A few days after Ironman, we celebrated our little miss Nina's first birthday. Her birthday was September 13, but we officially celebrated on September 15 - it was a Saturday and gave us a few extra days to recoup after being away in Madison.
Nina has grown up into a spunky, smiley and busy little baby. I couldn't be more proud. We love her more than anything and look forward to watching her grow into a smart, beautiful and kind little toddler and little girl.
Since she brings such light to our day, I wanted her to have a birthday party that was bright and cheery. Also, I wanted to throw a party that was suitable for adults (we had about 25), but that felt like it was made for kids (we had about 6, but one was about 6 weeks old)! See below for details.
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| I purchased the party invitations off of Etsy from lafabriqueabricole. The listing included the invitation, tags, bunting, tented food cards and little triangle flags. You'll notice I used the paper goods throughout. |
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| We brought a first birthday treat to daycare to start the celebrations. I made about 25 snack-size baggies full of Yogurt Cheerios, Animal Crackers and Goldfish. I also printed out some quick labels to match. Quick, no bake and a toddler crowd pleaser. |
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| I decided to use our backyard to set up the party. Luckily, the weather was sunny and 75. |
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| I borrowed banquet tables, covered them with pink plastic tablecloths and purchased custom pink and yellow bouquets from our local farmer's market that morning. |
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| To give a little color to our backyard, I made streamer chandeliers using yellow crepe paper and embroidery hoops. |
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| I wanted Nina to have a special seat for her big day. I found this vintage high chair at a rummage sale earlier in the summer for $7.00. I bought a buttery yellow glossy spray paint at Home Depot and voila - good as new! |
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| It was important to me that Nina's first birthday felt like a kids party, but was fun for adults too. I made this DIY Ring Toss game using a Dollar Store bin, some strawberry Crush soda and canning lids. |
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| I also made a DIY Bean Bag Toss. My mom sewed up some bean bags using leftover fabric and I made the targets using Terra Cotta saucers from Home Depot. I purchased the saucers in varying sizes, painted them white and added pink point values. |
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| We also played Pin the Bow on the Baby. My mother-in-law printed and laminated a cute photo of Nina and we aimed to place the hair bow on her head. |
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| The younger guests received small favors. I simply taped together bubbles and sidewalk chalk. Easy but cute. |
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| Since this was a first birthday party, I didn't want to go overboard on a bar. So, I kept things simple - bottles of water, white wine and a nice beer selection (Octoberfest varieties and Spotted Cow). In addition, I put together a Lemonade Bar to keep with the yellow theme. To accompany the lemonade, there was mixed berries and fresh mint leaves. |
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| Bunting lined the buffet table. |
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| I also made bunting using Nina's month-by-month photos. |
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| A snapshot of the buffet table. I borrowed the chaffing dish and kept the rest of the decor simple. |
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| In addition to cake, we had lemon tartlets and Limoncello for a celebratory toast. |
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| We're all wearing yellow! :) |
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I purchased Nina's first birthday cake from our local bakery - Hankerson's.
It was chocolate and white with raspberry filling and whipped frosting. Yum. |
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| Nina also had her own decorated smash cake! |
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Nina's party dress was purchased from Adelaide's Boutique on Etsy. I worked with Heidi and she was so helpful in making the dress fit our party theme perfectly.
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| Present time! |
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| Someone was a happy! |
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| For the dinner menu I wanted something simple, but delicious. I opted for a Macaroni and Cheese Bar. Perfect for one-year olds, kids and adults! Toppings included chicken, bacon, an herb mix (green onions, basil and parsley), blue cheese and sauteed mushrooms. |
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| I also made Watermelon and Pineapple Skewers (again to match the theme). Salad was made with a homemade poppy seed dressing, strawberries and pine nuts. |
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| For the Macaroni and Cheese, I used this recipe and multiplied it by five. |
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| She LOVED her cake! |
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Nina's birthday hat was purchased from Dainty Couture on Etsy. The shop is the cutest!
I think my little girl is pretty cute, too! :)
Happy Birthday Nina Lorraine.
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