Our Little Lady's Party

On Saturday we celebrated Addison's 1st birthday! I can't believe how fast this past year has gone...seriously! I have to admit that I have been so busy lately that this party came together very last minute. Besides gathering ideas and getting invitations sent out, I started everything last Sunday night when we got back from Fargo. So, here's what I came up with...

*Food: We had make your own deli sandwiches with all the fixings, pasta salad, beans, chips, veggies, fruit kabobs, and ladybug appetizers. I made a dessert table that included cupcakes, red and black licorice, cinnamon candies, almond bark dipped pretzel rods, and of course, birthday cake! For beverages we had personalized water bottles, pop, and lemonade.

The dessert table:

The birthday cake: (This was a cherry chip cake cooked in various sized bowls and then flipped over. Iced with canned frosting tinted and then accessorized with Junior Mints and pipe cleaners. Super easy!)

The "smash cake" for the birthday girl:


Cupcakes:

The ladybug appetizers: (Thank goodness my mother-in-law was here to help out. I made one of these and then passed the task off to her. They turned out great!)

The fruit kabobs:

The lemonade: (I made Schwanns raspberry lemonade and put it in mason jars with some fresh raspberries and lemons! So good!)

Water bottles:

*Party favors for the kids: I found these cute little boxes at Target and filled them with Gushers, stickers, bubbles, candy, and little pet rock ladybugs that I painted.

The ladybugs:

Party favors all ready to go:

*Decor: This part is always the most fun for me! Everything was black, red, and white to match the ladybug theme, but I also decided to throw in a little light pink to make it a bit more girly!

I was able to plan ahead enough to get Addison's 1 year pictures taken ahead of time so that I would have them in time to give out at her party! Here's one that I love:

Her birthday hat and matching high chair bunting: (as you can see I decided to use a lot of tulle rather than ribbon to match the tutu!)

The birthday girl attire: (My neighbor, Marissa, is a very talented and crafty gal so I asked her to make a tutu for the big day...it turned out so cute. The onesie was from etsy.com by a vendor named "To Be Stitched."

I couldn't resist these beautiful gladiolas to use as a centerpiece in the kitchen:

The eating utinsels:

The birthday banner: (Here again, I used a lot more tulle than I usually do for a softer look.)

Sign on the door:

To show how much Addison's changed this past year, I made a display of pictures of each month:

For centerpieces I painted some little pots red and attached some fun whimsical items to some wooden dowels (ladybug picture frame, pinwheel, and #1): (You can also see the invitation in the little frame there as well as the birthday hats again. One for Landon too! In the background I had the laptop set up to show off the video I made of pictures of Addison's first year!)

*The Birthday Girl: How cute is she in her little birthday get-up??? I also made her a little barrett to wear because I knew she wouldn't last long with the sequin lead band on:

Digging in to her smash cake: (She had a great time getting frosting all over everything...and feeding Sammie!)

Mommy and the Birthday Girl:

The only family picture we got all day: (I'm good at remembering to take pictures before the party, but then get too busy to take pictures during the party!)

Off to the tub:

Can we say spoiled...this little girl made quite the haul:

Digging in to the presents: (love the look on her face here)

More presents:

It was such a GREAT day! Thank you to all of our family for making her day SO SPECIAL!

After the party I joked about the fact that we just may need to add on to our house to accomodate for all the new toys...Here's what our playarea looks like now! Ahhhhhhh!