1st Birthday Party - Decorations

 Saturday April 14th we had Sadie's birthday party. The theme for the party was You Are My Sunshine. When I came up with the idea I thought I must be a genius. That was until I started googling it and realized others had thought of that theme before me. :)

The party was at my parent's house because they have a lot more room that we do. Instead of trying to enjoy the party and take pictures I decided I'd hire a photographer. It was so nice knowing I didn't have to worry about getting pictures of everyone and everything. Most of these pictures are from the photographer but a few are ones I did take and a couple are borrowed from a friend.

I had so much fun preparing for Sadie's party. It wasn't the most extravagant party but it was a party I knew she would enjoy. Two of her favorite things are pictures of herself and balloons. I made sure we had plenty of both. I used the invitations as my inspiration for the rest of the decor.

You can't have a party without the birthday girl. This is about the best picture of her birthday outfit I have. I made this for her to wear and it looked so cute on her. It's a top and bloomer shorts. I made the top reversible so she could actually get more wear out of the outfit. I hate making things that will only be worn once.

This is a good time to warn you of picture overload.

There are a lot.

Be prepared.  

 There were two pots filled with balloons and pom poms.

This little set up was our greeter. If a chubby baby on the beach eating sand doesn't get you in the mood to party then I don't know what will!

When the guests arrived I had them sign a picture frame so Sadie could keep. I had originally planned on them signing a mat that would go around this

*this printable was custom made for Sadie so it is not a free printable*
but if I did that I wouldn't be able to display it and I really wanted to show it off. It is so fun and colorful. It has Sadie's name and birth date on the bottom.

 

Dessert Menu:

Cupcakes

White chocolate party mix (aka white trash) :)

Rolo brownies

Lemon Squares

Turtles (my mom makes the BEST turtles)

Cake batter dip for fruit and animal crackers

Chocolate pretzel buttons

Lemonade

Water

Capri Sun

Capri Sun was added to the left of the dispenser after the picture was taken. Also I should note this is Chick-fil-A lemonade. One of the highlights of the party.

You can't have party without little-people chairs.

I should mention two things here. First is that this name banner matched her outfit. :) It's hard to really see it in pictures but it is one of my favorite party decorations.

The second is that my sweet photographer also offered to make a video slide show to play throughout the party. It was so good! It was 17 minutes long and had all "sunshine" songs on it. I did the ugly cry the first time I watched it.

These are Sadie's monthly pictures. I loved having these to look at. She has changed so much throughout the year.

 I told you I had a lot of pictures of Sadie around the house. There were even more canvases on different walls. I found it funny that several people thought my parents kept these pictures up all the time. They do love Sadie but they don't have 150 pictures of her around their house on a regular basis.

This is the banner on her high chair.

 It was very nice outside but also windy. Many of the guests spent their time eating outside.

I had bubbles outside for the kids. This was a big hit. It kept them entertained.

I just noticed the runners are crooked. This will bug me for the rest of my life.

Favors for the kiddos:

Gold Fish

Capri Sun

Sidewalk chalk

Sunglasses

Bubbles

Sand pail

Favors for everyone.

This is a terrible picture I took but it is the only one I have showing both cookie designs. I couldn't leave the chevron ones out. The cookies were so perfect! They were also another favorite of mine. I had a lot of favorites, can't you tell?

This pretty much sums up the party decor. I know you are dying for more pictures because this post barely had any. :)

Next post will be about the birthday girl.

To be continued...

Custom made applique for Sadie's shirt: Applique Frenzy

Sunshine Party Printables: Tricia

You Are My Sunshine Lyrics (Printable) and water bottle label tutorial: Sara

Professional Photography: Ashley

Smash Cake: Arlyn's Rolling Pin

Cookie Favors: Robin at All About the Cookies

Friday the13th

I'm still trying to get the party post finished but I sure couldn't leave out pictures from Sadie's actual birthday. Since she is a 13th baby it was sure to land on a Friday at some point. Lucky for her it happened on her very first one. Even though her party was on Saturday I wanted her birthday to be special. I made her a cute outfit to wear and figured we'd go eat lunch then maybe go get a treat. The day didn't really go as planned but it was a great birthday anyway.

Sadie had lunch at Sam's. She had chicken fried steak, hummus, chicken cordon bleu, oranges, cheese, muffins, lemonade and I may or may not have let her have a tiny sip of iced coffee. I am pretty sure it was the best meal of her life. After lunch we went back to my mom's house so she could nap and so I could decorate for the party. At this point my only picture of her in the dress I made was on my phone so after her nap we went outside for a little photo shoot. The sun came out right in the middle so to save time from editing every picture I made them 1960'sish for now. :)

Here she is dancing. I don't know what she was dancing too because there wasn't any music but that didn't stop her. I taught her if you open your mouth when you dance it makes you a better dancer. She has taken that to heart.

All of these pictures had to be taken on a blanket because she does not like the grass at my parent's house. She is a little prissy.

12 Month Pictures

*I should have party pictures in my possession tomorrow and will post them ASAP*

Sadie had her 12 month (I refuse to say "1 Year") pictures taken a few days before her birthday. In case you haven't figured it out my child has quite a personality. You never know what expression she is going to give you and you certainly never know if she will sit still or not.