Rowan's "UP" party

For Rowan's 3rd Birthday we decided to do an "Up" party.  He had been obsessed with watching the movie daily if not multiple times daily.  He loves balloons or should I say he is obsessed with balloons so it was a perfect movie for him. He loves dogs, too, so that makes it even better.  I kept asking him what kind of a party he wanted and he kept saying that he wanted a "Pooh" party which I threw for Rhys. I told him that he needed to pick a new theme. I gave him the idea for an "Up" themed party and he liked the idea. I was so excited...I had all kinds of ideas that I wanted to do: Ellie badges, chocolate bars, adventure books, etc. When I went to Pinterest I found that all of my great ideas had all ready been done, but that was okay. In the end, it worked out perfectly because I ended up getting the flu the Monday before the party. I was super weak, but threw the whole thing together in two days, minus the invites. Thankfully I got those done the Saturday before I got sick.

Originally I wanted to have the house with balloons on the front, but it wasn't working out, so I switched gears and made little adventure book replicas for the invites.    Thank goodness I had the cloud die-cut; it worked out great.

For the inside, I just taped the party info inside, just like Ellie's adventure book. I added some stamped balloons to bring out the theme even further.  I thought my design was so straightforward and every one would "get" it, but that wasn't the case. Oh well...I had fun making them.  As I mentioned before, because others have done similar parties, I was blessed to have links to printables and links to fun stuff.  Pinterest was awesome, too. Such fun stuff.

Anyway, I found a great lady on Etsy who was willing to make the Ellie badges for me.I originally contacted her just to purchase a digital copy of the grape soda image, but she said it would be more cost effective if she made them up. Again...another blessing in disguise!  I wanted to give them a card to pin to, so I created these.  I used some map paper and then just printed the rest using my printer. I liked the quote that says," You and me...we're in a club now"  I thought they turned out cute and the kids loved them.    

The Disney/Pixar website was great, too. It had the adventure book printables which I printed and then  just adhered to some spiral notebooks. I put some scrapbook paper inside the RSVP pens for an extra touch. You can see these in the open suitcase on the left.    

For those of you who have seen the movie, you will know that the way Russell gets Kevin to follow him is with a bar of chocolate. The party just wouldn't be complete without a little chocolate.  I used the canoe image from the camping set from PTI.  I bought the set just for the party, but with a family that likes to camp, it will come in useful. I can also use it for scouts and stuff.  I also used the image for the cupcake toppers.  Which...speaking of cupcakes and cakes...that was a comedy of errors.

Let's just say I was NOT happy come the day of the party.  I knew that just getting over the flu, there was no way I should be baking or that anyone would want to eat anything I baked, so I opted for bakery made.  I printed out a really cute vintage poster created especially for Up and asked the bakery to print it on edible paper and put it on the cake. I also asked them to make a dozen cupcakes and make the icing look like clouds.  When I went to pick them up, I was sooooo disappointed. The edible paper had printed out in horrific colors. Rather than 12 individual cupcakes, they made a "cloud cupcake" cake.  In the end, that turned out cuter than the ugly other cake.  The cake could have been so cute, but was a huge flop.

The little birthday boy blowing out the candle made it all better. Isn't he adorable?  Do you love the hat?  My mom whipped up his aviator hat the night before! I am so grateful for talented and amazing grandmas!!!!  You can see little Rhys, too. Isn't he cute?

All in all, it turned out great! The kids had fun and Rowan loved all of his balloons!  I just wish I hadn't gotten sick. Party planning is one of my favorite things and I hate to "cut corner" which I had to do.  Thanks for fluttering by!
P.S. I posted another baby sewing project here if you are interested. I have been doing a lot of sewing lately. I will be sharing a baby boy ensemble when I get it done.