So of course Gabi was the main focus of her party. This, I had to remind myself as the rains came down and the winds blew my decorations to pieces. However, I did spend several months planning, and crafting our baby's first party together and I just can't help myself. So here are some photos of the "finished" product:
I created the invitations using, believe it or not, powerpoint! Even the little owl was easily put together using different shapes on powerpoint. I simply saved it as a pdf and had a local printing company print them for me. Customization to it's fillest extent!
So the cupcakes. I spent a lot of time searching and trying out recpies that were supposed to make box cakes taste homemade. None of them worked. I had still planned on making the cupcakes but was getting super stressed and running out of time. While at the local grocery store bakery ordering Gabi's smash cake, I asked about purchasing unfrosted cupcakes. That was when my biggest stress reliever happened: the bakery sold them to me for $2/dozen! I already had frosting and toppers planned so I was incredibly excited that I didn't have to bake the cupcakes myself. BIG, BIG time saver!
These toppers were so easy and fun to make! The little penant banners were simpy made with toothpicks, string and decorative duck tape! The balloon cupcakes are dum dums and a little curling ribbon. One big tip: dum dums melt, even at cool room temps! So don't put the dum dums in the cupcakes until a few hours before the party.
The treat table was so much fun to plan out! With the cupcake trays, dum dum topiaries, and apothecary jars full of colorful candy, it was easy to brighten up any table! The background took a little planning, however. It's not as easy as you might think to prop a background up behind a table in windy weather! But thanks to my parent's help, it turned out great!
Another view of our treat table.
These owl party favors were made by hand. There was no pattern used. Just good old fashioned fumbling! My mom helped fire up the sewing machine and get the owl bodies sewn together, and my teenage neices and my sister and I got to work sewing the eyes, wings, beaks and bellies on by hand. They were "rustic" to say the least!
We covered the long picnic tables with chevron and polka dot wrapping paper, which was tough to get down in the wind, but stayed on nicely once it was taped in place. The centerpieces were also taped down! They were put together with some homemade pinwheels (using scrapbook paper) and a cute lolipop as well as a framed photo of the adorable birthday girl.
An owl pinata (ordered online), face painter, and cotton candy machine rounded out the rest of the birthday fun! It was a great party in spite of the weather and the most important part was that the birthday girl had a great time!
