The Making of Emily's Birthday Party

Emily's birthday party theme was, "Emily's Growing UP and Turning One."  I played off of the word UP and used pink, blue, and yellow to complete the theme.  Here are the projects I worked on over the past few months to make her party perfect.  

The party starts with the invitation.  Since I was playing off of "UP" I used lots of balloons to go with the theme.   I made a simple invitation in PowerPoint with a chevron background and the words, "blow up" written on the top.

I ordered custom printed balloons and attached them to the invitation.

Once received, each guest would blow up the balloon and then see the invitation.

For decor, I started with a balloon wreath.  I purchased a foam noodle from the dollar store which was much cheaper than a foam wreath from Michael's.  I used pink duct tape to shape it into a circle.  

I started pinning pink, yellow, and blue balloons on the circle using straight pins.  

To finish the look I made a bow out of ribbon in the three colors.

Here it is on the front door to the party along with a balloon arch.  My great friends did the arch for me, I can't take any credit here.  Didn't this look so cute all together?

Thanks Brittany, Michael, Gina, Anthony, and Matt!!!

The dessert table was the centerpiece of the party.  I used curtains as a backdrop and I made a banner with different cardstock and die cut letters.  I added some embellishments with ribbon.  Unfortunately you can't see all the detail in this photo:(  I made the chicken wire yellow frame to display pictures of Emily.  I spray painted the old frame and Kevin stapled chicken wire the the backside.  To add a touch I made a tiny bunting banner to drape across it.  The dessert bar included birthday cake, candy, cookies, and birthday cake flavored popcorn.

The cake by Cookie Couture was the most EPIC FAILURE I've ever seen in my life.  Don't ever use her for cakes or cookies.  Even the cookies were wrong!  I was so thoroughly embarrassed by it that I removed it and put the smash cake in its place with the chicken wire frame behind it.  It looked so much better this way.

I made yellow chevron labels for each apothecary jar and attached it with hot pink ribbon.

I made scrumptious cake batter popcorn using this recipe:

About 7 ounces of popcorn kernels popped

3 tbls butter

4 cups mini marshmallows

1 cup funfetti cake mix

1tsp vanilla 

1tbls milk

1tbsp rainbow sprinkles

Pop popcorn and place in a very large bowl, try to leave out as many un-popped kernels as possible

In a nonstick pot melt better over medium heat then add marshmallows, stir until both are melted and combined

Then stir in the cake mix, vanilla, and milk; cook over med-low heat until combined

Pour mixture over popcorn then add in the sprinkles and toss until combined {I found my hands worked bast for this, but be sure to grease them with butter first}

Lay on a cookie sheet to cool and enjoy! 

Thanks Voa Voa for making the cutest, most delicious cookies for the dessert bar!!! 

I also used the lollies I made as decoration for the dessert bar.  I cut different widths of paper and folded them accordion style.  I used photo tape to make the strips as long as I needed.  Once I had 2-4 strips attached in length I made a circle and taped the two ends together.  Then you push down in the middle and use a glue gun to keep the center together.  After making different sizes I used ribbon, a die cut, and glitter buttons to attach to the centers.

This coffee filter 1 was made out of coffee filters.  First you cut out of cardboard in the shape you want and then you start hot glueing the coffee filters on.  You just glue them really close together.  This 1 was courtesy of Voa Voa.  Thank you Voa Voa for creating this cute 1!

This was the beverage station.  I made the bunting banner by just cutting out triangles in the size I wanted.  The water bottle labels were cute chevron and said, "Drink UP."

Get PDF Water Bottle Labels HERE

This was Emily's chair to enjoy her smash cake.  I found the high chair at a consignment sale then sanded it.  Before spray painting it I used primer.  I found the best spray paint was Krylon Gloss.  I then purchased the pom pom balls and hot glued them on the tray.  

I made Emily's party hat which I think turned out soooo stinkin' cute!!!  I used a dollar store party at as the base, then I cut out cute paper and used photo tape to adhere it to the party hat base.  I hot glued cute ribbon on the base and again used photo tape to adhere the scalloped circle and glitter 1.  Lastly, I cut out a dozen or so strips of ribbon and layered them on top of each other.  I used a thin ribbon to tie them together and then used a hot glue gun to attach the ribbon to the top.  

This was the favor station for the kids.  I did bubbles and balloons to go with the UP theme.

I made the Thank You sign from a wood plaque from Hobby Lobby and used Chalkboard paint to coat it.  I then used a glue gun to glue on a ribbon.

I also made a Growing UP banner with a monthly photo of Emily from 1-12 months.  It was so fun to see her grow and change.

These were the labels I made in PowerPoint to wrap around the bubbles.

These were the labels that attached to ribbon on the ballon.  They said, "Thanks for partying it UP with me.  Love, Emily"

Get Bubble Labels Here

This was the photo booth station.  A huge THANKS to Brittany for providing all of the props!  I purchased old frames from consignment stores and garage sales and painted them in fun colors for the photo booth.  I also purchased a piece of fabric as the backdrop but FYI 3 yards isn't enough.  It wasn't tall enough:(

Here is the photo booth sign I made in PowerPoint.

This is the Bubble Refill Station for the kids and young at heart.  I made bubbles using a recipe that called for 2.5 cups water, 1/2 cup corn syrup, and 1/2 cup Dawn.  You microwave the water and corn syrup for 3 minutes and then add in Dawn.  After I did this I kept adding water and it still worked just fine.

Here are Bubble Sign and an example of Food Labels Tags I created in PowerPoint.

 I used Subway art to decorate the food bar.  

Everything was a lot of work but it was so worth it because it was for my baby girl.  Not only that, it was a lot of fun to do.

Happy Birthday Emily Grace!!!

P.S.  I couldn't have done this party without all the support from lots of family and friends.  Thanks to you all for all that you did.  Also a huge thank you to Grandma Jill for opening up your beautiful home for Emily's party.