The (Toddler) Cars Garage

In our home, we only have three bedrooms. One of them is the master bedroom and the other two are for our two children. We had to move Jackson over to a new bedroom so Addison could use the nursery furniture. So, we created a Cars bedroom for Jackson ... with help from our Uncle Frankie, cousin Michael and Extreme Painting and Wallpapering.

We started with new lighting by putting in high hats. Then, TK painted the room a light gray. We purchased Disney wallpaper to mimic diamond plating that you might find in a real mechanic's shop and outlined it with chair rail that TK painted red. Aunt Maria bought Jackson Cars Fatheads for Christmas, so those all had to go up ... of course. The carpet was purchased from Lowe's and installed by Gemini. It is nice and plush. I see us all lounging on the floor and watching movies in the future.

We purchased a Lightning McQueen bed, sheets and a comforter to go with the theme and it was super easy to do because there were a ton of options at Toys R Us, Kmart, Target and Walmart. The stickers for the bed were annoying to apply because they just show you where they should go and say, "Good luck!" Not my idea of an efficient assembly.

We bought a checkered valance from an Etsy shop and checkered knobs for the dresser. The dresser was purchased completely unfinished and TK painted it red and black and fastened the knobs. We saw a set of drawers that we liked on Pinterest and were trying to emulate that same garage look. The plastic desk was donated to us from my uncle and aunt, so that fit in quite nicely.

For decor, we made sure to hang up his framed Disney stock and an authentic Disney sketch of Lightning McQueen that we purchased while in Walt Disney World in 2013. On the outside of the door, we hung a metal Cars parking sign that we also purchased in Walt Disney World. That sparked Jackson's interest before he knew that he was getting a new, cool room. TK also painted the door with chalkboard paint so Jackson could draw on it, if the mood ever struck him. We also added framed photos, sports banks that his grandparents bought and filled for him, and his Mickey ears.

Fortunately, we already had a television for the room when we thought it would be an office, so we bought a bracket and got that up on the wall. He also has a Blu-Ray player to watch his Disney movies on.

Tonight, we finally showed Jackson his Cars Garage Room and he was so happy that he spent most of the time jumping on the bed. That led to visions of me rushing him to the hospital for stitches, but we are not going to worry about that right now. He also named all of the characters on the wall and the movie that was on his TV. (We made sure Cars 2 was playing when he walked in.) When it was bedtime, he even agreed to go in his room (with a small bowl of Goldfish) to go to sleep.

We still have a few things left to do this weekend, but the room is ready for him to sleep in. There is still a monitor to watch over him, so he is not that grown up or trusted yet, but he has made the transition nicely so far. Now, let's see what tonight has in store and if he gets totally freaked out when he wakes up in the middle of the night and sees vehicles with eyes staring at him from every angle. At least they all look friendly, especially Guido and Luigi.

So, the Cars Garage Room was a success. Ka-Chow! 

Cars Second Birthday Party

On July 12, 2014, we celebrated Jackson's second birthday with a Cars birthday party in my parents' backyard. He is obsessed with cars, trucks and planes, so it seemed fitting. I found invitations at Party City for $3.99 per pack and chose the Saturday after my son's birthday as the date.

I was able to prep for the party a few days before and bought checkered duct tape and covered all of the water bottles in labels like checkered flags. Last year, I covered water bottles in Mickey duct tape for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse first birthday party and guests really liked it, so I decided to do it again, but the checkered tape was the only Cars-related tape I could find. Again, guests thought that they were fun, but I was unable to redeem the bottles afterward because all of the labels had been removed. Aw well!

Racing Fluids

The day before the party, I started on the cake. Weeks prior, I did some research on Pinterest to see what kind of cake I wanted to make for Jax. I decided on a big #2 with a road on top and toy cars driving on it. I bought a box of black fondant to roll out for the road and white gel icing for the lines on the road. For the cars, I bought Cars Micro Drifters at Toys R Us. I used box cake mix to make one yellow cake layer and one chocolate layer, then I shaped each of them into a 2 and did the same with the fondant. I had extra fondant so I was able to make wheels for the sides of the cake as well. I frosted the cake, stacked them and then added the decorations. I think it came out pretty good, which was reassuring because it could have been a disaster.

Cars #2 Cake

On the day of the party, we started decorating pretty early so we could get everything up. Fortunately, we had a nice day, so we set up the inflatable pool and the sprinkler pad for all of the kids. For the decor, my mother found hanging decorations, which included colorful pennants, a Lightning McQueen and Mater photo drape with props, a cardboard Al Oft (the blimp from Cars) and Lightning McQueen hanging decorations. The deck was decked out! As an added bonus, I drew eyes on a long white strip of paper and placed it in my mother's car's windshield so it looked like a real Cars character was parked in front of the house. Some people thought that it was a sun shield. I just laughed.

Cars Decorations

Since Jackson's seven little friends were coming to the party, I made sure that they had fun goodie bags to take home. The boys got Cars cups, Cars candy, Cars stickers, glow necklaces and a variety of other fun stuff. The girls got Frozen cups, Cars candy, Disney stickers, mini tiaras and a variety of other fun girlie items. After writing each name on the cups, I put each group of goodies in a cellophane bag, added some shredded colored paper and secured them with bendy ties. Each kid seemed happy to get them on their way out.

Fun Goodie Bags

After hours of fun, food, family and friends, we called it a night and cleaned up the backyard. We were able to preserve some of the decorations, but the cake was basically gone and so was most of the food. The party raced in and raced on out, but it was a winner. It was a very Happy Birthday for our little speedster.