So here goes.
I chose to do The Very Hungry Caterpillar theme. I love that book...and Blip's playroom is also done in the same theme. I found a bunch a cute ideas on Pinterest and even came up with a few of my own. That's a huge deal because I am NOT an overly-crafty, girly-girl type mom. Totally not my fault, but I'm just not. I'd like to be better....if that counts? I guess this was my first attempt all by myself...with a little help from my sisters, of course.
I ordered the invitations from an Etsy shop I found. There were so many to choose from, but this was by far my favorite. After ordering the file, I found out Regina could make me just about anything my heart desired on photoshop for free. She is super creative...I am always jealous of her creativity, and her ability to make so many amazing things. And now that I'm a mom, I am super jealous of her time at home.
I asked Anthony to make me a poster for the front porch to welcome everyone. He didn't even know what the book was, so he found some images on-line to help him. I ended up dropping one of our books off, so he would have to official pictures to get ideas. I loved the sign, and I think it turned out great!
He also made me this "C" to hang on the front door.
Knowing there would be a ton of people over to celebrate Blip, I wanted the house to flow with the theme. Our families are both large, so everything we do with both families has to be super-sized to accommodate everyone. I promised Mike I wouldn't go nuts, and I don't think I did, but the party was awesome and everything looked amazing. Everything seemed to work out/turn out better than I expected.
A few months ago Target had a bunch of Hungry Caterpillar stuff that was perfect for favor bag items. They even had the perfect favor bags. I didn't buy anything the day I found all the stuff. I was still on the fence about what I wanted to do, but Richelle insisted that I immediately purchase items we deemed necessary. I say "we" like I had a hand in any of it, but really....other than paying for it, she was in charge of the favor bag beginnings. In the end, I was very happy with what ended up going in each of the bags.
We did two different bags: (1) for babies/toddlers and (1) for bigger (little) kids. The baby bags had a Hungry Caterpillar plastic plate, a Hungry Caterpillar cup, and a clothespin butterfly I made with goldfish in the wings.
The bags we did for the older kiddos had a bit more in them. Those bags had a container of homemade play-doh (that I made! I got the recipe here.) I also used her idea for the Target brand baby food containers because we already had a bunch, so saving enough wasn't too hard. I used a tag on the top made by my uber-talented sister, Regina. I love the way they turned out.
There was some left over items, so Richelle put together something in case the older (older) kids also wanted something to take home. The favor bags were geared toward younger kiddos, so we thought offering a little something for the older cousins and older kids that came would be fun.
I found an idea for a pom pom caterpillar to decorate the banister, but I had no idea where to get the poms from. Richelle thought it would be fun to try and make our own poms, but I did not think ANY part of that was a good idea. I searched on Etsy and found a shop selling poms for (what I thought was) a good price. So I ordered six poms in two colors of green and one pom in red. When the poms got here I didn't do anything more to the package than count the poms to make sure we had what we needed. I thought it would be a piece of cake to fan them out and get my banister decorated. Luckily, Richelle thought it would be a good idea to look at them on Friday night. I'm so glad she did. Each pom took forever (or at least several minutes) to make.
It's times like this pom pom incident that I wish I was more craft-able. Or artistic. I guess paying the bill to get what I want also works, but it would be nice to have some skill that screams, "I'm a mom!"
In the entry, I also had Blip's cute chalk-board print on display. I went back and forth on ordering this gem. I thought it was pricey, so I added/deleted it from my Etsy cart at least a dozen times over a couple of weeks. I really REALLY wanted it, but kept thinking I could learn how to use Photoshop in enough time to make my own. And Although I have learned a few things by watching some tutorials, there is no way I could learn enough to make this awesomeness. I need to take a class...or 12. Luckily, I found a deal on-line for the exact same Etsy shop I found it in. I ordered it immediately...thinking that saving $10-$12 was awesome. By the time I had to have it printed 2-3 times to get it right....I was frustrated with myself. It is super cute. And it was perfect for his photos with Natalie, so it was worth it.
One of the first ideas I found was this picture of a balloon caterpillar over a doorway. I loved it, so I knew I wanted to add that in somewhere. It ended up going over the doorway into the playroom. It was super easy and super cute.
I found 3D numbers and letters at Hobby Lobby. I bought a few. I wanted to spell out the word "ONE" and spray paint the letters red. I ended up returning the letters to Hobby Lobby because I found much bigger letters at JoAnn's. I stuck the word "ONE" in the niche above the fireplace, and Richelle added the balloons.
Speaking of balloons... I wanted ROUND balloons for Blip's birthday pictures with Natty. So I found round balloons on-line at Party City. They were 36" round balloons in packs of five. So I ordered 5 packs thinking I would save two packs for pictures. The day of the party Mike rented a helium tank from Party City so we could have balloons at the party and be able to blow up balloons for pictures the next day.
Richelle and Robyn started blowing up the 36" balloons first. Two things we learned: (1) the yellow balloon didn't float, but we don't know why...it just sank and (2) 36" is a freaking gigantic balloon. They were too big. Ugh. Luckily, we had plenty of the colors we needed because of the balloons Robyn brought for the balloon caterpillar. I ended up returning four packs of the huge balloons, and we used regular balloons for Blip's pictures.
The food table was a HUGE project. Luckily, my sisters came Friday to help get everything ready while I was baking and trying to finish a hundred other tasks. I decided early on to do all the food from the book. I read about other parties that made similar foods, or foods that could be used in place of the real thing, but I wanted to stick to the book. I ordered signs for each food from a shop on Etsy. I wanted each food to have its own sign, so I had to do a custom order. Everything I found had each day of the week individually, but the Saturday food was lumped together on one sign. With my order, I got both.
We did this large stand-up cooler with dry ice to keep the Drum-Stick Mini's frozen. I was worried my idea wouldn't work, but it did!
I spent hours on Friday making cherry pies. I used Pillsbury crust, and cherry pie filling in mini cupcake pans with raw sugar sprinkled on top. I have a huge amount of respect for people who can bake pies successfully. What a pain...and I totally cheated by not making anything homemade! They turned out, so that's what counts.
I don't think we took a picture of the sausages. We served Little Smokies in three different flavors of sauce. A sweet one, a BBQ flavor, and a hot/spicy flavor. I didn't even get to try one, but heard they were good.
We didn't get pictures of every food, and some of the ones we did get pictures of...the pics aren't so great. They are better than nothing, but I learned my lesson. Hire a photographer. :) Once the party started, I was so busy greeting people, helping at the activity tables and dealing with Blip that I knew I would never get pictures taken. So I handed my camera off...and forgot to remind my sister to keep her hands from being in the way of the flash. :) Oh well...I'm glad I have pictures at all. Plus...she's my bestie. Even when I want to be mad at her...it ain't happenin'.
Beverages were on a separate table. I did water bottles with cute Birthday labels and Capri Suns for the kids. We also had a cooler of soda. Each item had a cute label my sister made. I also ordered cute stripy straws in an assortment of colors.
We made this cute centerpiece for the food table. I say "we" because it really was a group effort. Regina made the caterpillar and fruit, I printed them and cut them out, Anthony cut out the foam board (they are double sided), I spray painted the bucket, our friend Judy used her big Cricut to make the one, and Carlys arranged everything. I saw the idea on Etsy, but the only one sold was tiny. I needed this to be a big centerpiece on a big table, so we changed it up a bit, added a few pieces, and it turned out awesome. We also used it the next day in the baby's pictures.
This was my first time planning a kid's birthday party, so my sisters made sure I knew to add some activities in for the kiddos. I'm glad they did. I probably wouldn't have thought of doing that since my kid isn't old enough to care about that stuff yet. We ended up doing three different activity tables. As luck would have it, the temperature dropped considerably the weekend of the party. We planned to have the three kid-sized picnic tables, one with each activity, outside on the patio. It was way too cold and windy, so we moved the small tables inside.
We did a table with homemade play-doh (in green and red), a table with homemade sugar cookies the kids could frost, and a table to make Froot Loop necklaces. Regina made the sugar cookies, since that's her specialty. Carlys made the frosting in several different fun colors. I ordered a bunch of cookie cutters in shapes that went with the book. Those were used for the cookies and then for the play-doh table. The necklaces weren't a huge hit, but I saw a few kids having fun making some.
I wanted a way to display pictures from each month since Blip was born. I saw quite a few creative ways to do a picture display, but I actually came up with my own idea AND made the thing myself! I was happy with how cute it turned out.
I made super cute clothespin caterpillars! We strung out some rope along the banister and then hung each picture with one of the caterpillars. I also made some huge caterpillar clothespins to hold the activity table signs.
Nana made Blip's special cake. She also made him his smash cake. I love the way it turned out! I ordered all the Hungry Caterpillar pieces from a shop I found on Etsy. They were bigger than I thought they would be...each piece was perfect and added so much to the cake.
I just wanted a simple smash cake. Nothing too fancy that would be quickly destroyed. **Again...Note to self: Hire a photographer!!** Somehow the camera setting was switched, so the cake pictures are...well...better than nothing. These pictures being ruined seriously had me in tears, and I was so upset I didn't sleep that night. I'm (mostly) over the disappointment, but I wish there was a way to go back and get a redo. I tried to fix a few of my favorites, but they are still quite a bit off. Oh well...these photos are way better than no pictures at all, so that's at least happy.
I had no idea how to get super close up for the details and get it all in one shot. The details are amazing. That thing is many, many layers...and I love it. Hopefully you can tell by my awful pictures that this banner is truly amazing.
It took me a while to figure out what I wanted Blip to wear at his party. I love the final result, and I'm so thankful I was able to order his shirt. The shop owner was great, and really worked with me to get it here in time.
Many people called, sent a text, e-mailed me asking what to get Blip for his birthday. My answer usually involved typing the word "NOTHING!" He already has so many toys. He truly doesn't need anything...especially with Christmas just passing. He's gotten many new things as he has needed age appropriate items, but his playroom looks like a scaled down version of a toy store with stuff we have purchased and with the many awesome hand me downs Blip was gifted. We honestly wanted to celebrate the miracle we were blessed with and his amazing first year, the gifts were very generous and thoughtful, but completely unnecessary. He did get some amazing new things, though. :)
Like this Little People Noah's Ark that Carol Ann tricked me into telling her about. She told me she had one and since her boys were done with it she would wrap it up. Perfect!!!! But nope. She fibbed...and ordered Blip this brand new one while we were on the phone. I love it!! I know Blip will love it too...especially when I make him play it with me. haha
Grandma & Grandpa Buv
Michelle & Erin
3 Generations
Derek & Anthony
Robyn & Bill
My wonderful, talented, helpful, beautiful, I-would-die-without-each-of-them sisters.
Raelynn decided to join us. She completes us girls...
Aunt Chelle...his absolute favorite Aunt of all time. :)
Blaze...I wanna steal this kid & keep him for my own!
Jenna...one of the many, many cousins who came to the party.
Raelynn & her Maid of Honor...(nope...she didn't pick a sister. She chose Erin a couple of years ago and still refers to her by her title. Too funny.)
DJ & Carsen
Jim & Ken
The Godfather (say it like the movie...it's more fun!)
Blip & more of Aunt Chelle. True Love. :)
Patrick & Sarah...minus Miss Molly & Tucker
Cody & Cody...two of my favorite people in the whole world.
The Amazing Alyssa & Miss Lori. We love, love, love these two ladies! They mean the world to us.
This was taken as Nana & Grumpaw were leaving. Apparently Blip did not want to be held or have his picture taken. I think he wanted to climb the stairs with Grandpa Buv...and play with the balloons. Blip LOVED the balloons!!
*****
We had a great time celebrating our little miracle. I can't believe it's been a year since he joined our little family. I can't imagine life without him...he brings more joy to us than we knew possible. He has changed us in so many ways. We look forward to every single day with him...he gives our lives so much meaning. He is the sweetest, happiest little boy I could have ever dreamed of having. It thrills me that I get to be his mother.
4 comments:
It truly was the most perfect 1st birthday party ever! No detail was left out or forgotten!! (One thing was left out of ur post, but I will forgive u because its hard writing these novel posts, hate doing it, but glad when its done, good job momma!)
What an amazing party! Please don't discredit yourself...you made it happen, whatever method it took! You ROCK!!
That party was amazeballs. All the details were super cute. Ivy (and I) LOVE her goodie bag. I especially appreciate the crayons and writing pad, because Ivy is learning to write her letters at the moment. I still have some pictures/videos I have to transfer off of my phone to send to you. Wish I had the presence of mind to bring my actual camera. I still can't believe he is 1.
Hi. Just wondering if you still have all the decoration and the hat and would like to give it away? I love them.
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