My baby is ONE! I've said this a thousand times but FASTEST YEAR EVER! She is the sweetest, sassiest, most joyful little girl and we don't know what we did without her. God blessed us immensely when He made us her parents. Gah I could talk all day about how much I love that girl.
So I started brainstorming about her birthday party way before it was time. I was just so excited!! The great thing about planning it so early (like 6 months early don't judge me) is that I had plenty of time to purchase and create things making this party super affordable and easy going. I made a list of everything I wanted to make and everything I needed to make it then collected those things over the next 6 months. I go to Hobby Lobby almost daily (they know me and Presley well it's kinda embarrassing). So each trip I made where I didn't have to use my digital coupon (because the item I was currently after was on sale), I bought 1 thing for her party with that coupon. That thing might have been a pack of streamers, tissue paper, napkins, cups...anything I needed that was on my list. Those items typically ranged from $1.50-$5. I needed a lot of those little things, though. So overtime I was able to purchase each individual thing for 40% off saving a lot of money cumulatively. And purchasing one super inexpensive thing at a time over months made it really easy on the bank account because I didn't go out and buy everything I needed all at once right before the party at full price. Now I know if you don't go to Hobby Lobby that often this is a dumb suggestion. I live 2 minutes away although I'm thinking about just moving in since I've basically paid for the building by now. Every time I leave one of my fabric-cutting or cashier friends I say "see you tomorrow" and they say it back and laugh. If I show up without my baby they ask me where she is because she's basically their mascot. One big happy Hobby Lobby family.
I have a craft room that has all sorts of weird things in it so I had a lot of materials on hand which was convenient. This party was super DIY which is the way I like it. It included a few Pinstrosities but what's a good DIY party without at least one?! MAKE ALL THE THINGS! NAILED IT!
I'll start with her invitation. I handmade one then ended up scanning it on my printer and sending it to Walgreens. They printed them on cardstock and provided envelopes. 20 invites ended up being about $15 total. Please excuse the blurring of the address and phone number.
Here's what greeted our guests as they arrived.
To make the wreath I cut a ring out of cardboard the size I wanted the wreath to be (I actually used a large cardboard cake board I had on hand). I used my circle cutters to cut out circles of white, pink and mint paper and taped them onto paper doilies. I free-handed the one and cut it out of paper but if you want you can print it, cut it out and trace it. Super easy! I made the little flag last minute the day before with supplies I had on hand. Leftover table cloth fabric, a doily and little paper flowers. I sewed this on my machine but you can used hot glue as well.
So my saddest Pinstrosity were the balloons. I was going to wrap them in a layer of tulle and tie a pretty pink or white ribbon bow on them. I purchased all of the tulle, cut all of the pieces out in advance and was ready to go. The day of the party I sat down with my husband to cover them (I needed his assistance to hold them down because they'd float away) and they just sat on the floor. The one layer of tulle was way too heavy, making the balloons fall. RIP THAT IDEA! It was going to be pretty but you know what! We survived and all was good. First world problem?
My favorite part was the dining room where all of the food was, of course.
It was definitely a Costco party. I was originally going to make all of the food but then I was all "why would I do that when Costco exists"? I had enough on my plate and it was way cheaper and WAY less time consuming to buy it there a few days in advance. I got mini quiches (frozen and needed to be baked right before), spinach dip, pita chips, croissants, chicken salad for croissants, brownies, and flowers. It was delicious.
My awesome aunt is a domestic goddess and sweetly volunteered to help me by making something. I asked her to make lemon cucumber cream cheese sandwiches. I sent her a recipe I found and oh my goodness they were so delicious. It's weird because I don't like cucumbers but put them on this sandwich and I could hear the Hallelujah chorus. Click here for the recipe! She made them so adorable, too!
My grandmother brought some fresh fruit and I made this super easy marshmallow whipped cream I used as a fruit dip and dyed pink. I got so many compliments on it. Everyone was amazed it only had 3 ingredients and was so simple! I actually had to make it twice because I majorly over-beat it the first time. Poor Matt had to run to Kroger less than an hour before the party to get me more marshmallow cream!
Since I started my cake business in 2009 (fresh out of high school) I'd been most excited about making my own children's birthday cakes. You can imagine my excitement when my time had finally come. FREE REIN! I made the Presley plaque, "1" topper, flowers, bunny, and tiny tea set out of fondant and gold luster dust. I had never used lusted dust and I love it so much. I think my kitchen will forever sparkle because it got everywhere but worth it. I actually got a matte clear spray coating and sprayed the "1", bunny and tea set after the party making them permanent figures that she can keep forever. How cool!! Thanks, internet.
Here's her little smash cake.
Those ruffles gave me a major hand cramp but I love how they turned out. So soft and feminine. Perfect for a tea party! Thanks, YouTube.
I got 2 bouquets of flowers at Costco and a bouquet of baby's breath at Kroger and made a few floral arrangements. I got some wet floral foam at Hobby Lobby so I could but flower arrangements in 2 of the little tea cups on the main table.
My grandmother found the crocheted table cloth a few months ago at an estate sale for $5. All of my crocheted doilies came from that sale as well. I couldn't find a pink table cloth in the right color/size so I ended up making my own. I got the fabric really cheap at Joanne and it ended up being $10 total.
I borrowed all of the fancy things like tea cups and tea pots from my grandmother who is the queen of fancy things (with the exception of the cute little white one above that my mother-in-law let me use).
On this little table I provided a book I found on Amazon for $3 called "My Very First Tea Party" and asked everyone to sign a note for Pres Pres in it. I hope she'll treasure it forever.
I found these cute teapot napkins at Tuesday Morning for $2!
I decorated the china cabinet as well. I printed 3 8x10's and matted them in matching paper, the bunnies were actually mine as a kid that live in her nursery, and I got the "1" on sale at Hobby Lobby for $3. I traced it onto the floral paper I used throughout the party and glued it on. Super easy. I incorporated a lot of things from her nursery into the decor. I made the banner out of scrapbook paper, I wrote the letters in sharpie, and I actually just sewed the triangles onto a ribbon with my machine. Super easy! Who knew you could sew paper! (this was new info for me)
I made the tissue paper balls and hung them up using tiny command hooks so it didn't hurt my ceiling paint. They now hang from the ceiling of my craft room. I made 5. Each ball contained one pack of tissue paper from Hobby Lobby. I wish I had gotten a better picture of them.
I just tied misc ribbons I had on hand to my light fixture to make it festive. I had all of the serving dishes (thanks, wedding gifts).
Now onto the kitchen! I mainly just had this one sitting area that looked pretty. I made a banner of all of Presley's month pics I had taken and hung it up on the window. I matted each picture in alternating pink and mint papers and punched a hole in the top 2 corners. I have a scalloped circle puncher so I punched out 12 of those and wrote the corresponding month in them and glued them to each picture. I then threaded the ribbon through the holes and just hung it up. So easy! I made the polka dot table overlay with leftover fabric from an outfit I made her this summer. I matted 4 pictures of her to lay on the table (just in case you couldn't tell who's birthday party it was lolz) along with another paper doily.
I put a little baby's breath bouquet in the bathroom.
Living room aka the throne room. We have a bar which is perfect for serving drinks. I had pink lemonade sparkling fruit punch, cucumber mint water, coffee punch (my grandma's specialty), and ginger peach hot tea (because I figured with a tea party there should probably be some tea somewhere).
I added some raspberries to the pink lemonade mainly for looks. For the water I actually stamped flowers out of the cucumber slices with a tiny cookie cutter I already had. I threw them along with a few sprigs of fresh mint leaves and lemon slices in the water and let it soak over night. I got the tea for $3 (20 bags) at Marshalls! I was going to add fresh peaches to it as well but they're out of season. It was really delicious and now I'm obsessed with making myself hot tea. It makes me feel way too fancy even when I go days without brushing my hair or getting out of my pjs which is probably way too often. Don't judge me.
I draped pink and white streamers over the bar and taped them up with scotch tape. I also taped up some pink satin ribbon bows. I had the paper straws leftover from her gender reveal party and they just happened to match the party perfectly! The bulletin board was hanging in her playroom. I pinned up my favorite family photos from this past year. I made the drink labels out of little paper doily-esque things I found on the papercrafting aisle at Hobby Lobby. They were on sale $2 for 12 of them and there were 3 or 4 different kinds.
I served the tea with milk, stirrer sticks and homemade sugar "cubes." Yes! Homemade! You can make sugar cubes! This was one of my favorite touches because it was so unique. Thanks, Pinterest. I used cookie cutters to make hearts, flowers, and little "1"s. Click here for the how-to link.
I made this "1" (just in case you hadn't figured out how old she was turning by all of the other 1's sitting around) out of foam core board. I cut out a big 1 to act as my base and cut out a lot of pictures and just collaged it until they fit and filled in all of the spaces and taped them in place! Super easy!
I borrowed this high chair from my aunt because Presley's high chair didn't match. Matt made so much fun of me for this but IT WAS IMPORTANT TO ME, OKAY! I love the antique feel of this one. I used tacks to pin up a king-sized white sheet behind the streamer wall. I tacked it into the wooden trim instead of the ceiling so it'd hold better and be less noticeable. Plus we went through hell to make our ceilings smooth 2 years ago and I refuse to taint their beauty. I ended up just scotch taping the streamers up and they didn't mess up the paint at all. We just very carefully pulled them off and they were fine! I made the (yet another) "1" banner out of ribbon scraps. I just slipknotted them onto a base ribbon. I cut out the fabric 1 and glued it onto the pink fabric and it was all really simple and turned out really cute.
Presley LOVED her smash cake. I've literally never seen a child go for a cake like she did. She was in heaven. She spent a few minutes massaging the top before I gave her a taste and she just went for it, destroying it in seconds. When we took it away she got so upset. I know. Terrible, mean parents. But then she realized she was covered in cake still so she kept eating. She was so gross and the grandma's gave her an SOS emergency buttercream bath. Worth it.
We had so much fun celebrating our sweet, precious girl and can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays with her. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed and are inspired!
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