Party Planning and Gracie's First Birthday

I am so excited and shocked at the same time that my little baby is going to be turning one in just two short months. We are planning a monster of a party. Ryan and I both have large families and a good amount of friends that will be attending Gracelynn's first birthday party; we are expecting about 70-90 people. The location will be at Ryan's parents' house, aka Bar Hewie (short for Hewitt). They have the perfect atmosphere for hosting fun parties for everyone. The party is expected to begin around 3:00pm and there is pretty much no end time. Since Gracelynn is one of the very few babies around our family the party will mainly be to entertain the adults. Hey, doesn't everyone use their child's first birthday as an excuse to have a bash?!

The location will have the pool, or the 99 man hot tub as they call it, open for business. They keep the pool heated to about 100 degrees, thus its nick name. Plus a tiki-bar, shuffle board, darts, ping pong, and corn hole games going on. We have a family member who is a DJ and who will be spinning for entertainment and for just plain for the fun of it.

Since I am so busy I decided not to procrastinate this thing and I have been a Pinterest freak for months now. I do have to say I put a lot of time and effort into the decorations for this party. I absolutely love decorating and DIY projects so planning this party has been a lot of fun for me.

The over all theme of the party is pink and gold. Here are some fun examples of what I am doing for her birthday:

Crowns! - These crowns are made from lace. You measure how small or large you would like the crown to be around your baby's head. Then, cover that section with mod-podge or fabric stiffener a few times until it starts to really harden. After it is hardened then you can spray paint it silver or gold and use thin elastic to glue to the sides of the crown so that it will be able to easily stay on the baby's head. I will be making a few of these and Grace will be wearing one of them. The extras may be used as decoration somewhere.

Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175781191684797144/

 

Tables - I have different size mason jars that I have spray painted just like you see below. These will be the centerpieces on the tables. The tables will have pink table clothes with cream cups and napkins along with gold plates.



Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175781191683671523/

Invitations - I will be creating these invites. I bought some square brown cardboard paper and some doilies. You just razor cut the doilies on the top and the bottom and then tie a string around it for a cute invite!

Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175781191685142875/

Party streamers - I bought some different fabric from Joanne's and just tied them to this string, pretty simple.

Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175781191684799907/

 

High-chair tutu! - I found this great DIY tutu on Pinterest. All you need is 1 inch elastic, tulle, and Velcro strips to keep it up. Gracelynn's will be cream with a banner hanging in front of it that spells out ONE in gold letters.

Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175781191684797147/

Last, but not least, I am making her smash cake myself. Her cake will be chocolate and the frosting will be very light pink. I am making the frosting homemade with confectioners sugar and a tiny bit of beet juice for dye. I just don't like the idea of feeding my one year old frosting with dyes and transfat, so this is why I have decided to just go ahead and make it myself.

There is so much more to plan, but at least I've got down the decorations.