Birthday Party: Strawberries!

There is not much cuter than a one year old on her birthday!  For this little one's birthday, we focused on strawberries and expanded with colors.  Pinks, reds and bright greens are fabulous together and really helped make this party pop.

How do you choose your party times?  It can be tricky when you're trying to avoid nap time as well as mealtimes - but the best option is to choose a time that works best for the birthday girl or boy and hope family and friends can make it.  Having a fussy birthday baby only adds stress!  For this sweet birthday girl, the party was timed just right - not around a meal and not around nap time - and everyone was happy from start to finish.

Keeping with the theme, we planned a Strawberry Shortcake Bar for the treats and it was yummy!  The homemade shortcakes fit perfectly into the cups - topped with berries and whip cream - and they were delicious!

Cupcakes are often the easiest way to serve the masses and not have a lot of prep during the party (cutting the cake, plating the cake, serving the cake).  It's super easy to place a candle on a cupcake for the birthday boy or girl, sing Happy Birthday and allow guests to choose a cupcake at their own pace.  AND there are so many fun cupcake toppers out there to choose from!  Mom ordered these fun strawberry toppers on Etsy and they were perfect!  Perfect colors, yummy taste and adorable!

For drinks, we served pink lemonade (a small touch to stick with the color scheme)!  Covering these mason jars with cupcake tins was a perfect way to keep our drinks spill proof and the green straw added a fun pop of color.

For activities, we kept it simple - one year olds can't communicate their favorite things yet, so it's sometimes refreshing to keep it simple.  A few themed coloring sheets and playing with the new toys did the trick.

Two of my favorite small touches from the party were the polka dot balloons and little pink boxes placed throughout the house to add pops of color and theme.  The other small touch were the real strawberries planted in red containers and placed throughout the party space. These small touches not only added pops of color, carrying the theme beyond the food table, but also contributed to the overall theme of the party.

Check out those awesome wall puffs!  This unique spin off the traditional hanging puffs allows the party planner to add texture and depth to a tablescape without a ladder!  They were simple to make (1/2 the work of hanging puffs) and they are so much fun!

Handmade by mommy and friends, these personalized bracelets were a fun, final touch for kids to take home.  The strawberry beads were purchased off Etsy and the beads and string were purchased at a local craft store - together, they were adorable!  We printed custom bag toppers and ta-da!  A beautiful and fun favor for the kids to take home.

This was such a fun party to attend!  What's the next party on your calendar?

Baby Shower: Strawberries & Sunflowers

This weekend, I had the opportunity to help set-up for a strawberry-themed baby shower.  One of my good friends asked if she could borrow some of my party gear - of course, I obliged.  But I asked if I could take some pictures and feature the shower.  Win-win!

Although this was baby #3, there were lots of bumps along the road for Mommy and she deserved to be sprinkled!  The hostesses provided such a beautiful set-up.  Notice the dangle-bop ribbon they used - it's a small thing that's classy and eye catching.

 

The food was simple - drinks (delicious strawberry basil lemonade) and cracker-topped snacks.  For a fun touch, a chocolate fondue fountain was available to dip strawberries.  Yum!

The cupcakes themselves were a piece of art!  They were so adorable and I'm sure delicious!  The provided the extra pops of color on the shower activity/game table.

I loved the shower games - not over the top (as so many are) but also fun and creative.  They asked the guests to guess Baby Helena's birthday and weight.  An idea like this can extend the party beyond the party itself!  As a host, it's fun to follow-up on a game like this.

The second activity was so cute!  I asked the hostess where she found the idea and she said it's originally a bridal shower idea.  It's perfect for a girl baby shower, too!

The favors were not only perfectly themed, but perfectly packaged and yummy!  This homemade strawberry freezer jelly was the perfect gift to send guests home with.

I loved so many small things about this shower.   The ribbon on the table and the striped red straws added pops of color.  Using mason jars for cups and catching them with the favors.  The pops of green on the cupcakes and jelly jars.  This was such a sweet shower!