Look Whooo's Turning One!

So basically the minute that my daughter, Saylor, turned 6 months old, I was planning her first birthday party. I am HUGE on celebrations (this drives my husband nuts) and if there is a party to plan, I am on it.

I knew that I wanted to go with an Owl theme but that was about it. So naturally I turned to the internet to find some inspiration. I started with Pinterest. As you already know, the second you jump on that website, you are hooked. Pin after pin after board after board, I found more and more ideas for her first birthday party to go along with the owl theme. I found tons and tons of links and between Pinterest and a couple shops on ETSY I found exactly what I needed.

Here is a recap of Saylor's party ...

{Invitation}

(This is the sample that I chose and then my invitation was custom designed with Saylor's picture and the party info)

Purchased design from ETSY: Cherished Times

{Printable Party Package}

Purchased package from ETSY Shop: Dimple Prints

{Birthday Outfit}

Romper purchased from ETSY Shop: Izzy's Attic

Headband made by me - Can be purchased from my ETSY Shop: Dainty Dumplings

We had the party in our backyard, kind of daring for a summer night in the desert, but there was a slight breeze and some shade that kept everyone cool. I had found a few party table images on Pinterest that captured the look that I was going for. The one that I referred back to over and over again was this one ...

I pinned this image from "Celebrations at Home" (direct link) and tweaked it a bit to fit my specific items and set up. I loved this table because I am one who likes balance. I loved how the banner was hanging behind the table and there was little birdhouse and vase of flowers on each side. I liked the white cake stand and trays over using clear glass because they showed up so well in the picture. They added a little touch a feminine. Plus, using white in my opinion makes everything look cleaner and more crisp. In addition to that image above, I also fell in love with these pins from Pinterest ...

(image from http://www.celebrationsathomeblog.com)

Love - Love - Love the hanging frames above the table. It hadn't even occurred to me to use pictures of Saylor at the party. Duh!!! I knew I wouldn't be able to hang the pictures of her from a tree or anything but I did decide to include some framed pictures of her on the food table. It was all about her anyway! Also, from this setup I got the idea to hang a banner on the front of the table and gather it up in the middle. Adds a bit of fancy to a plain boring tablecloth.

(image from http://www.thewhitelibrary.com)

I loved the white dishes, the banner, the cake stand, and the candy jars. But most of all, I love the colors!!! I think this table is set up so cute, absolutely love it!

Here's an idea of what Saylor's birthday party actually turned out like ........

It was so fun to browse online and look at all the fun and creative things that people do for their parties. Thank goodness for Pinterest, I am pretty sure I spent 2-3 hours a day for well over a month just looking at all the "party pins" that people had. It really helped me get a plan and an outline together.

- Junkie Tawni