Party Time!

Last week we celebrated my youngest daughter’s 1^st Birthday.  I have had such a fun time planning and preparing for it and it all came together wonderfully over the two days the parties were held. I had a friends party with lots of Claire’s friends who were mainly younger than her so we needed baby friendly food and then a family party where there were only a few other kids. This post is really a bit of showing off (I will admit it!) but hopefully it will give others party ideas and show that if I can do it you can too! I had done lots of research prior to the party and decided on a ladybug theme. Thanks to Smitten Blog Design I got my invites and printables for FREE which was the basis of my theme. I also checked out some other people’s blogs which was very helpful and here is the result. I apologise for some of the quality of the pictures.

Party 1

Party 2 (spot the difference)

I had such fun making the table look pretty. The Banner, labels and tags were all from Smitten Blog Design. The napkins and straws came from Spotlight’s Spartys store and I “borrowed” the idea of the wrapped drinks/yoghurts from The Superorganiser mum.

The cake was based on the Women’s Weekly cookbook cover cake. I baked the cake in a glass Pyrex bowl thanks to the great idea of a friend, and it was perfect. I had to make two cakes, one for the friends party and another for the family party. I made them in advance and froze them which made icing them much easier the night before the party.

 

The Flower biscuits were mainly my own design, inspired by another party I had seen online. It is made of gingerbread and royal icing. The kids loved them! The cheese was totally my own idea and I was happy how they worked out. 

Mars Bar Slice is a "must have" at my parties

I made Lady Bug Antennae for the girls and Ant Antennae for the boys and each child was given lady bug bubbles to take home. 

Claire’s dress is from a pattern I was given at Christmas, and I finally made the time to sew it. The sewing is terrible, but it looks good if you don’t look too closely.

                The party was surprisingly quick and easy to organise. While I was planning for a couple of months, it was generally only one or two nights a week. It was a lot of fun but I think I may have set the bar too high for myself. At least I have until January to think about Emily's Birthday. 

My gorgeous little lady bug enjoyed her day!