Levi's Airplane 1st Birthday Party: Time flies!

This past weekend we celebrated Levi's first birthday.

(He actually turns one this Friday, but it worked better with our schedule)

It is so crazy he is one!

On one hand, it went so fast.

On the other, it's hard to imagine life before him!

It was great! Our tiny home was packed!

We had around 40 guests in our teeny tiny home.

It was very 'cozy'.

But it warmed my heart to see how many friends and family love our son so much.

So, a few months ago I decided on an Airplane Theme party.

"Time Flies....Levi is 1!"

I got to work looking around Pinterest and blogs for ideas.

And here is how it played out:

Colors

I decided on Red and Aqua. It seemed a lot of airplane things were in those colors, and those were the colors of his bedroom too.

And amazingly, Target had a whole Christmas selection of entertaining items in these colors that didnt look like Christmas at all! I scored all our paper goods and decorations for 50-70% off!

For invitations, I made boarding passes in Google Docs, then cut them and made little ticket holders out of scrapbook paper and ribbon.

Really easy, and cheap!

I made party hats for all the kids.

I bought plain party hats, then used wrapping paper that was in the same collection as the paper goods and "wrapped" the hats. I then punched out coordinating scrapbook paper and attached the child's first initial. I then took a bit of red garland and glued it to the top. Levi's had extra garland and a '1'.

Let's look at the decorations:

{I loved the balloons}

{The favors were airplane shaped cookies and glider planes for the kids.}

The chalkboard sign was made using cardboard, chalkboard contact paper and a chalk pen.

{Mr. Free made this adorable little plane for the kids to play with out of a box and some spray paint}

The Little Prince's throne

The Food

We decided to keep it simple.

We were having a large amount of guests and couldn't afford to feed a full meal.

We decided to just do cake and ice cream with a few snacks

We had "in flight snacks"

{pretzels, cheez its, cookies}

Birthday cake balls

"Jet Fuel" punch

And, aside from Levi, the stars of the show:

Levi's awesome birthday cake and smash cake

A good friend of mine makes custom cakes, and did a phenomenal job on Levi's cakes!

We were absolutely thrilled!

They were just as delicious as they were cute!

Now, party pics

A house full of people!

We bought an airplane book and had all our guests sign it for him.

We want to do that each year...buy a book that goes with the party theme and have guests sign it.

Opening presents

Poor buddy got so sleepy opening all his presents

Smash Cake Time

Mmmm

Pretty good...

This hat is slowing me down...

....and so are these hands!

All done...ready for a bath!

The party went so well.

All the kids seemed to have a great time.

It was so awesome to celebrate this amazing little boy and surviving our first year as a family of 3!

Best.Christmas.Ever

It's not even officially Christmas, and it's already the best yet.

Being a Mama at Christmas is the best!!!

We are blessed with a ton of family, so Christmas began this past week and will continue through the new year!

This week started with a beautiful snow

That's our backyard.

It was a perfect mood-setting snow.

This past weekend we went to my Aunt and Uncle's for Christmas.

The spoiled him with some books, puzzle, clothes, stuffed animals and Little People truck!

My Aunt gave Levi a book that was my Dad's as a kid.

Sidenote: My dad passed away when I was six years old. So for Levi to have something of his grandpa's is extra special.

Levi is loving all his new toys!

 Yesterday, on Christmas Eve Eve, we celebrated Christmas with my mom and sister.

He got lots of books, clothes, toys and goodies!

His favorite gift was probably his Lightning McQueen ride-on walker toy.

Levi has been getting very close to walking, and with his walker, he just takes off!

Check it how cute he is!

Then....Santa came this morning!

Mr. Free grew up with Santa coming on Christmas Eve morning. This is because Santa knew how busy they were visiting family on Christmas, so this let them be home and play with their toys all day.

We decided to continue that tradition. So here's what Santa brought him...

Santa went a *wee* bit overboard. 

I was just so excited to have a little boy to spoil!

And he's getting so big! He was ready for some bigger boy toys, books and clothes! 

 I made sure to video his whole unwrapping, but snagged one pic of him opening gifts with his Daddy.

We then sent most of the day down in his playroom playing with all his toys.

And yes, his playroom looks like Toys R Us.

And yes, Mama is glad to have a playroom to contain all the fun into...

 So Christmas hasn't even begun and it's already been fantastic.

My Mama heart is so full celebrating this joyous time with my husband and son.

Next year I am excited to share the true joy of Christmas with Levi and have him understand a bit more.

How he is SO loved that God sent his very own son down to earth to later die for us.

That that is the best gift of all time.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Semi-Homemade Christmas: DIY wooden rocking horse

I am so excited about this project!

I've had this idea for awhile, but finally got my supplies purchased and the time to get it done!

This rocking horse is Levi's "big" present from Santa.

If you don't remember....I'm trying to do a "Semi-Homemade Christmas".

I'm thrilled that Levi's little horse was lovingly made by his Mama.

So, here's what you need:

Wooden Rocking Horse (available at both Michael's and JoAnn...but Michael's is cheaper!)

Paint

Coordinating scrapbook paper (at least 4 sheets)

Modge Podge

2 brushes

Coordinating Ribbons

Scissors

Staple gun

Here's the play-by-play

I purchased this sweet, unfinished wooden rocking horse at Michael's.

It is normally $30, but I had a 50% off coupon....bringing it to $15.

Always have a coupon.

Next I found this paint sample we had. It's a perfect gray-blue color.

It was in the mis-tint section at Lowe's for $1.

It is Valspar's Winter Flannel.

I did one coat on it and let it dry.

I was going to do two coats, but I kind of liked how the grain showed through.

Then I got my scrapbook paper ready.

Can I just say, it is hard to find cute boy scrapbook paper?

I went with the transportation paper with coordinating stripes and houndstooth.

His playroom is transportation themed, so I thought it would go.

I purchased the scrapbook paper at JoAnn for $2.

Once the horse is dry, get your Mod Podge ready.

Thankfully, Mr. Free had some in his art stash.

The blessings of being married to an art teacher...

Figure out where you'd like the scrapbook paper on your horse.

Then lay the paper down and trace along the outline of the area.

Then, apply a layer of Mod Podge in that spot.

Put the cut paper down on it and apply a thin coat of Mod Podge on top.

Let it dry.

Here's the areas I went with...

I then cut out the letters for his name.

Love things that are personalized.

I just free-handed it, so it isn't perfect.

You could find a font you like, print it off then trace around it for a more "finished" look.

With the letters, do just like you did before.

A thin layer of Mod Podge below the letters, then a thin layer over top.

Now onto the mane...

I decided to do a ribbon mane instead of yarn.

I picked these 4 colors. 

I liked the varying widths as well.

Cost $8 at JoAnn.

 I cut them varying lengths and with different decorative cuts on the ends.

Then, I just staple-gunned them onto the horse.

Once the Mod Podge was dry, I took a brown paint pen and outlined Levi's name.

The light blue houndstooth faded into the other paper too much for me.

 

I let everything dry.

Then...for one last decoration, Mr. Horsey got a bandana.

 All finished!!!

Some details

 

The grand total was: $25

I absolutely love it and cannot wait to put it under the tree!