Party details

So I honestly started planning this party when Ryan was six months old. It took me a while to decide on a theme - there are so many cute ones out there! I finally decided on Red Wagon and knew that I really wanted to do everything in red and aqua. Over the months I checked out a million party blogs, obsessed over anything red & aqua and then slowly his party came together. 

So this post is going to be long but I gotta give credit where it's due! Let's start with the front of the house.

I wanted to add some decoration to the front of the house so that everyone knew where the party was! I think these pinwheels added a nice little touch and they were SUPER easy to make! On our front porch I added a little tissue paper flower bouquet and tied a red & aqua ribbon around it.

I found a cute shop on etsy that makes adorable party wreaths and I really wanted to order one, but then I decided to take a stab at one myself. I am glad I did because it was super cheap and super easy! Plus, I think mine turned out pretty sizzling! 

So WELCOME to Ryan's 1st birthday party. 

Let's start with the sweets table. 

The backdrop here was just extra fabric. Originally I had planned to have all the food and sweets on one table but then I realized that wasn't going to work. I wasn't quite sure about what I was going to do about the backdrop so this was a little thrown together. I think it ended up working just fine (even though it was a tad small). There were also some pom balls hanging down but they weren't low enough to make it in the pictures - oops! I ordered the bunting from Blue Moon Studios on etsy. We also used it in Ryan's 1 year pictures!

The cupcake stand was from Sam's (it is actually reused from my baby shower). I added the ribbon around the edges with a hot glue gun. The cupcake toppers and labels are from DimplePrints. I purchased the custom party pack for $30 and it included EVERYTHING from the invitations and banners, to party hats and water bottle wraps.  And everything was customized just for Ryan! Working with Carli (@DimplePrints) was so great - she was super helpful and I loved how everything turned out!

I made his smash cake myself (and he totally liked it).  I kept the design simple this time for two reasons. One, because for the first cake I made him (the one we used in his one year pictures) had way too much icing and he was not a happy camper. 

He hated it. 

He cried. 

It was not good. 

Secondly, I fell in love with this topper so I wanted it to be the focus. 

The topper idea was not originally mine. One of my favorite party blogs (TomKat Studio) featured a party that I loved.  Sarah (from LifeSweetLife) threw an amazing Aqua & Red Sock Monkey party for her son Manny and I found a couple of ideas that I stole for Ryan's party.  The bunting topper is a printable from TomKat Studio and I tied them to the red & white straws. 

I needed something for this corner so I just came up with this last minute. Basically just painted two frames that were laying around.  The sweets pictured here are oreo balls. They are super easy to make but I have still NOT perfected the whole dipping thing. They are truly disastrous looking. Luckily I was able to hide them (somewhat) in those cute little mini cupcake holders I found at Michaels. 

On the other side I had rice krispie treats that are just covered with aqua vanilla flavored candy melts. So simple to make and I am a sucker for them! 

The last component to the table was a photo book that I created. This was another idea that I stole from LifeSweetLife. When I saw the book she made featured on her blog I emailed her to see how she had made the cover. I didn't see that design on Snapfish and she explained that she had made it in photoshop. Sarah was so sweet and made us a cover as well! I love it so much!

Next up, the food table.

I wanted to keep the food simple and didn't want to turn my oven on for a thing. It's been over 100 degrees for the past 28 days and I didn't need anything heating our house up! We served chick-fil-a nuggets, sandwiches from Jimmy Johns, kolaches for a yummy local donut shop, and fruit. We also had animal crackers and goldfish for the little ones.  Regarding the decorations, the tissue paper flowers are from Polkadot Market and all the paper products were from my DimplePrints party pack. To add some height I wrapped diaper boxes with fabric - that is what the sandwiches and nuggets are sitting on!

I used cupcake wrappers (from DimplePrints) to wrap around these fruit cups. 

Next up is the fireplace.

The main focus here was the 12 month photo display (even though I am missing the 12th month- oops!) I originally found this idea on StaffordStories but I think the original creator was IHeartNapTime (I've seen it a lot!). The banner is a printable from DimplePrints.

Ryan's hat and bib are from bloomingbabiesboutique.com

I used this table to display photos from his one year pictures. I found the different frames at Zgallerie, Hobby Lobby & Target. 

In the backyard I had a few more decorations as well as the drinks. I made the banner on buildasign.com and love the way it turned out. The picture cracks me up and I think it will be a fun banner to bring out every year as he gets older! To the side I created a "Step & Repeat" with fabric from Joann's and another printed pennant banner.

The drink table was somewhat neglected. I had ideas to spice this up a little with some more ribbon and bunting but I completely forgot. There was juice and lemonade in one bucket and water in the other.

We did have some fun drinks for the adults to try - you could make these with alcohol or sparkling water. I got the drink mixes at Central Market and just put them in these glass carafes. The fun aqua & red ribbon is from Polkadot Market.

For party favors my friend Heidi at Sugar Bee Sweets created these ADORABLE red wagon cookies. I loved them and they tasted just as great! I bagged them and added a little tag that said "Thanks for rolling by! Love, Ryan"

Here is a close up of them.

 Also, for the kiddos, I got these custom coloring books made from GaddieandTood.com. They are ridiculously adorable! You pick the illustrations and wording and they package them up with crayons (I took this apart to show you). 

Just showing the inside.

So that it! I think I covered everything! It was a lot of work but I had so much fun doing it. I can't wait for next year!