*this post contains affiliate links which I earn a small commission from anyone purchasing through my links. Thank you so much for being here. Hudson had his very first birthday party this past weekend. Oh how time flies! I can't believe our sweet baby boy will be one on the 24th. We had the best
There is a growing body of evidence that early introduction of food allergens—particularly egg and peanut—may prevent allergies to those foods from developing later in life.
The minute we found out we were having a boy, I knew exactly what his first birthday theme would be. If you didn’t already know, I’m ALL about a good themed party. Every party I throw has a theme, …
20 Meaningful Birthday Traditions
I just can't believe it: my little boy is one. I've always been one to roll my eyes at parents who say "they grow up so fast&qu...
Dimsum-inspired desserts and decors, oh this party theme is just so cute! Check it out!
The minute we found out we were having a boy, I knew exactly what his first birthday theme would be. If you didn’t already know, I’m ALL about a good themed party. Every party I throw has a theme, …
Our little Levi turned 1 this past weekend and we celebrated with a farm theme first birthday party! It was adorable and a great kids’ party theme for early fall, too. It can be expensive to throw …
My husband Trae loves Star Wars. That's okay, because I am a huge fan as well. With the special edition blu-ray boxed set of all six Star Wars movies, or also the perfect birthday present ever, this year my husband got a Star Wars themed birthday party. Our awesome neighbors carried their 50 inch flat screen down to the hall to our apartment. We set up a Mos Eisley Catina up in the kitchen with Star Wars glasses I purchased at TJ Max as well as a Java the Hut station to help guests stay awake during the movie marathon. We also had a snack table with Star Wars themed (or fun named) food, such as Alderaan Ash, Lando Lays, Leia buns with Han burgers, X-wings (chicken wings), and Vader Tots. Yet, the star of the show was the R2-D2 cake. I started with a standard 9x13 cake pan and two nine inch rounds. I used my trusty Better Crocker recipe and doubled it; the kitchen-aid did wonderfully well mixing a doubled batter. (I feel a little more in love with the kitchen-aid after that.) I cooked the cakes according to the directions and let them cool thoroughly. Normally I will fudge on cooling time and ice cakes when the cake is still warmish, but I didn't want to screw up the cake so I waited. After the cakes were completely cooled, I used a R2 D2 popcorn bucket from Disney as my model and nervously cut the cakes. The hubby devouring R2's popcorn entrails while at Disney MGM. I ended up cutting the rectangular cake in half; a round cake was cut in half to make the head portion of R2 D2. To make the legs, I cut three rectangular pieces about two inches wide. Two pieces laid up against the cake and the third piece was used to cut two isosceles trapezoid, or a small top with slanted sides and bigger bottom. (I had to google the proper name of that shape!) The little quarter moon was made from the a portion of the left over circle that made his head. I used one of my circle cookie cutters and placed only half of it on the cake to make a half-moon. I realize now I could have just made one half moon circle shape with my cookie cutter and cut it in half to get the curved top portion of the leg, but yeah, you live and learn. After cutting all the pieces, I colored the fondant pieces: gray/silver, blue, red, and brown. I did this all the night before the party. The day of the party, I ended up running out of time and had to rush through decorating, but over all, I am still happy with the droid. I covered the whole thing in white canned icing. (Any flavor will do as long as it is white.) I then used my popcorn bucket as my model to free hand the fondant pieces. I would suggest having a print out or reference when making an R2 cake; it really helps get the proportions right. As a time saver, I covered the whole top portion of the head in the gray fondant, which was a scary because I had never covered a large amount of cake before. I did find having a food scraper with a flat edge helped keep the fondant smooth, even though the flat side of a knife would have done the same thing. I added a thin strip of gray fondant to the bottom of the head to give R2 more depth, but also to hide my uneven fondant work. Since this was my first time covering a large portion of a cake, the edges were not exactly Charm City Cakes quality. I focused on one section of the body at a time, which was time consuming, but allowed me to have the most accurate proportions. The round dot is the bottom of a Hersey's kiss. A lot of the detail was also traced into the icing with a knife. A good portion of R2's body is white, and by adding the line detail into the white icing, the cake really did pop. The last close up shows the time crunch I felt because some of the fondant pieces were cut a little slanted. If you work with fondant, make sure you have time to let it stiffen back up. Since I was running out of time, the fondant ended up getting warm and super stretchy. The line would be straight, but then by the time I placed it on the cake, it would magically be off. Yet, the birthday boy nor the guests minded the few messed up lines. Overall, I was very surprised at how easy craving a cake was. I have made a golden snitch before, but that didn't seem like a challenge. I think as long as you have a game plan devised, shaping and carving cakes should not be intimidating. I promise that this is not "a trap" and you "shouldn't have a bad feeling about this!" I hope this post helps to inspire you to make your own R2 D2 cake. May the force be with you and your cake decorating! The birthday boy The cake maker. Note the Star Wars inspired hair Happy movie watchers!
I love nature so I threw my son a One Happy Camper - a camp-themed first birthday party. Read on to get your own inspiration and ideas.
I didn’t really have a theme in mind early on for my son’s first birthday party and was open to any ideas that crossed my path. I had originally thought about doing a cars theme, not th…
One important thing that parents should watch out for is the kind of food their babies are eating. It is because of the fact that if they become exposed to sweets at an early age, they would crave for it every time. That is, well, do you know people who don't like to eat vegetables?
As you might have seen via Instagram, I went back and forth on throwing Walker a true birthday party for weeks. The original plan was to skip a big party and celebrate with the family, but then of course he asked for a ‘big construction party’ about a month before his birthday. We ultimately decided […]
Stacey made a DIY rag tie banner to decorate for her daughter's first birthday. She also made Gigi a birthday hat, onsie, and a funfetti smash cake.
a simple backyard party celebrating our littlest bear cub's first birthday! bear cub oatmeal cookies, dark chocolate naked cake and cupcakes with brown sugar buttercream and a mini inflatable pool ball pit for lots of fun outside! I made treat bags for friends to take home with them - with a bear cu
I had been dreaming of a forest camping themed party for years when finally I got to do it for my little girl’s first birthday. The party came together naturally since everything was earth tones – mostly greens and browns – and decorations could be taken from things we had on hand already – Christmas decorations, wooden cutting boards and serving platters, and nature itself. Because we only invited family (there were 7 adults and 5 kids total), we were able to focus on quality over quantity. This is the first party where I have not used any paper plates or disposable napkins and it was surprisingly not a big deal at all! My husband was on dish duty though so I bet he noticed a difference! But really things seemed to flow just fine. We did purchase an extra set of cloth napkins that we will use daily (we go through the dozen we have very quickly) in addition to another set of 12 small white plates. I chose to make these slightly larger purchases once rather than purchasing paper plates, utensils, cups, and napkins every time we have a party. This is also the first party where I have not gotten any balloons and they were not missed at all. There are so many other beautiful ways to decorate that do not have such a negative impact on the environment. Handmade items included: Fabric bunting made from thrifted fabric in different shades of green with tan bias tape.A “ONE” sign for her high chair using strips of the same thrifted fabric and materials from our back yard – branches, moss, and berries.A crown made from felt scraps I had on hand. I have been loving using my sewing machine more lately. It really is a great tool to quickly and inexpensively create decorations. Other thrifted décor included: A fishing basket which held the nature scavenger hunt materials. (I got the clipboards and the magnifying glasses at Dollar Tree.)Old-fashioned silver lanternsPine conesBirch bark candles Things I used that I had already included: Lots of twine!A lit birch tree that my mom bought for me several years ago as a Christmas decoration for my houseA wooden frame that I had used for my son’s garden themed first birthday party four years ago. Also from that party, I used wooden forks and spoons that we had leftover.Our tent that we put up in the back yard for the kids to play in Things I borrowed: Mom brought over many pine cones, fake evergreen branches, a tablecloth, and several serving containers, platters, and scoops. My sister-in-law brought over their indoor kid tent for the kids to play in. Activities: Nature scavenger hunt I found on beautyinthemess.com and printed on kraft cardstock Stuffed felt bonfire and s’mores made by my momKid tent and stuffed woodland animalsTrail mix barCamping/forest books from the library Vegetarian menu: We have been eating vegetarian for the past week both for health and environmental reasons. We may eventually ease into eating vegan but for now this is what we can do. We had vegetarian chili with toppings and biscuits, a cheese platter, a veggie platter, a fruit platter, and a pasta salad. Favors: Bundle of bark-covered colored pencilsAn extra scavenger hunt, clipboard, and magnifying glass to take home Desserts: My mom is a pastry chef and I'm more than happy to let her do the desserts for all of my kids' birthday parties! She does an amazing job, as you can see! As far as the budget goes, I did overspend a little. We are ok with this for a couple of reasons. First of all, the first birthday is a very special one to us. She will only have that first birthday one time, and we wanted it to be meaningful. Also, the amount we spent this time on our third child’s first birthday was a fraction of what we spent on our first child’s first birthday. We are much more money conscious now and things have been put into perspective now that we have three kids! We paid cash for everything, didn’t put anything on a credit card, and still were able to keep working toward our other financial goals. We certainly aren’t perfect, but we are working toward having fun while living within our means. I am thrilled with how naturally beautiful the party turned out to be and will forever cherish the sweet memories of the cousins making pretend s’mores, searching for treasures with their magnifying glasses in the back yard, and shaking their trail mix containers with excitement. What fun.
Made without any added sugar, this first birthday cake is super easy to make, healthy, and delicious!
Before I recap Carson's FIRST birthday party, can we just talk about how much he has grown in a year? Crazy. He has just about tripled his birth weight and he has grown almost 10"! I still can't believe it was over a year ago that we were meeting this angel in the hospital! Last weekend (5/18) we had Carson's first birthday celebration! We had a WHALEY great time. Corny enough? In all honesty, I didn't want the party to look too whaley so I focused on blues and greens and just added some whale stuff here and there. Here is a look at how it turned out! {The Decorations} Paper Lanterns from Party City & Target Dollar Spot Name Banner (DIY) Happy Birthday Banner (DIY) My husband's contribution! :P 12 month collage :) Door Sign (DIY) Newborn, 6 Months, 12 Months (on our mantel) "Guest Book" with Poem (idea via Pinterest) Birthday Board via Etsy {The Food} "Puffer Fish" = Sweet & Sour Meatballs "Whale Babies" = Cheddar Whale Crackers "Sand Dollars" = White Chocolate Covered Oreos "Chocolate Coral" = Chocolate Covered Pretzels w/ Sprinkles "Coral Reef" = Ranch Cheddar Cheese Ball "Blubber Dip" = Cinnamon Fruit Dip "Snapping Turtles" = Jalepeno Poppers & "Sea Snails" = Crescent Wrapped Lil' Smokies "Sea Water" = Blue Raspberry Lemonade Whales swimming in the "Sea Water" :) Chevron Straws from HobLob! Whale Napkins via Party City Fancy Water (duct tape from Amazon) {The Cakes} Professional Cake for the Guests, delicious and adorable! Homemade smash cake - funfetti with an ombre inside! DIY Cake Bunting & "1" candle from Party City Ombre smash cake (homemade) {The SMASH...or lack there of} Carson's cake smash outfit = shorts, tie, & birthday hat! I thought giving him a taste might help... We also cut a slice so he could see the inside. This is right after he fed me a bite :) He shared some with Daddy, too! Sharing with his grandmas! {The Gifts} Getting some help from one of his friends :) Using a new toy as a climber! Deep in thought! It's getting hot in herrrre ;) Add caption He loves putting things in this truck and pushing it around! He's obsessed with balls so this was a super exciting gift! Ride-on puppy! Practicing his bball skills with his new hoop! New chair from Mommy & Daddy! {Randoms} Outfit #1: Birthday Boy Shirt + Embroidered Whale & Anchor Shorts! 4 Generations! Carson with his Daddy, Grandpa, & Great Grandpa! Carson's 2nd Birthday outfit: personalized whale "1" shirt from Etsy! Playing outside after the party was over! New basketball fun! Hanging out with Aunt Shannon! SUCH a happy ONE year old!
I like to throw a party for the kids’ first birthdays! It’s so fun to plan everything out and I just love celebrating their first year of life. We also celebrate that we as parents surv…
