Owen's 1st Birthday: Alphabet Flashcard Party (With A Vintage Touch)

The little boy who made me a momma had his first birthday party yesterday. Despite the spring snow falling ALL day, we had a wonderful time with friends and family as they gathered in our home. We are incredibly blessed and loved having those who have supported us over the past year of parenthood celebrate such a special time with us. We thank you for the wonderful company, the love you have shown us and for more than spoiling our little boy!

Upon many requests of details and pictures of the party, I am more than happy to share with you the different elements of his party and the creations behind them.

: : Planning Process : :

The first big step in planning any party is to decide on a theme. After tossing a few different ideas back and forth in my head, I finally decided on an "Alphabet Flashcard Party". As a first birthday party theme, I thought it was simple, timeless, age appropriate and fun! After this decision was made, I then proceeded to come up with a colour scheme. Our baby was born in the month of April, so I thought it was only fitting that we go with spring-like colours and decided on three different ones: orange, grasshopper green and aqua blue. I love the freshness of all three of them!

Once the ball was rolling, I immediately jumped on a must "go to site" for party planning prep (and anything really that you need in life!): Esty. I came across the shop yellow mums and loved her clean and simplistic look of her printable in her shop. After a personal conversation and custom order request, I had the invitations, banner, water bottle labels, food labels and favour tags (which stated, "this party was brought to you by the letter Mm, and held chocolate chip cookies!) at my hands ready to be printed (I used Staples to print these items to add a more professional touch). The entire custom work package was very reasonable priced and came to under thirty dollars. I was thrilled!. (yes, that is Owen on the front if his invitation! A friend did a line drawing of him and it turned out wonderfully!. Thank you Courtney!)






: : Decor : :

Tissue Paper Pom Pom's

Using tissue paper (all from the dollar giant!), I created some fun pom poms to hang and add some color to our overall decor. Using this tutorial, all five of them took me less than an hour to create, fluff and hang. They are perfect for any party, and I have seen a trend of using them in a little one's nursery to add a pop of color and some eye candy for your little one!




Birthday Wreath

I am a little wreath obsessed. So, of course, I need to create a very special wreath to celebrate my baby's special day! Using a wire frame wreath from Michael's, multi coloured balloons from the dollar store and left over scraps of material in his birthday colours, I was able to create a very simple but appropriate wreath! ( I simply tied the balloons and ribbon around the frame until it was full enough to my liking). I then picked up a wooden frame from the dollar store and painted it in a vibrant orange, added one of my favorite pictures of him to it, and hung it in the centre of the wreath with a bold blue ribbon! The best part about it? It can be used every year and all we have to do is paint a new frame and put a current picture of him in it! I love projects that have long term use!





12 Month Window Frame

I really wanted to showcase how Owen has grown and changed so much in his first year of life and this was the first aspect of the "vintage" details of the party. Our house is 102 years old and full of charm and character. We have a ton of spare window frames that came with the house and were hiding up in our garage for years. I went searching, and found the perfect frame to showcase all twelve pictures of Owen over each month. I sprayed the frame with robin's egg spray paint to match the decor of the party and hung all the pictures with decorative ribbon. I LOVE how it turned out!

In keeping with the vintage theme, I also rounded up some steal wired storage baskets that I used for craft storage which originally game from my dad's barn. I also sought out old, vintage books to display around the party area. I visited our local library to sign out modern ABC books that also added a decorative touch to our party, and once again - there was not cost to us!






Candy Bar

To add more color and some ol charm, I also set up a candy bar. It is a very simple way to add a decorative and edible touch. Using vases from around out house as well as my mom's house, I was able to fill them with candy in our color scheme. The bonus? I had a gift card from bulk barn that was sitting in my wallet from Christmas, so it ended up costing me nothing!





Streamers, Pinwheels

I know that I wanted to add more color to our white walls, so I created some very easy scrapbook paper streamers. This is a very easy project that anyone can do. All you need is 12X12 scrapbook paper in your colour choice. Cut the paper into 2-3 inch sections, lengthwise. Once you are done, you are going to take a pair of scissors and cut into the paper, but not fully. Alternate sides that you do this on, and once finished, pull apart and you will have your streamers! I also made pinwheels to add some flare (in my opinion, pinwheels are a must at any party!). There are many many tutorials out there, like this, that can assist you in creating these. I used white candy sticks as my bottom, and it worked out great!

For some of the smaller details, I added little white flags to the drinking straws, that said "happy birthday" in my own writing. I created lines that looked like an old school scribbler, to give it that vintage charm!. I am also obsessed with buntings, so I made one to hang on his highchair out of scrapbook paper and ribbon that said "one". In keeping with the "alphabet theme", I strung giant sized letters from our chandilier in the dining room using my cricut machine. very simple and very easy peasy!. I also created a fabric square bunting to drape across the cake table out of old scraps of materials!







I found an old single window frame in my parent's barn back in the summer and thought I needed to use it somehow to add some more vintage charm to his party. I spray painted it green and found some old, rustic wire to string across. Keeping in the overall theme of his party, I found these library cards from Etsy shop Knot and Bow. They were perfect! My goal was to have guests write Owen some life long lessons and advice that he could take with him throughout the years and we would pull them out every birthday to read and reflect. Unfortunately, amongst the business and fun of the party, I forgot to tell most guests of this. However, I am packing those library cards with me and will catch them next time I see them personally!





Attire

Owen's birthday shirt, party hat and bib were all through Etsy. I used this shop to have his shirt made, and loved the wide variety of fabric choices that I could choose from! His party hat was created by this sweet Australian shop, Sweet Tashie, and was made out of 100 percent wool felt. Although it may have been a touch to small for him, it was still very endearing! His bib was made from a local WAHM, Bitsy Jane, and it was very cute and affordable and did the job on the big day!






Cake

Owen's cake was made by a close friend. If you live in the Lethbridge area and need a cake, you MUST be in contact with her! I wanted to have alphabet blocks stacked upon each other and was originally going to have the letters "ABC", but stumbled upon a cute idea to have the letter blocks stacked and spell "I Am One". Although the cake did not quite work according to the bakers and creaters plan (she was so devastated!) and the blocks were beginning to sink and topple from the heaviness of the entire structure, it still turned out great and many people thought the unevenness was done on purpose, as if a little child was stacking them! The cake made it through without toppling over and it was devoured by many!




When it was all said and done, it was a fantastic day. I fully realize that Owen will not remember any of the details of this party, however, that is what pictures are for, right? His first birthday is more than just him.....it is a celebration of first time motherhood and fatherhood. The details that I have created over a period of a couple months allowed me the time to celebrate this. I had immennse pleasure planning and creating.....and I would do it all over in a heartbeat! (or maybe in another year...)

I hope you have just as much planning and celebrating you little ones (and big ones) birthdays!

xoxox
-Lisa