Oh the Memories...

Well, my little Catiebug will be turning 2 in less than a month!! I started planning her party about a month ago. All this has brought back great memories of her 1st birthday party. I never did get a chance to blog about it last year, so I thought why the heck not do it now!

Let's start with the invitations. I made these cute flower invites myself. They were very easy, and it got the ball rolling for the garden theme.I hired our friends over at NinePhotography to come hang out and take pictures during the party. If you have this as an option I definitely recommend it. I didn't have to worry about running around snapping photos all day, I just got to enjoy hosting with my little Bug..
I found this birthday t-shirt at Kohl's, very cheap and it came with a matching bib. I made the pettiskirt for her myself. Not something I plan to do again....At least not until I get a ruffle attachment for my sewing machine. These skirts are very time consuming!!!! It turned out great though.

Let's begin with the dessert table. I found brightly colored check fabric at WalMart for $1.50 a yard!! I bought orange, pink, purple and green. These made excellent table cloths. I also used some to cover the back of Catie's high chair. I made the cupcakes myself. They were super easy. Just a regular box cupcake and store bought icing tinted green.. I piped the icing in a swirl using a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off. Then just sprinkled little jimmies on top. To add an extra little something special I bought already tinted fondant at the craft store, rolled it out with a rolling pin, and using flower cookie cutters, cut out the shapes for the tops of the cupcakes. SOOO easy! I did the same thing for Catie's personal sized cake. I found small flower vases and brightly colored fake flowers to put on the tables. Behind the dessert table I had Catie's high chair with balloons tied to it. I hung the birthday banner behind her chair. This was an easy banner to make. I just printed out the signs and then pasted them to some purple felt. I took pieces of hot pink tulle and tied the letters together. Above the dessert table and buffet I hung several different sized paper lanterns along with glittery butterflies and dragonflies. All found at the craft store for a few dollars each.On the other end of the table I set up a little candy bar for guests to snack on, or take along for the ride home. The sign was printed off the computer and put in an extra frame I had around. I filled inexpensive vases from WalMart with different candies bought on sale after valentines Day.(how lucky for me her party was right after the holiday) I stuck cute pinwheels in the candy and used these adorable little lady bugs all over the party. They popped up in all sorts of places. :-) I took white paper bags, and using a regular address label, printed out a little thank you message for the guests. On the dinner buffet I had a menu printed out and framed also. I wrapped the silverware up in pretty pink napkins and tied them off with colored ribbon. Using those same checked fabrics, I covered the buffet and set out the food. BBQ for the adults and fun flower shaped PBJ's and chicken nuggets for the kids. I had two beverage dispensers I borrowed from a friend. One had pink lemonade in it, and the other had an adult cocktail. I made labels for these also and tied them around the tops of the dispensers with more ribbon..

In the dining room(which luckily for me was empty with no furniture) I set up a large round table for gifts, and 4 square folding tables with chairs for guests to sit and eat. I covered them with fabric and used flower clips around the legs. One simple vase on each table with a couple of flowers did the trick. I took about 60 balloons and filled them with helium and just let them float around the ceiling of the dining room. I tied long strings on them and let the kids play with them. I found a cheap inflatable kiddie pool on Amazon along with jumping balls. I filled the pool with the balls and voila, an easy tot play area. The kids went crazy for it! They played in there for hours!I gave each child a gift of their own to open while Catie was opening her presents. I made something special for each of them according to their ages. Some got blankets, super hero capes, tutus..Along with little toys and stickers, everyone was happy. This was easy to pull off because we only had about 6 or 7 kids at the party.

This was a fun and amazing party to plan for my sweet little Catiebug's 1st big bash! I am busy as a bee coming up with ideas for her second party, so stay tuned! Hopefully, it won't take me a year to blog it this time!