A First for Everything

We hosted my daughter's very first birthday party last weekend, which puts me at the crossroads of being a mommy of a toddler now rather than an infant! The party was a success, though, like most celebrations, didn't unfold how I had envisioned, but the genuine smiles and funs (yes, more than one fun!) from my little girl had made it entirely worth every effort!

The color pallet that I chose for her party was cutesy and fun. I pulled my inspiration from a little ribbon pack that I stumbled upon while "treasure hunt" shopping, as I like to call it. ie. Shopping at discounted retailers such as TJ Maxx, Ross, Tuesday Mornings, Marshalls, etc. Here is the inspiration:

From that I put together a little Birthday Pinboard on Pinterest of ideas and visions that i had for the big day. I admit that I tend to get a little dilusioned with daydreaming and Pinterest helps to feed such dillusions... but I upheld my determination to see to it that these visions became realities.

First matter of business was to construct some fabric flags. Here are the swatches of the fabrics that I felt set the theme of the party.

I am by no means a seemstress, but I've always been a crafter at heart. And although I've been commended for being a very patient person, somehow that patience gets trumped by the natorious "clutter brain" that is commonly found amongst creative minds. Thus, this poster (yes, I found it on Pinterest) will be going up on the wall in my little craft nook!

I recycled some cardboard that I cut from a bulk box of oatmeal to use as my flag template. Once I had all of my triangles cut out, I paired and pinned them to a ribbon for an adorable custom banner.

Next on my list was collecting decorative pieces for the serving table. Some of my favorite Party table displays incorporated beautiful glass jars filled with candies and snacks. I love the look, though when you think about it, glass doesn't seem the most practical for children's parties, "careful hands" I tell them and keep the jars at ... parent-reach distances. I was able to find them at discount stores as well as swiping them from stores like Pier I Imports with a coupon!

There will be many more parties to come, so I see collecting these jars as an investment, along with the aluminum troffs (totally neccessary for juice boxes! Haha!)

I scavenged around on Etsy to find the cutest little invite, complete with the party's themed colors, a cupcake and flag banner! Perfect!

Then I dressed up my little sweetheart and had a little photoshoot on the grass outside for the invatation photo.

Then came the tissue poms, I gave it a test run with some left over white tissue paper that i'd gotten in bulk for Christmas, I was able to manage it fairly well thanks to the instructions found HERE.

Then, late night before the big day, I spent a couple of hours tediously cutting fruit with a heart shaped cookie cutter. I wish I could have gotten a better picture of that fruit bowl, it was quite the masterpiece!

Some of the games we played were Pin the Cherry on the cupcake:

Popsicle Match game that I got a free printable from HERE from Amy Moss at EatDrinkChick.com

As well as a Bean Bag toss game that I made with the left over fabric from the Flags.

The last game that I put together was an I Spy Bottle. I used a Voss water bottle, which I chose because it has a nice wide opening at the mouth. I put decorative buttons and mini erasers inside as the items to find, and used Lentils to fill the bottle... I think plain white rice, sprinkles or clear craft beads would have looked a lot nicer, maybe next time! The Voss water bottle worked great though!

I think that having planned out her first party has given me the bug to throw parties for no good reason! Growing up, I never had elaborate parties because my birthday is at the end of December when most of my friends were out of town or busy with family and festivities. I've decided to party vicariously through my daughter. Poolside pedi parties here we come!!! Here are some more pics of the fun!