Kaia’s 1st Birthday Party (the details)
If you follow me on other socials, you know we just did a big cross-country move. It was ALOTTTTT with a baby. Between the packing, the unpacking, the feeling like you are in limbo, is all around an uncomfortable but exciting feeling. We are so lucky! I feel so lucky. We can dive into how I am feeling living in the suburbs again after 10 years in the best city in the world (New York City) another day.
For now, we will talk alllll thing DIY birthday party. To be honest, I didn’t really have a big game plan. I tried not to put too much pressure on myself since we just did a big move. But it somehow ended up being quite the production and looked INCREDIBLY cute and wayyyy better than I thought it would.
A few months before, I started pinning photos of what I liked on Pinterest that served as my inspiration. I collaged those photos together on Canva so I can really get a good sense of what I need to order.
First things I ordered were randomly these Mylar Animal balloons from this place here. I am SO glad I bought these because it added a whimsical and fun look to the space and they were a hit with the kids (& for photos bc duh). I felt like these were a good anchor and starting point for color scheme which helped the process a ton.
But to be honest, the rest became a little hazy because I panic Amazon ordered….mostly everything up until the day BEFORE the birthday party.
Anyway, here’s a veryyyy detailed breakdown of everything below—
(1.)HAPPY BIRTHDAY BALLOON BANNER (2.)COLORFUL FLAG BANNER (3.) CERAMIC BUD VASES
(4.) PALE YELLOW TABLECLOTH (5.) MINI PARTY HATS (6.) MINI PART HATS
(7.) PINK STRIPE TABLECLOTH (8.) BUBBLE MACHINE
(1.) BUBBLEGUM PINK BALLOONS (2.) PALE YELLOW BALLOONS (3.) MAGENTA BALLOONS
(4.) LIME GREEN BALLOONS (5.) COLORFUL BALLOON STRINGS (6.) SILVER BALLOON STRING (7.)BALLOON WEIGHTS (8.) MYLAR BALOONS
(1.)JULEP CUPS (2.) SILVER ICE BUCKET (3.) FRINGE NAPKINS (4.) SERVING TONGS (5.) CHIC BOTTLE OPENER
(6.) PALM LEAF PLATES (7.)PLASTIC SILVERWARE (8.) SUGARCANE STRAWS
For Kaia’s smash cake, I made a Strawberry Cake with Cream Cheese frosting. There’s no sugar in this recipe (except maple syrup) so it’s baby friendly. I doubled the recipe and made mini cupcakes so the other kids can enjoy after Kaia blew out her birthday candles. They were a hittttt.
*I did’t use freeze dried strawberries in the frosting because I wanted it to be white
I had two separate drink bars - one for beer and wine and another for water and soft drinks. For food, I layered lots of platters that I sourced and collected from Homegoods. The reason why I think it’ looks really nice is because there are different heights to the food. You can create this look by turning a bowl upside down and placing a plate over top. Get creative!
(1.)FELT ONE BANNER (2.) BIRTHDAY HAT (3.) BUCKET HAT (4.) GINGHAM ONE-PIECE (5.) RUFFLE ROMPER
(6.) GINGHAM TWO-PIECE