OVERBOARD
Although Baby Evan will neither appreciate nor remember his first birthday party, I cannot stop myself from going a little overboard. And by “a little overboard” I mean I’ve jumped right off the ship without a life jacket and am struggling to keep my head above the dangerous waters of hand-made crafts and custom Etsy listings. If you thought the wedding industry was full of over-priced, high pressure sales, then you’ve never considered renting a cotton candy machine for a baby’s birthday. It is INTENSE. (For the record, we are not renting a cotton candy machine for a child that does not eat, no matter how much I love cotton candy.)
To keep the cost somewhat under control I’m doing all the decorations and invitations myself, with the help of a lot of craft-store coupons and maybe a tiiiiny bit of creative plagiarizing from other people on the internet. I decided to go with a totally unoriginal circus/carnival theme and have found some really great inspiration thanks to Google.
Caroline at Armelle Blog had an adorable photo booth, an idea I am definitely stealing:
Via @caroline armelle photo's Flikr stream
And Kara from Kara’s Party Ideas threw possibly the best circus themed party ever in the history of the world and I’ve been scouring the internet to find some of the things she used. Seriously, check out her website for the most amazing kid’s birthday party I’ve ever seen:
Via Kara's Party Ideas
My bloggie friend Silence and Noise is about to celebrate her son Bresho’s 1st birthday with a circus themed party of her own and I can’t wait to see the pictures and steal some of her ideas too.
Here’s a sneak peek of what I’ve been doing for Baby Evan’s party:
Part of the invitation. I'm going to order them as photos from an online company like Snapfish.
The vintage tray from my grandmother that inspired my theme plus some homemade confetti and rolls of tickets.
A combination of fancy craft papers and a lucky find at The Christmas Tree Shops means I don't have to create my own circus animals or patterns.
I don’t know how I’m going to keep from going even more overboard in the next month (uh, besides hitting the limit on my credit card) but I cannot wait to have everyone here and show off the final results.
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Tags: 1st birthday, baby evan, birthday, crafts, party
I used to work at a bakery, and people would order these giant cakes that cost hundreds of dollars, with tiers and sculpted marzipan and this and that and I was always baffled by that. Your baby isn’t going to remember his first birthday party. Why not redirect that money towards fun toys for him? Or something for yourself? However, I’m a very selfish person who likes good cake, but dislikes marzipan so obviously I’m biased.
I’m making chocolate (maybe with espresso) cake for everyone over the age of one, and vegan chocolate cupcakes for the vegans who are coming. I’m going to slip a vegan cupcake to Niko, smothered in chocolate frosting. That way, he gets a dump cake and I don’t have to make 3 versions of cake, just 2. I’m also going to make and decorate some sugar cookies.
That is it.
I mentioned selfish, right? I’m also lazy.
I LOVE!! I’ve also been stealing, I mean, borrowing ideas from other parties and also fell in love with Kara’s party and Caroline’s invitations. It’s difficult not to go overboard when there are so many things to take care of. Did you pick out a cake already?
Good crafting. Love the invite! xxo
SO very very adorable! Can’t wait to come.
i love the photo booth idea. so cute! e’s party is going to be so much fun! and he’s only one once! :) i’ve been planning my little guys since he was like one month old and slowly getting things here and there so its not such a throat punch to my bank account once it actually comes around [which i cant believe its only in six more months!].
You have already spent more time on Evan’s birthday than I have spent on both of Calder’s.
I am officially shamed.
love it! my poppy girl will turn one on april 11th and i’m throwing a “birds and flowers” themed party. because she is a spring baby. and because it’s an easy theme. mostly the latter…
the vintage tray is tdf! i am such a vintage slut. not like an old hobag or anything. you know what i mean.
best of luck with the party planning! can’t wait to see it all come together – and now with your new camera it’ll be even more fun for you to document it all! exciting!
xo.
[…] Booth One other fun feature of the party was the Silly Photo Booth. I got the idea from Suzanne at Bebehblog. I collected a bunch of silly Spring props at the Target dollar aisle, including bunny ears, bow […]