'm glad I got this picture when I did!


Oh the fun that happened........what a great day! 

Toby kept his eyes closed while daddy brought his present upstairs :) It was a HIT! We got him a Strider running bike and he's hardly taken a break all day! (as you can see by the blur "running" past in the picture down below)




The cake was fun with sparklers lit up for the "blast off!"




"Stomp Rockets" were a lot of fun. I definitely recommend these for a birthday activity :)

Me and my boys...(so hard to ever get a non-blurry picture)

Michelle and Cole

Finn and Cole (they're the same age)...destined to be best buds!


Toby's auntie Shannon gave him a pair of rollerskates (his dream come true!) and him and Gavin were "sharing" them at the wild "after-party".

In Toby's words..."That was SUCH a happy day!"

33 comments:

  1. This has to be the best party theme ever.you really did a fantastic job i love everything about it ..so much thought and love went in this.it looks like your little man had a great time..loved reading your post today thanks for sharing and happy birthday to your little man XX

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  2. What an awesome party! Everything looks FAB! Just love the cake, the handmade with love decorations, the "loot," and the giant "wocket," and everything! The stomp rockets look SO COOL! What fun!
    Happy 3rd Birthday, Toby!
    Blessings!

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  3. Such a cute party. I love seeing new ideas. If I'm not clowning at a party (for real) I'm usually helping. We had our granddaughter's birthday party at Archivers today. In a couple of days head on over to my blog Cozy Blanket and check it out.
    Cute little guys.

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  4. What a great party! I think you may have a future as a party planner!

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  5. What a great party! job well done Mumma! Little boys are so much fun I am learning as jellybean gets bigger and bigger. I can not wait to plan him party!

    PS those wristbands are AMAZING!

    xo

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  6. Tracey!! What a fabulous party you made for your little guy! I love it all, it must have taken so long... but the pics definitely show it would have been worth it:) Happy belated 3rd birthday to your little Toby!! I think you have earnt the title of "best Mum EVER!!':) Hope you have a wonderful week ~ Tina xx

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  7. Happy Birthday to your sweet little one! This was such a fun and adorable party idea! The vintage wallpaper was such a cool find and I love what you did with it. And the cake is too cool, great job!

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  8. Wow Tracey, you are such a great mum! I am exhausted reading about all of the cool stuff you did for Toby's party. It looks like he had a wonderful day! xx

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  9. You rock girl! All the rocky things you came up with are great! Must have been such a fun day for Toby, one he will never ever forget! Happy belated Birthday, Tracey!
    Wishing you a creative, great week.
    XO

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  10. wow what a wonderful themed party! Toby looks like he was having a wonderful time and what a great help he was too!

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  11. What a lucky boy to have such a great party. Isn't it fun having and theme and just "going for it". You are very clever. I just loved the wristbands. What a great idea.

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  12. What a wonmderful party !!! good done !!! i love the cake........and your sun he is sooooo cute !!! Toby !!

    Blessings Ria

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  13. Oh Tracey! You're so creative!!! All, the decorations, the cake, the giant rocket, were just amazing!!! Where do you find the time? I loooooved the photos display: so nice to look at your baby boy growing up!!
    Hugs! and happy birthday to Toby!!!
    Mara

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  14. So sweet to see someone make a birthday such a special event rather than just another birthday. My son turned 3 in Nov. and the time does go very fast.

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  15. You went all out my friend and it looks incredible!! Maybe you can help plan our next kiddo party. :)
    Happy Monday to you.
    T

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  16. Hey Tracey!

    Love the party...we had one this weekend too!

    I'm pretty sure I have that same shirt that you are wearing.....white with ruffles...all cotton? love it.

    okay...I got my post up LATE today..but it's a weekend recap SO will you add me to your super long list of people that you are linking up to today???

    www.tarahlowry.blogspot.com

    thanks girl...I don't want to have this linky party by myself. :))))

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  17. This looks like sooo much fun!!! Fun for you to organise & for him to enjoy!!

    Everything looks amazing right down to the last detail! :) Love it all!

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  18. What fun!! I'm a party planning mom too! I love every little detail... out of this world (cheesy pun ;) ) Looks like a great time was had by all!

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  19. That turned out absolutely adorable. I'm so impressed with all the thought and hard work you put into his party! So cute!

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  20. What a perfect theme for a 3 year old! We had Nathan's birthday party this weekend as well and it was secret agent, pretty cute! I love everything you made, so adorable, you are so talented! Isn't it crazy how fast time flies! Hope you have a great Monday!
    Take care
    Kristin

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  21. This has to be one of the best parties I've ever seen. Toby looked like he enjoyed every minute of it.

    Lulu Letty

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  22. your party pics turned out great!
    thanks for the little nod towards my blog and etsy store!!
    loves.
    gavi and tobes are too ador-AB-Le! finny and coley-cole are super sweet too!

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  23. Love it love it love it!!!

    Every detail is just so adorable! Love the wristbands, love the favors. What a lucky kid!

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  24. I love it! I have a link party on saturdays that I would love for you to join
    www.iamonly1woman.blogspot.com

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  25. What a great party! My little guy is turning 3 in July and we are doing a SUPERHERO party. ;) I also have plans to make a wristband out of felt... but now I think I'm going to have to add their initial like you did, it will add to the superheroness (technical term) and all!

    Thank you so much for linking up to What are little boys made of?

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  26. SO totoally CUTE! I love it! Great job on the cake... so darling!

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  27. I love this idea! My little boy will also be turning three this summer and he is obsessed with rockets. Thanks for the idea!

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  28. Hi! I love your website and this party is awesome! I hope you'll come link up on Tot Tuesdays this week. I’ve also currently got a giveaway for a Mother Earth scarf at the moment. I hope you’ll stop by:

    http://www.mydeliciousambiguity.com/

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  29. What an amazing birthday party--and what a lucky boy-thanks for linking up, I am going to share this this week!

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  30. Thanks for inspiring me this week on my Tot Tuesdays link up party! I hope you’ll stop by again this week.

    I’m hosting Yummy Mummy Week May 9th-16th and I’ve got a great group of ladies sharing their tips on fitness, fashion, parenting and relationships as well as a giveaway everyday. And I’d love for you to share a story and some photos of how your life and body have changed since becoming a mom. The Link up party starts on Mother’s Day and runs the whole week.

    Have a great week and Happy (Early) Mother’s Day!

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  31. seriously loved what you did and this theme! just posted about you and your party on my blog! you are one talented mama!

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Thank you so much for your comments! I love reading every single one :)

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