A Robot Birthday

Our Caroline turned four a week ago (which is crazy to me!). Just so happens that 4 is one of our big birthdays (4, 8, 12, 16) that gets a friends party. Caroline was ecstatic to have her first 'real' birthday party! I asked her what kind of party she wanted and her fast response was "ROBOTS!!!"... but I didn't want to get halfway through planning and have her change her mind to princesses, fairies, or dolphins, so I probed further. Her second response was, "ummmmm....SNAILS!!!" (and I started picturing snail impersonation games of slow motion...) so I said, "let's go with robots!" ;)

 She got to invite 4 friends since she was turning 4. My plan was to keep things as simple and budget-friendly as I possibly could. I made the invites in Word bc I didn't want to purchase custom ones. I used free images and fonts I found online and designed it to print 4 to a page so I only had to print 1 sheet of paper. I'm sure if you have better design programs and know-how you could make this way cuter, but it worked for us!

Guests were greeted with this DIY robot welcome sign (one arm broke off before I got a pic)

We played fun robot games--- no winners, just fun!--- like pin the button on the robot

our robot after he got 'buttoned' by all the guests multiple times

We also played a robot pickup game (un-pictured) with those toy robot arms (found them at Target) and various small balls we had around. 

The food spread was simple because I wasn't serving lunch and I figure the kids aren't going to eat THAT much anyway. I hate throwing away platefuls of food. I labeled the food with DIY labels (all in blue, so it used up the remnants of my printer ink. Perfect. Anyone else always use up the yellow first? What's up with that? :) We had nuts and bolts, gizmos, computer chips, bio-cyborg implants, and a robot refueling station. 

Caroline had to be coerced into giving me this meager smile. 

Good thing I caught that one, because all the other faces were blurry dancing pics. :)

Emmett got to try his first birthday cake... verdict was pure joy!

All our little robot friends also made their own costumes. I loved their various designs!

and funny tidbit: if you look closely at Caroline's robot dial plate, you'll see she drew a snail. So I guess she got a snail birthday too! :)

I made magnetic robots using pipe cleaners, milk jug lids, and various nuts/bolts for our friends to take home and also included a robot coloring page and some robot stickers. The tags say "thanks a bot"... hee hee, I amuse myself!

 Items that I purchased: plates, napkins, tablecloth, straws, balloons, green and blue wrapping paper, silver spray paint, nuts/bolts/screws/washers, orange cake mix, cream cheese for icing, peach rings, blue chocolate balls, chex mix, cheetos, tang, carrots/broccoli/cucumber, 3 sheets of scrapbook paper for the gears on the wall, robot stickers for treat bags, set of 10 headbands and 2 robot arm toys.

Items I already own, so it didn't cost but used up some supply: cardstock, printer ink, ribbon, pipe cleaners, foam hearts, star stickers, googly eyes, magnets (the free kind that come in the mail from businesses trying to solicit your patronage), milk jug lids, boxes, cans (from fruit and veggies), toilet and paper towel tubes, hot glue, silver duct tape, ziploc sandwich bags, and paper grocery bags.

Total: about $55

I'd say it was about as cheap as I could make it! 

These pics are from Wed night when we gave Caroline our family gifts. 

Can you believe I found this Melissa and Doug art easel free on the curb? The girls love it and it is still in great (not perfect, but it is for KIDS, so who cares?) condition!

She loved her gifts! In her own words, "I love today that is my birthday!"

Emmett was pretty stoked about the crackle-y wrapping paper

I love my little big girl Caroline! She's part monkey (gymnast) part barnacle (those hugs--- girl's got a grip, I tell ya!). Caroline we love your enthusiasm and affection, your generosity and sensitivity to others, and how willingly you GIVE to your sister without prompting. Love how much you adore Emmett, love your confidence (flips on the gymnastics bars unassisted? I'm astounded!), and love how much you enjoy eating (no coercion necessary to get you to down your dinner. meat and veggies and all!). LOVE your honesty (admitting your mistakes is a gift!) and LOVE how much you love talking about Jesus (every ray of sunshine that breaks through a cloud you declare to be Jesus). 

 Happy birthday stinker--- our family would truly not be the same without your vibrant energy to keep us on our toes. We love you!