Party Guest}Sweet Pea First Birthday

Today I am excited to share with you an amazing first birthday party that one of my blog readers, Jessica put together for her sweet one year old baby.  Jessica is also the daughter in law of a couple at church – a family I love!!

The party Jessica put together was amazing.  So much love and care went into it.

Jessica  had been told by people told that a first birthday celebration was just for her, since the baby won’t remember.   This may be true but Jessica wanted to…

“celebrate big, make a fuss, hand-make every decoration, stay up late cooking and crafting and gluing, and invite all of Annalise’s little friends and their families over. I’ve been thinking about this party, this event to celebrate the life and miracle of my angel baby girl, for months, but I couldn’t articulate to myself why I wanted such a big fuss. Then I read a post from this blog and was struck by a short quote from a mother who lost her daughter to a choking accident two weeks shy of her second birthday. In a letter to her son on his first birthday, she wrote, “Dearest Little Peter Boy, I didn’t know that your sister, Lucy, would have only one birthday. Just one. We had a small party for her. And it was sweet and wonderful. But after she passed away, I realized what a big deal birthdays are. Another year alive. Another year with our loved ones. And I vowed that I would make your first birthday a huge celebration. And we did! It was all I could have hoped for and more.” I agree. They’re a big deal and they are indeed a miracle. One which I do not take for granted and Annalise’s party was my way of expressing that and reveling in it. I thank God for my precious baby.”

I have to say I totally agree with Jessica!!

The theme of the party was Sweet Pea,which is her daughter’s nickname.

Jessica carried that fun theme through all the details of the party and created a beautiful, not to be forgotten event!

For Jessica, the name of the game was THRIFTY.  She wanted to put together a fun party from scratch without spending a lot of money. Look what Jessica did with some dollar store finds.  It is amazing what a little spray paint, glue and imagination can do!

Glass bowls and candlesticks from the dollar store become lovely serving pieces!

A little inexpensive tissue paper and craft paper and look what you have -

I also love what she did with this fun little sign she found at the Dollar Store that fit her theme so perfectly!

Before:

After:  So much cuter!

Jessica’s attention to detail was wonderful.  She printed off labels at home to dress up and personalize her water bottles.

She used utensils and paper goods from the Dollar Store but dressed them up a bit!

Add  a fun vintage store find that was originally broken and dark brown.  I love spray paint!!

Jessica then took an out grown tutu she already had and stuffed it into a vase and had an amazing party decoration

There were lots of fun pink treats and some sweet peas too!!

She even printed off some fun birthday themed artwork and changed out the artwork in her frames over the table for the party!  A detail woman after my own heart!!

As you can see Jessica is also an amazing photographer so her sweet pea will remember this amazing first birthday as she relives it through the wonderful pictures her mother has taken.

Thank you Jessica for sharing your party with us.  The love and devotion you have to your daughter shines through every detail.

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!

Party Guest}Carnival Themed Birthday

Today I would like to introduce you to Larissa of Just Another Day in Paradise.

Larissa is the mom of a cute little one year old and a couple of other cuties too!

After finishing up her job of being in charge of the school’s carnival Larissa decided to carry over the theme to her son’s one year old birthday party!

Lots of fun carnival food – popcorn, cotton candy and soda pop!

How  cute is that!

Larissa created the personal popcorn cake for her son from fondant.  The biggest complaint I hear about fondant is that it doesn’t taste good.  Well, Larissa has a recipe for marshmallow fondant on her blog that tastes good and is easy to make – be sure and check it out!

The birthday boy loved his cake!

For the rest of the guests Larissa made cute little blue cotton candy cupcakes.  She learned that you need to wait until right before serving though to add the cotton candy or it melts into the frosting – good tip Larissa!
Larissa also created the cute little birthday hat the birthday boy is wearing.  For a tutorial on how to make it check out this blog post.

Thanks to Larissa for sharing her fun carnival themed birthday party!

If you would like to be a party guest here at Your Homebased Parties please send me an email or leave a comment!  We’d love to see your party!!

Party Guest}Pioneer Party

My friend Sarah is amazing.  Not only is she a talented photographer and an amazing party planner she is also the mother of six, yes I said six, of the most adorable little girls you will ever meet.  And on top of that she home schools them!  I told you she was amazing.

Sarah use to be my neighbor until they moved out to the country.  We miss those cute little girls (and Sarah and Chris too).

Fortunately I can keep up to date on the whole family through Sarah’s blog.

Recently Sarah shared a fun Pioneer Party she put on for her daughter Autumn’s birthday.

Today I am excited to share with you Autumn’s amazing party.

One of the benefits of living out in the country is that you have friends and neighbors with barns which is the perfect setting for a pioneer party.

And farms and barns usually come with animals!

Sarah sewed up a batch of pioneer bonnets and aprons for each of the party guests – I told you she was amazing!  Don’t they look cute in their little pioneer gear!?  Hannah would look cute in anything!

In addition to playing with the animals there was a lot going on at Autumn’s party!

There was candle dipping…

and the candles made cute little table favors too!

There were also potato sack races, feeding the goats and chickens

felting eggs,

and making the biscuits and butter.  What a great idea – let the party guests make the party food!

OK, I’m tired after just typing all of that!

Autumn has pronounced it to be her best birthday party yet.

Happy birthday Autumn and thanks Sarah for sharing your fun pioneer party!

Party Guest} Too Cute – Two Years Old

My good friend and amazing photographer Meg is also a great party planner!

Her darling daughter Addy recently turned two and Meg created a fun and magical family celebration for her daughter.

Balloons always add a fun and colorful touch to any party and are the quickest and easy way to establish a color theme.

Meg used her creative abilities to create this easy and inexpensive but darling banner to celebrate Addy’s big day!

 

The banner is made out of pink paper plates from Target- how cute is that!
 

Meg added some letters to spell Addy’s name and the number 2 which she cut out of paper along with some other cute embellishments and ribbon. Meg’s creativity didn’t stop there, she made a darling little apron for Addy too. (Simplicity Pattern 3802)

 

 

Addy looks so cute in her cupcake apron and is perfectly attired to serve tea with this darling tea set  her mother made out of felt for her.

 

Since little Addy is definitely the princess at her house who better to grace the top of her birthday cake then  Cinderella! (cake from Safeway)

 

Here’s what Meg had to say about the special day she created for her daughter:

For my daughter’s second birthday I wanted to keep things relatively low key and thought a tea party day with mom would be a memorable way to celebrate her special day. I spent the weeks prior crafting her a little felt tea set and sewing a darling hostess apron out of her favorite fabric! We spent most of her birthday morning picking up the cake and prepping for our little party. She chose a Cinderella cake and a variety of pink and green balloons. Then we dressed up and played with our treasures. It was a wonderful day, filled with meaningful make believe and a magic that we both enjoyed.

What a lucky little two year old.  Thanks to Meg and Addy for sharing their special party with us here at Your Homebased Parties!