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Monday, February 18, 2013

Colorful Race Car Birthday Party- Noah is TWO!

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My baby is now my big boy. Noah turned two on February 15th! We celebrated with a colorful race car themed party which included his favorite activities. It was a fun, exhausting, absolutely gorgeous day. We all had a blast!
The food table is always one of the first things I plan for parties. Once we decided to go with a race car theme, I asked my dad if we could borrow his race track. Watching the cars zoom around the track was an unexpected element. I love the way it turned out.
Here's a quick clip of the race track in action.

For Noah's Red Wagon first birthday party, I purchased a printable package from Dimpleprints. All of the personalized touches really made that party special so I asked Carli for help once again. She is such a pleasure to work with and customized the package to fit the colors of the party.
I made the "Three TWO One Go!" sign out of a 2ftx2ft slab of plywood. The flashing traffic light is from Amazon.

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When the friends arrived, they grabbed a car to race on the track and an official Pit Pass. I have framed the kids birth announcements and invitations to display at their parties. I usually put them on the cake table so guests can see how they've grown.

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Aaron's mom, Nana, made this delicious cake. The dent in the cake is from Noah reaching up to grab the car on top. Of course it was the only car he couldn't have that day, therefore the only one he wanted. And how sweet are these stop light Rice Krispies treats?

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The weather was amazing, a huge blessing since we partied outside. 
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I mentioned in Noah's birthday post that he loves the movie Cars. There were a few touches of Cars here and there. The "Rust-eze" tub is made from one of Aaron's empty Muscle Milk containers. I cut out the logo with the Silhouette machine using black vinyl. More printables from the race car package. I used the cupcake toppers for the water bottles and added text on a couple of the larger circles for the drink pitchers.

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A successful party keeps the kiddos busy having fun. And when the kids are having a good time, the parents are able to enjoy their time as well. I set up four "stations" of activities for the party.
1. Noah's Auto Body Shop
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The kids painted mini cars (Oriental Trading Company). I picked up the acrylic paint and brushes from Michael's. The aprons are from the Dollar Tree.
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Noah very seriously painted three cars. Then came back to paint another one.
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Noelle is a bit of a perfectionist. Wonder where she gets it...
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The cars dried in the sunshine on brown construction paper.
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2. NJ Gardner Tattoo Parlor
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My nephew, Evan, showing off his new ink. Tattoos also from Oriental Trading Co.
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3. Bean Bag Tire Toss
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The best part of these activities - they were inexpensive to put together.
Tire toss = free (borrowed materials).
Tattoos = $5.
Painting Cars = $15
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4. Race Track (not that inexpensive)
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The kids loved racing their new cars. For the "official" races, Aaron flipped the release lever so 4 cars could start at the same time.

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Aaron drew out the plans and picked up the materials at Lowe's. The total cost was about $60 including the spray paint.

Once the track was built, he sprayed it by gradually adding yellow, orange and red. Then he covered the top of the colors with a flame stencil I cut out of vinyl, and sprayed on the blue. The end result was an awesome flame on the track as well as on the side poles. 
The last steps included putting on the lanes, painting lane numbers and "START" to the top, then spraying the entire track with a clear sealer. 

Here's a tutorial on how the track was built! DIY Race Track

And one more "Cars" touch. Lightning McQueen's eyes on Aaron's truck. Just two pieces of construction paper and eyes glued on. Super easy and a fun way to welcome our guests.
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Something that I heard several times was, "I wish I had that race track growing up" from the guys at the party. They were just as excited as their kids, probably because they are just big kids themselves!

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A huge thanks again to Carli at Dimpleprints for the printables, to my handy husband for all he does, to my mother-in-law for the delicious cake, to my best friends and sister (my bridesmaids) for sharing the day with us and helping in many ways, to my mom and dad for all they do to make everything run perfectly smooth.

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And one last HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my little man. I love you to the moon!
-Amanda
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12 comments:

  1. WOW! My four year old would love this party. He also loves Cars. Can you tell more about how to make the Car eyes? Did you draw them on? Thank you! Lisa

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    1. I'll add a little tutorial on how I made it to the race track post that's coming up. -Amanda

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  2. This is such a great party idea! And all of your activities are just too cute!! Glad the weather was good to you for party day! Happy birthday to that sweet little man of yours :)

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  3. I just wanted to say that I am so glad I found your blog when I was planning my son's first birthday red wagon themed (same birthday as your son's)! I used dimpleprints and they were great! I linked your blog in my blog post, I hope you don't mind. I wanted to give you credit, but let me know if you want me to remove the link, I won't be offended! It looks like you have a daughter similar in age to my daughter. I love it!
    thank you again!
    Tracy Reavis www.tracyreavis.com

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    1. Of course I don't mind at all! Your party turned out great! The kids looked like they had fun on the wagon rides!
      Amanda

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  4. What an awesome party idea!! I'm taking notes for my future children :)

    Sheree
    The Hartungs Blog
    thehartungs.blogspot.ca

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    1. Thanks Sheree! I can't wait to see the parties you throw!

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  5. I am going to look into dimpleprints for my daughters rainbow party. Thanks for the link. You are so lucky to live close to all of your family. We don't have anyone close to us. They are on the other side of the country! Your parties are always so well planned out and look like they are really fun for the children. I love the painting station!

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  6. Can you tell me if these cars (the ones you painted) would roll/race well? I want to do the same thing except I want the guests to be able to paint the cars they made but I haven't found any other affordable cars. Thanks!

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  7. Hi Tanna! I wouldn't say that they race "well." Especially not after they've been painted. They do roll, but not fast. Which is why I also purchased the hot wheels cars. They were only 50 cents brand new at our local thrift store.
    Amanda

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  8. What a cute idea! Can you tell me where you purchased the race cars are from? Also, what paints did you use so they dried quickly? I appreciate your help!

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