Super Mario 3rd Birthday

Time is really flying by! I can't believe that Nate is already 3 yrs old. He's becoming such a big boy now, makes me sad :( But on the bright side, I get to celebrate this amazing little boy! This year we decided on a very small gathering, a dinner party actually. Hubs begged for a party break! LOL. So since Nate is hooked on Super Mario Brothers, I decided to have a Super Mario Bros Pizza dinner. This boy takes his Mario doll everywhere, so it was very fitting!
This past weekend we had his mini party, with just a couple of friends and family, along with a couple of Nate's lil buddies. I also gotta say that even though this was a small gathering, I'm in love with the personal touches that I included. There wasn't a whole lot going on but I tried to add small details here and there.
A quick back story: A couple of weeks ago, while being babysat by Grandma, my 13 yr old text me a picture she drew and colored (cause she was bored, haha). It was the coolest thing and I knew I had to use it for Nate's party. I seen it done once before, by The Purple Pug. I believe she calls it "Sweetheart Art" (sorry if I butchered the name). Anyways, I just knew it would be super sweet to use her drawing.
Take a look at Nate's 3rd birthday celebration!

Food, treats, drinks and favors, on one table..... yes, it CAN be done :) I told you I kept it small! Btw, the backdrop is Nate's blanket. It was perfect!

I love these giant polka dot balloons! You gotta check out Ciao Zari, they have the cutest stuff!

The milk bottles with Nate's choice of juice, cranberry. I bought them from Cute Kids Food Box!

The free push up pop containers I got at Courtney Dial's book signing, sure came in handy. I filled them with watermelon balls. Nate LOVES watermelon! They were placed inside a box that I covered with the question mark images I printed.

Mustache favor caddies! Love. I have a thing for caddies, I don't know what it is?!?! (remember the Monster caddy? lol) These I snatched up from Target.

I had to call on my plush girl from Cute4Sale to make these personalized mushrooms. Aren't they adorable?? The kids totally loved them!

I also made these pinwheels using Super Mario pencils. Cool, huh!

Finally jumped on the plastic tube bandwagon and filled these with jelly beans, then added pipe cleaners. I went kinda crazy with the pipe cleaners! I was just having to much fun with them! LOL.

Seriously, my favorite part of the party! This Mario is what my daughter, Serina drew and my 8 yr old, because she could NOT get left out of anything, drew the mushroom! LOL. I scanned the images and made cupcake toppers out of their art work. LOVE!!

I told you I went crazy with the pipe cleaners! HAHA! I decided to take a crack at making chocolate caramel apples. Not bad, if you ask me ;) Had to also try the spray painting of pvc pipe.

Now these are the kinda flowers I like. No watering needed!

How awesome are these cookies that Roni of Roni's Sugar Creations made for me?!?! I just adore her work. She's amazing!!

Made mushroom drink flags as well.

Someone's ready for pizza!!

This is another of my favorites! My amazing friend Claudia of Tini Posh, offered to make this shirt, literally the day BEFORE the party. I emailed her my daughters art and she made this special shirt for Nate. How wonderful is that?!?! Nate would not take it off until the following day. LOL. Serina thought it was pretty cool that her drawing was on her brothers birthday shirt. I can't even thank her enough but thanks again amiga :)

I also set up a couple of small tables in Nate's bedroom, for the kids to color Mario pages. I made a small centerpiece for those tables as well.

He's an artist! ;)

My sister likes to color. LOL.

Pages I printed from the web.

Cake time! I attacked the cake topper that I made with pipe cleaners also! I know. I must be stopped! Heh.

Make a wish!

Nate and his buddies had a great time, just running around, being kids. I just love to see them so happy <3

They really loved their mushrooms. They ran around playing with them like they were action figures! LOL.

I literally chased him for an hour just trying to get a picture with him. 3yrs have a thing about staying still for 5 seconds! Go figure. AND he would not take the firemen hat off! LOL. But I got my picture :)