Oliver's First Birthday Party

I decided to do a woodland theme for his party.  Turns out that it's kind of "in" right now, so there was a lot of good idea on Pinterest and Etsy to look at.  Since his birthday is in June, I thought it would be great to have it outside. I planned on having it in the front yard under a bunch of trees since the invitation said, "Join us in the woods."  Well, it rained all week and only stopped an hour before his party.  Plan B was my parents covered deck.  Thank goodness we didn't have to take things inside.

I ordered the invitations from Etsy, and was send a pdf file, then took it to a local print shop and had 20 invitations printed (with envelopes) for $12.

 


Last year, I had a professional make Penelope's first birthday cake.  And long story short, it ended up costing like 75% more than I was quoted at.  I decided to make Oliver's cake myself.  Luckily, a tree stump was fitting and easy.  I used two cake mixes in two 6x3 round pans (350 degrees for 65 minutes) I did a test the week before and the middle was still batter, so I'm glad I figured it out beforehand.  I cut off the top to make it flat and threw chocolate icing on the sides.  I put a layer of buttercream on the top and mixed in a little chocolate icing for the rings and tried to swirl them together.  Josh was really the decorator.  I did my best, but he perfected the bark and top.  It was very simple and turned out great.  It was so funny to see Oliver eating his cake without using his hands.  I've never seen a baby do that before.  But it was at the perfect height. The candle was made from a real twig that we hot glued a candle wick to.

 

Josh made a wooden cupcake stand for me.  Literally, went out with a chainsaw to cut up a tree.  (Does anyone want it? We have no use for it now) I bought sugar decorations that were woodland animals to put on half of the cupcakes.  Spiked with green icing to look like grass.  The other half were red with white chocolate chips to look like toadstools.

 

 

For decorations, I made a "Happy Birthday" banner from burlap. (Also available if someone wants it) I used stencils to spray paint them and outlined them with a Sharpie.  I wove twine through the ends and tied them up.  I also just kind of stick twigs and branches against the house for a more woodsy feel.  Some other extras are the giant pinecone my dad found last year and the plush raccoon I bought for Oliver.  I also bought a high chair set from Amazon that had a banner, bib and plastic mat.

 

I had 4 bowls of different snacks: sunflower seeds and peanuts (seeds and nuts), pretzel sticks (twigs), blueberries, blackberries and raspberries (wild berries), and an acorn snack that was a candy kiss, Nutter Butter cookies and a chocolate chip stuck together with icing. I served lemonade (sunshine juice) and bottles of water that were in a wagon.

 

I also asked guests to write Oliver a letter that he will read on his 18th birthday, June 20, 2032.  That is so far away, I can't even imagine.

 

 

 

 

 

He had such a fun time but I was so exhausted afterwards.  Good thing that birthdays are only once a year! :)