Friday, November 11, 2011

Emily’s First Birthday Party

Whew!  I have finally recovered from Emily’s birthday extravaganza and am finally getting around to posting her party!!  I am so excited to share the pictures and details with you!  I put a lot of blood, sweat, & tears into her party and it turned out almost exactly how I wanted it! 

About 50 of our closest family & friends came over on Sunday, November 6th to celebrate Emily’s first year of life with us!  It really was so much fun. 

*WARNING:  There are a TON of really cute pictures ahead!!*

I started by making the invitations myself in Photoshop!  I went to a really awesome local shop to have the invitations made for me, but the budget just didn’t allow for them.  So I took my vision and got to work trying to make it work myself.  I am super happy with how they turned out.  I thought they set the tone for the party perfectly.  Here’s what I came up with:

first birthday invitation

pink first birthday

Just about everything that I did and/or made for the party was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest!  I had a whole board that I dedicated to ideas for Emily’s birthday party.  What would we do without that site???

The foyer was set with ceiling to floor pink with white polka dot curtains.  I hung her “month” pictures from the curtain, along with a “1” that I made.  I also hung a glitter paper lantern from our regular foyer light fixture.  Yeah, it’s still hanging there.  I just haven’t felt like bringing the latter in to take it down.  I took the square table out of the breakfast nook and put it in the foyer.  I put a white tablecloth on it, and wrapped it with a table tutu I made.  I made a welcome sign using Photoshop.  I found the awesome oval frame at Goodwill in Destin and used Krylon’s Glitter Blast to spray it with pink glitter!  It turned out awesome.  I put one of my favorite pictures from Emily’s 12 month photo shoot in it.  I had a ton of Mason jars and I used half to put pink roses in, and the other half to use as votive holders (complete with pink “gems”, pink sparkle ribbon, and topped with a pink “diamond” scrapbooking brad).  I also put one of her 12 month pictures in a large mat for party guests to sign and write sweet words to Emily on.

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Outside, I hung pink tissue paper poms from our porch.  I also made a custom wreath for Em’s b-day (available in the Etsy shop soon)!

IMG_6741first birthday wreathfirst birthday wreath

We set the food up in the breakfast nook.  We put white linens on two 6 foot tables and put them in front of the windows.  One table was the main food table.  In hindsight, we probably could’ve used another table for the food.  It was a little tight on that table.  Oh well.  We used the 2nd table as the dessert table!

burger barIMG_6504burger barpink candy buffetIMG_6507owl cookiesfirst birthday smash cakecustom cupcake toppersowl first birthday dessert tablecustom first birthday table runners

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For food, we did a burger bar.  I had Publix pat out 100 hamburger sliders.  Do you know how hard it is to find slider buns??  Fortunately, I have a friend whose husband delivers bread for Pepperidge Farm.  So I gave her a ring to get the scoop on these slider buns.  I had to go to 2 different Publix stores to get enough buns.  Let’s just say, I cleaned them out of all their slider buns!  We also had pasta salad, baked beans, macaroni & cheese, fruit cones, and deviled eggs.  Yum!

The dessert bar was my favorite (and I don’t even like sweets that much)!  We had a candy bar (with all pink candy, of course), chocolate dipped pretzel sticks, chocolate dipped marshmallows, cupcakes, cookies, and of course Emily’s smash cake!  The candy came from a website called Economy Candy.  They had the best prices, by far, that I found!  Thanks to my bestie Amber for recommending them to me!  The owl cookies came from Tasty Pastry, a local bakery.  I got the cupcakes from…..are you ready for this??…….SAMS!!  And let me just tell you, I had some cupcake critics/connoisseurs at the party and everyone was raving about how awesome the cupcakes were!  They really were super yummy!!  Sams was super accommodating too!  I wanted some vanilla, some chocolate….no problem!  I wanted some light pink icing, some hot pink……no problem!  And the best part?  They were only $13 for 30 cupcakes!!!  So I got 2 orders of 30! 

I made all the labels for the food.  If it’s on paper, I made it!  I used some of the amazing Pattern Pieces that Aimee at Sprik Space created!  She’s amazing!  I did the candy bar labels, the cupcake toppers, the stickers on the candy bags, and the Happy Birthday banner all using the print & cut feature on my Silhouette!  Sooooo much easier than gluing 3 or 4 different layers of paper together!  Gah!  I also made the water bottle labels.  I just printed them on regular cardstock paper and used double sided tape to secure them to the bottle.  For favors, we had candy and caramel apples!  I made the favor tags using the print & cut feature again!

Have I mentioned that I want the new Silhouette Cameo for Christmas??  Or anniversary.  Or New Years.  Or Thanksgiving.  Any holiday, really.  Or just because on a random Tuesday would be great too! * I hope the hubs reads this!!  Hehehe*

I also made the table runners.  I made them using fabric and ribbon!  I found the cute cupcakes at Michaels.  They are iron-on's so that part was easy!  I used some Heat N Bond and my Silhouette to make the monogram for the middle blue runner.  I love how they turned out!!

IMG_6513owl water bottle labelsfirst birthday party favors

I knew I wanted a vintage high chair for Emily’s party!  I wanted to paint it pink.  I searched Craigslist and our newspaper for MONTHS and never could find anything.  One day I finally found something!  It was $15 and the girl selling it was so sweet!  Score!

I forgot to take before pictures of it, but here is a before picture that was on the listing:

photo 2 (1)

A little sanding and a few cans of Krylon primer & spray paint later…..vintage pink first birthday highchairIMG_6516

I love how it turned out.  I used my Silhouette to cut the vinyl for the back of the chair.  For the “EWP”, I literally sprayed the vinyl with the Glitter Blast spray paint before I applied it to the chair.  Oh – and I also made her birthday hat!  The bib I found at a local children’s boutique.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we were having a deck built and boy am I so glad we did!  It was perfect for the party!  We also bought a gazebo and put out back, with tables and chairs!  It was perfect!  We also had a bubble machine & cornhole going outside for the kids!  They had a blast running through the bubbles!  I got the bubble machine at the end of the season at Target for $4!!!  And it came with the 6 batteries that it needed.  The batteries alone were worth the $4!!  I love it when I find a deal like that!

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 IMG_6618IMG_6646IMG_6648IMG_6659IMG_6661IMG_6669owl first birthday bloomers

All in all, it was an amazing birthday party.  And even though it was way past her nap time, Emily did amazing!  She had so much fun!  It was a blast and I am grateful everyday for her!

So, what do you think?  I told you there were a ton of pictures! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

FYI…

The birthday girl’s adorable owl pillowcase dress was purchased from Wee Whimsy Couture!

Inspiration for “1” number found on Pinterest.

Inspiration for owl smash cake found on Pinterest.

Inspiration for table tutu found here via Pinterest.

Inspiration for fruit waffle cones found on Pinterest.

Inspiration for the chocolate dipped marshmallows found on Pinterest.

Inspiration for the glitter paper lanterns found here via Pinterest.

I am linking up to many of these great parties:

M: DIY Showoff Project Parade, Metamorphosis Monday, Made by You Mondays, Just Something I Whipped Up, Today’s Creative Blog, Making Monday Marvelous

T: Get Your Craft On, Tip Junkie, Home Stories A to Z, Homework

W: Passionately Artistic, Twin Dragonfly Designs, Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible, Not Just A Housewife

Th: Just A Girl, Gluesticks, House of Hepworths

F: Sassy Sites, I’m Lovin’ It, Remodelaholic’s Anonymous, Frugal Friday, Friday Fun Finds, Feature Yourself Friday, Pity Party, Weekend Wrap-Up, Weekend Bloggy Reading

S:  I Heart Naptime, Be Different, Act Normal, A Little Lovely,

Su:  Under The Table & Dreaming, Remodelaholic

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63 comments:

  1. so precious, LOVE it! :-)


    http://arielle-ellesentries.blogspot.com/

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  2. I LOVE LOVE LOOOOOVE the idea of spray painting an old high chair!! So cute!! Great job on the party momma!!

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  3. This is soooooooooo adorable!!!! Love it all!

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  4. I love the attention to detail- everything looks great! I'm planning an owl party myself at the moment so I loved all the ideas.

    Come by my blog, I’m giving away 25 FREE Shutterfly Holiday Cards @ http://acraftyescape.blogspot.com/2011/11/giveaway-shutterflys-2011-holiday-cards.html

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  5. What an adorable party! That highchair is awesome...and I'm dying over all the pink! Stopping by from Serenity Now!

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  6. What an adorable birthday party. Too cute, but really can you go wrong with owls and polka dots? I would love it if you would link this up to our linky party going on right now.

    http://junkintheirtrunk.blogspot.com/2011/11/link-it-up-wednesday_08.html

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  7. DARLING party!! I love owls SO much, and every detail turned out perfectly!

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  8. What a fabulous party with so many beautiful details. Your daughter is so cute and I love her owl outfit (and owl bum!)
    Jenn :)

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  9. Hi, Amy! What a beautiful party--I love the theme! Great color scheme too. Thanks for joining my link party--if you could please add a link back to me in your post, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

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  10. THis is one of the cutest parties I've seen! I love all your details and the color scheme keeps it sweet and girly. And your little Emily is adorable! Would you link it up to my party?

    http://daysofchalkandchocolate.blogspot.com/2011/11/blog-love.html

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  11. adorable party-great job!

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  12. What an amazing party! I love owls. I also love the wreath you made.

    I'm your newest follower. And now I'm off to check out your shop. I'd love for you to stop by for my Friday Favorites party!

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  13. How adorable! What a lovely party!

    Emily's outift is darling - love that even her bum was decorated. :)

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  14. Beautiful party, you did amazing job. Visiting from Serenity Now!

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  15. WOW!! Everything looks amazing! You didn't miss a thing. I just love the highchair makeover!! So cute!

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  16. Holy smokes you did a fantastic job!! Everything was way cute!! I'm jealous of your Ikea frames!!

    Coming from TT&J!

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  17. That's a grand birthday party. Happy Belated Birthday Emily.

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  18. This is so cute! You have a lucky little girl to have such a great mommy to put on such a great party!

    ~Steph @ Silver Boxes

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  19. Wow! This is ridiculously awesome. You are super mom!

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  20. Totally adorable!! You did a great job :)

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  21. So pretty and well organized! Just love this sweet party! I am sharing it today with my lovelis... http://polkadotbungalow.blogspot.com/2011/11/marvelous-mondayno-10.html...feel free to check it out and grab a button!

    Have a beautiful day!

    Steph

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  22. Everything was wonderful! You did such a fantastic job girl!

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  23. Me again! Just wanted to let you know that I ma featuring your fabulous party on my facebook page. Thanks so much for linking up to The Creative Spark! Hope to see you again!
    Jenn :)

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  24. I featured you today! If you want to, grab my button! : ) Hope you'll link up again!

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  25. Oh my!! I have SUCH a thing for owls and pink! And one year olds!! lol! I love that wreath, the highchair (genius).. so cute! I featured this on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/VixenMade/114335608642456?ref=ts

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  26. That is truly a party fit for a Princess right down to the pink throne! Love all the little details. What a special day. I am a new GFC, Twitter and FB follower from Thirty Handmade Days. Vicky from Mess For Less

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  27. This is such an adorable party!! I love all the details! Her little bloomer is adorable!! I love your chevron curtains too! ;)

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  28. So cute! Phew that looks like A LOT of work! You did a great job ;)

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  29. What a birthday bash for little Emily. I like that tulle wreath you made very much. Kathi

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  30. You did ALOT of work!! IT all looks so great!!

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  31. after watching you pin things for what seemed like almost a year for this party it is wonderful to see how it came out. ADORABLE!!

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  32. Gorgeous party, gorgeous blog! Thanks for sharing. I am a new follower. I would appreciate it if you followed me back at http://milliemorganmedia.blogspot.com!

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  33. Hi, Just found your blog from Googling 1st birthday. LOVE!!! Where did you get her precious outfit? I love the fancy pants!! Too cute.

    I can't wait to start on my daughter's birthday... in May... but I'll need all the time I can get!

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  34. So cute!! Love 1st birthdays! We would love to have you come share your great ideas at our weekly link party every Saturday! -The Sisters
    http://www.sixsistersstuff.com

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  35. Such a great party! I especially live her little dress and bloomers. Do you mind sharing where you got them? So adorable!

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  36. I LOVE the letters you did in her pictures. If you don't mind, Where did you get them?

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  41. Emily certainly looks like a lovely princess in her first ever party! It sure seemed like everybody had a blast in the party!

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  42. What a gorgeous party, love everything about it. How super sweet is that party hat, especially when she is sitting in her custom high chair :-)

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  43. Hi Emily, your princess birthday was really gorgeous. That party was awesome like no one else would expect because it's very impressive party set up.

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