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!

Back To School Breakfast

School starts tomorrow here in Portland.

Even though it is later than most of the country I am still not ready.

I am not ready for my baby to start her last first day of school!

I decided that this momentous occasion called for a special celebration, a special back to school breakfast.

I knew how unrealistic it was to expect Tessa to be up and ready in time to enjoy a specially prepared breakfast on the first day of school – especially since school starts at 7:30 a.m.!

We decided that we would celebrate a day early so Tessa invited two of her sweet friends to join her for our special Back to School Breakfast.

I made a quick trip to the Dollar Store and to my closet for the decor for the table.

This summer I had purchased these great chalkboard signs from the clearance table at a little gift shop in the Multnomah Village area of Portland.  I got both of them for $7.77.  It was at that time that the idea for some type of back to school breakfast began to formulate in my head.  I mean, how perfect is a chalkboard sign for a back to school breakfast!?  I added a little piece of red ribbon to finish it off.

I love having the menu for any event or party displayed for people.  I don’t know about you but I really like to know what I’m eating!

I carried the chalkboard theme over to the placecards.  I bought some inexpensive ($1.00) frames at Craft Warehouse.  I took out the inside piece that you are suppose to put the picture in front of and sprayed it with black chalkboard paint to turn it into a little chalkboard.  Each girl knew exactly where they were suppose to sit!  Some little stands I found at the dollar store and have used for various other parties were the perfect thing to hold the chalkboards.

I bought a three pack of the little, tiny composition notebooks from the Dollar Store too to put at each place setting along with a crayon in case they felt like coloring.

Two packs of crayons from the Dollar Store worked perfect to fill an small apothecary jar I have for part of the table decor.

I also used a domed cake stand I already owned and filled it with a few red apples.  What’s a back to school breakfast without apples?!

The red cake stand holding the blueberry muffins added color and interest to the table too.

I am loving my new bottle from Ikea (about $2.00.) It that looks great on the table filled with orange juice.  I have been noticing these bottles at a lot of local restaurants lately filled with water and placed on each table.

For recipes from our back to school breakfast be sure and visit me over at Your Homebased Mom.

The girls had a great time eating, visiting and laughing together.  Ready to start their first day of their senior year together!

Do you do anything special for your kid’s first day of school?