Birthday A La Mode

Bear with me, this is a long post because my sweet little girl turned one!

And of course I planned an all out party for the celebration. Yes, I know she won’t remember it. But I figure it is also a party for everyone else, as we are just so happy she came into our lives one year ago. OhMyGoshICan’tBelieveIt’sBeenAYear!

Just like all my other parties I plan though, I try to do as much DIY as I can, and for as cheaply as possible. And just like all of my other parties, the decor is my absolute favorite part to put together. You can make any party great with the right decor!

The first thing I did was decide on a theme. I decided on an ice cream theme because I could do a lot of different things for decor and I liked the idea of how girly and cute I could make it – customizing it just for Collins. Then, I began work on her invitations. I found several I liked on Etsy and then created my own unique card for the event.

Next, I made a couple of decisions about things I wanted to provide at the party. Food was first, I was praying for good weather so that we could have a cook out. Keep it simple: hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, pop. And a few of Collins’ favorites as sides: mac & cheese and baked beans.

But alas, weather did not pan out. There were chances of rain all day and the wind was AWFUL! Blowing about 30 miles per hour…we were still able to grill in the garage, but all of my plans for the backyard and porch blew away with the wind. We ended up setting up everything inside last minute (which was a tad stressful!), but we got it done and everyone had a good time regardless.

For dessert, Collins has always loved ice cream (another reason for the theme), so I decided not to provide a cake for her to smash and instead give her her own sundae to devour.

I did however make these ice cream cone cupcakes for non-ice cream lovers (these were my FAVORITE when I was little!). And we had a few ice cream themed cookies made too. Adorable.

Of course a sundae bar for all the guests to create their own delectable treat…do you think we had enough sugar at this party? I used a muffin tin to display all of the toppings and set out cones, cups, and waffles bowls for guests to choose from.

Yep it all ended up in our mudroom. Ha! But it actually worked out surprisingly well. I’m still disappointed we didn’t get a beautiful (CALM) day to enjoy the party outside, but yeah, that’s life. Sadly, not everything always goes according to plan!

So now that all the food has been drooled over, I’ll share some of my decor I made for the event. I wanted something on the porch to welcome the guests but, again, the wind was TERRIBLE. The large chalkboard easel I had borrowed from my mother-in-law ended up set up just as you came in the door and greeted guests with a welcome sign. I found several different garland tutorials that I tried out for this party – the first was intended to be hung on the porch. We attempted and it immediately got torn apart and fell down from that dreadful wind. So no photo or tutorial of that one to share!

As guests entered I set up a place to set gifts. I decorated the table with a table cloth and  tissue swag, then added some balloons and made these custom letters spelling “ONE” to set on the table.

The letters were so fun (and EASY) to make! I bought cardboard letters from Hobby Lobby, then used spray adhesive to apply all of the sprinkles.

We have a long counter I always use to set up food when we have parties, so it acts as our buffet line. There are cabinets above which create another great place to decorate, and I wanted to showcase photos of Collins over the past year. This turned into a great place to display them! I made a cute sign to start off the photo collage saying, “sweeter each day.” At the last minute I printed off some little blurbs of when Collins achieved her “firsts” (first tooth, first word, etc.) and mixed that in with the photos to create a sort of timeline. I also hung a simple spoon garland – spoons dipped in acrylic paint, glued to a ribbon!

Everything below was intended to be set up on our back deck or in the yard….new plan!

I thought long and hard about how to set up the ice cream bar without melting ice cream dripping all over the table, or me standing there scooping for everyone. I finally decided we would keep it in our small deep freeze, and simply have guests scoop it themselves then return it to the freezer. But I needed to dress up the freezer a little…

I bought some poster paper and covered the front of the freezer with it and again, used my Cricut (did I mention how great of a buy this was?) to cut out letters for the sign. For the awning, I had a large cardboard box lying in our garage that I cut into pieces to form the overhang.The edges of the cardboard were not very pretty after I cut them, so I covered it with poster paper and then painted the stripes. Now it looked much more like an ice cream shoppe!

The “topping station” housed everything from cherries to gummy bears and this is where I placed the cupcake cones and cookies as well. Along with the super cute tablecloth I got from Target, I made the “I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream” poster and attached some waffle cones to a string for another simple garland to hang above the table.

The last thing I needed to put together was games and activities for the guests to enjoy. I had several games set up that I totally did not get to photograph! But we had corn hole set up in the yard for anyone who wanted to brave the wind and set out some kickballs, footballs, and such for the kids to toss around as well.

Lastly, I wanted to incorporate a place for people to take photos or selfies without going all out with a photobooth. I ended up using some more of the cardboard I had stock piled in our garage and made a cutout that looked like a Polaroid with the caption “Happy 1st Birthday Collins!” Wrapped it in poster paper and called it good. I found free printables online for the props and attached them to some wooden kabob sticks I had. Originally planed for the back deck, we put this in the basement which also housed our ping pong table for guests to enjoy.

ABOUT THE PARTY…

Funniest thing about the party was that even though I invited 50+ people [give me a break we have a lot of family], I did NOT expect that many to attend. But…they did. Codee and I felt so blessed to have that many people show up in love and admiration of our first little girl. As full-time workers and full-time parents we don’t get a lot of social time for ourselves, so it was really great to have all of our family and close friends over for the evening to catch up and enjoy each others company.

In addition to the party, I had her 1 year photos taken a couple of weeks before the event. Since I had planned the ice cream theme in advance, I wanted to incorporate that into some of her 1 year photos as well. Codee built this ice cream stand as a prop for the photoshoot and a play stand for her to keep and play with in the future. If you missed the post, HERE is our tutorial on making your own ice cream stand!

Jackie did an amazing job as always! Check out JWild Photography if you need an excellent photographer for anything!

Sometimes at the last minute I suck myself into additional crafts… I had been tossing around the idea of a party favor, but this party would be mainly adults so I didn’t want to give out a plastic toy or a bag of candy. I considered a baked good, but for real there was so much sugar at this party. I didn’t feel the need to send them home with more. I decided it would be cute to hand out some of the photos from her 1 year shoot. Everyone loves photos, especially grandparents, aunts, and uncles! I ran across a tutorial on Pinterest for turning instagram photos into magnets for your fridge, and tweaked it to use her 1 year ice cream photos and make them look like polaroids.

I knew tying the ice cream theme into her photoshoot would come in handy! I LOVE THESE!

So, my little girl turned 1 year old…as busy as I made myself planning and setting up for this party, I didn’t have time to be morbidly sad about my sweet little thing growing older. Which was really a good thing (I would have been an even bigger mess). The night before her birthday was an especially sweet time for us though. I was trying extra hard to get her to sleep because I had crafts to finish, and wouldn’t you know, it always seems when you have something you need to be doing, your kid wants to steal more of your attention. Typically, she is pretty easy to lay down for bed, but on the eve of her birthday day she just wanted to be rocked and held and snuggled. I couldn’t help but think she knew she was getting older. And that things were changing. Or maybe that was just my motherly instincts saying “Ok, stay a baby, I’ll rock you forever. I don’t care if I have other things to do.” Either way, it seemed like a present she was giving ME for her birthday. Thank you sweet girl. We can’t wait to keep this new parent thing going and continue to watch you grow and learn! Love you more than anything!!

Thanks for reading! Until next time!

Lots of Love, Katie

 

 

A Year of Collins

One year.

I have known you for 641 days, although I’ve only seen you for 365. Some moms remember when they feel that first little kick, but me I just remember the belly I would rest my hands on. I still rest my hands that way even though I’ve lost the round table you formed in front of me. I rock back and forth even when you aren’t in my arms and I like to carry you like a newborn even though you aren’t. Sometimes you let me.

I am depressingly sad that you are growing so fast. It is a problem I’ve had since day one, letting you grow. Not only am I losing this cute little chubby baby (maturing into a beautiful little girl), but you are gaining independence as well. Sometimes that independence feels like a sever between us. But I know it is the way of life and your independence is a good thing. It will help you make decisions in the future and let you reach your goals.

Don’t get me wrong, I am eager for all things to come too. Attending your school activities and sporting events. Watching you play with friends and enjoying family vacations (that you actually remember) together. I am hoping every stage you are in will create a new bond between us. I just didn’t know leaving this one would be so hard.

I know, I know, you’re only one. I still have time to call you a baby and that statement will be true, but if anyone had expressed to me the vast difference between a 3 month old and a 9 month old I would have brushed it aside. Six months is nothing right? Oh how wrong I was! These past 12 months you have changed drastically, not just in weight or features, but knowledge as well. It has been truly amazing to watch your curious eyes soak everything in. Some of my most enjoyable moments as your mother have been watching you learn.

Honestly, anyone reading this will not get how I feel at all. Even other mothers. How I feel is specific to you my dear. The one that changed my life, taught me (more) patience, and brought me the most unbelievable feeling of love I could have never imagined experiencing. My parents have described the same love to me all my life, and I’ve heard others proclaim it as well. And even though I have it now I still don’t comprehend the love my parents have for me, because it is theirs. Nevertheless, I will continue to tell you as you grow, how very much I love you, but you will truly never understand. So I’ll just pray that one day (in the VERY distant future ;)) you experience it yourself . This massive love for a person you created.

I have many friends on Facebook with young children. I see their adorable photos, but since you came into my life I have always had this pang in my chest and a question occur: “how did they get past this sadness of watching their child(ren) grow up?!” I suppose you just take it a day at a time and try to soak every moment up. Even the ones where they scream at you, poop on the floor, or throw tantrums in the dollar aisle at Target.

It isn’t so much that I don’t want you to grow up, it is that I love and enjoy you so much RIGHT NOW and I have no idea what our future will bring us. I don’t want to lose the happiness you have given me from the beginning. I am pretty confident it will be just as wonderful, but when you have such a great thing going, it’s hard to deal with the changes. You are truly perfect my darling. Don’t ever let anyone tell you differently.

Some days are harder than others, but you have been the light of my life this past year. Your smile makes me laugh, your curiosity is amazing, and the fact that you, a tiny person who cannot even speak (well you have said “Dada” and to be honest you need to learn “Mama” honey), has made me feel loved in return, is indescribable.

You are my greatest blessing, challenge, and trophy. I love you always Collins Lorraine!

 

We All Scream For Ice Cream [Tutorial – fail?]

Lookey here, another project to share! Codee built this ice cream stand for our daughter’s 1 year photo session, and as a play set for her to enjoy as well. You see how I like doubling up on the purpose/use of my crafts? No, it’s not cheating.

Why an ice cream stand you ask? Well, I decided on an ice cream themed party for Collins’ first birthday. And while I was brainstorming on that, I was looking for inspiration for her 1 year photo session as well (poses, props, outfits…the like). I decided to include the ice cream spin on some of her photos during the shoot to recall the theme we celebrated for that year she turned the big ONE.

Plus, it’s adorable. I am going to fully enjoy these years I get full decision rights on the theme of birthdays, and what my child wears (on a daily basis, and for special occasions). Because one day, in the not so distant future, I will have to throw a Dora the Explorer (do kids still watch this? I have no idea who Doc McStuffins is) themed party…and buy clothing with Frozen characters pasted all over them…and look at cartoon characters on pretty much every toy that is piled in her room…

I will do it happily because it will make my child happy, but let’s be honest. Sometimes those phases are painful. So. Many. Disney. Princesses. So. Much. Glitter. Are there any other colors in the world but pink? Who knows, maybe she will be a tom boy. I remember having an obsession with Power Rangers at one point. That isn’t much better though.

So this year: ice cream. YUM.

As I began planning this project I struggled with how large to make the stand. Originally, I was pretty set on a young child’s height ice cream stand (say a 4-8 year old could stand/kneel behind), because in real life – Collins won’t really play with this for a year or two. Atleast.

The problem with that size is that during the photoshoot, she would have to either sit/pose in front of it or sit in a chair behind the stand. I didn’t want to hide behind it the entire session ensuring she doesn’t fall (plus I knew I would be on “C’mon Collins! Smile! Blkasjdlfkjdlakfj! Heehehee! Ooooo that’s funny, huh?!” duty), so I decided to scale it down quite a bit to a coffee table height that she could stand behind on her own. I thought the photos would turn out a lot better with her looking more like the “worker” of the stand instead of just the kid sitting next to the counter.

Here are the final dimensions we used for our baby sized ice cream stand:

• BASE: 30″wide x 18″ tall x 10″ deep
• POSTS: 1″ x 2″ x 46 3/4″ long
• SIGN: 34″ wide x 10″ tall
• GAP/WINDOW: 18″ tall
• COUNTERTOP: 1″ x 12″ x 25.5″ long

So I originally planned to give you step by step instructions on how to build this thing. Life had other (distracting) plans though, like holding a baby while watching husband measure and nail and cut and its cold outside and baby wants to crawl on the dirty garage floor and husband is getting annoyed that you are asking so many questions on what and how he is doing things and after I make about 4 notes in my phone I call it quits and take baby inside to let dad finish in peace and I can actually put baby down without worrying she will eat a nail. I did help paint though.

As a result you get the overall dimensions of the stand, which in hindsight is probably more helpful than me trying to explain each step of how this is put together. Plus some visual aids 🙂

[Laying out the pieces]

[Nailing the posts to the sign and base]

[Cutting the “countertop” to size, ours was 25.5″ long] [Ignore the filthy garage]             [See why I didn’t want Collins crawling around in here]

The convenient thing about my lack of instructions is that you can take our overall dimensions and use any size wood you have laying around and configure it to these measurements. We used extra fence planks that were collecting dust in our garage rafters  for the sign and base, and some left over 1x4s (posts), 2x4s (framework/supports), and a 1×12 (countertop) for the rest of it.

[Front elevation put together]

[Added some extra support to the center of the boards to prevent warping, randomly sized just make sure it crosses all joints]

Once we got to this point all that was left was attaching the sides [10″ wide, 18″ tall] [we continued the fence planks from the front around to the side] and adding the countertop [25.5″ wide, 12″ deep], which we overhung slightly so that it stuck out past the front of the stand.

TA-DA! [Can you tell when I left the scene] [I did come back before it was painted, but forgot to snap a pic] [This is a terrible tutorial] [I apologize] [also, the hubs is to credit for this terribly blurry picture]

At the end of the night (nearing the beginning of the next day) I was super happy with how it turned out. And as you can see from the photos below – the photoshoot was a hit and turned out adorable! I am excited to play “ice cream shoppe” with Collins in the future 🙂 Happy almost 1 year baby girl!

One of the most enjoyable parts of this project for me was creating all of the accessories that dressed up the ice cream stand. If you make your own, of course a chalkboard menu is a must! I nabbed the sundae dishes and spoons at Target, and the swag I just simply tied different ribbons along a string. For the fake ruffled ice cream cones I followed this tutorial and Codee twisted some wire up for me to set the cones in. Altogether it turned into an absolutely charming little ice cream stand! I think she could make a killing selling real ice cream at this stand – who could say no to that smile?!

Get prepared for several more posts this week as I tackle my little girls first birthday party with tons of ideas on decor and party planning. And of course expect a mushy post about our past year with the most precious little girl.

Thanks for reading! Until next time!

Lots of Love, Katie