Polka Dot First Birthday

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I am going down memory lane a bit today and posting about my daughter's first birthday. The terrible twos have hit full force lately. I think the Lord knew what he was doing when he made babies cute and cuddly. When they get older and more difficult to control, you are already head-over-heals in love with them. You're hooked. I have found that on those days when I get tired of the two-year-old, it's nice to take a minute to look back at her when she was one. Her first birthday party was so much fun, and I found myself looking back at that particular day this week.

The Clothes

She has the prettiest blue eyes which were my inspiration for her party. I made her dress from blue fabric and trimmed it with blue and brown polka dot ribbon. I made a bow for her hair to match.

Next, I designed a monogram for her "smash cake outfit." I purchased a blue onsie and made an iron-on design for the shirt. I used the same design throughout the rest of the decorations.

I covered party hats in scrapbook paper to match the decorations and made a special party hat for the birthday girl with blue and brown pom-poms.

The Invitation & Favors

I snapped a photo of her playing in her ball pit which I used on her postcard invitations and magnet favors that I designed. The balls in the background worked well with the polka-dot theme.

invitation front

invitation back

magnet favors

For the kids' favors, I purchased cute little teddy bears that were on clearance at oriental traders. I took off the little t-shirts they came with and decorated them with miniature party hats made from scrapbook paper, blue baby rattles, and polka-dot ribbon. I added a pinwheel and magnet to each bag.

I used the same polka-dot motif that I designed to make a birthday banner that we hung over the gift table. We also used blue and brown balloons in the decorations.

Menu

Since we were just having a small gathering in mid-afternoon, I went with cupcakes, nuts, pretzels, and my home-made vanilla ice cream.

I had my first attempt at home-made fondant. I made blue and brown polka-dots to top the cupcakes. The cupcakes were made using my great-grandmother's pound cake recipe.

I made a blue punch and decorated the beverage table with polka-dot buffet lamps and polka-dot scrapbook paper lining the base.

It was a sweet day of firsts for my little one and it is so special to see how far she has come in just a year and a half. I can't help but love my little munchkin (even on those days that are a challenge)!