Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Party #1

Party planning is a skill all of it’s own.  One that I believe can be learned, and I have a lot to learn. 
I started looking at magazines (you remember these, right)-ones sent to me just for having a child.  I love how I ended up on all sorts of mailing lists.  Anyway, I got some ideas from there, talking to family and friends (I’ve been to their kids’ parties) and also online.  Believe it or not, I haven’t ventured into the world of Pinterest, which I hear would have been a great resource.  I will someday.  :-)
Even so, I came up with a vision of how I wanted things to look and a feel I wanted to create; comfortable and fun.  Asher loves balloons- seriously, they make him super happy.  So what better than a balloon theme??  With that set, I ventured out to look at party supplies.  Another world I was not well versed in.  I’ve hosted my share of wedding and baby showers, but it seems the sky’s the limit with non-baby or wedding parties.  I knew I didn’t want to go overboard (I realize that this idea is subjective) but also knew that I did want to give thought to details that would add to the vision- so to speak. 

Hobby Lobby became my best friend.  And B may say, our credit card’s worst nightmare- haha.  But seriously, they can have great prices and you’ve got to love the coupons!!  They also had the best selection of stuff that worked for me.
I looked at a lot of pre-packaged decoration kits.  A LOT!  In stores, on Etsy, etc.  Nothing really hit me, so I decided to make a couple of things.  I did limit it though; because here is a place you can go crazy and make things harder on yourself.  I made a birthday banner, his high chair banner, and the centerpieces. 





We turned the bar into the present table.  I wrapped 3 boxes with paper grocery bags and got the little cardboard 1 at- you guessed it- Hobby Lobby. I agree that this was probably unnecessary, yet my thought was to use these items later in a photo shoot with Asher. 


This adorable wooden 1 came from my sis-in-law.  I just think its super cute!!


And then there’s the food.  Whoa!  Another place one can go nuts!  We decided to get Chick-fil-A for the main meal and then I had a green salad, a fruit salad, “happy kid food” (cheese sticks, applesauce pouches, and Gogurt), and cupcakes. 
Oh the cupcakes.  I had your normal yellow cake cupcakes.  But I couldn’t stop there.  I found a super cute blog called Pinch of Yum.  She had this great recipe for carrot cupcakes, so I made those, too.  And don’t forget a smash cake for the 1st Birthday Boy!  This was getting more labor intensive than I thought, but I was already in too deep. :-)
Asher had not had sugar before.  Not like candy, cake, frosting sugar at least.  So I researched a more “healthy” smash cake. I went with the one from a blog called Our Haven Hill.
It wasn’t bad actually.  More like a banana, apple dense muffin.  I tried the recipe a couple of time and slightly modified it.  We even had Ash try it before the big day.  He seemed to really like it, so it was a go!  By this stage in the game I should have gone on to make my own frosting, but no.  I decided to go with cream cheese frosting.  I know- completely negates the healthy smash cake. :-)  All turned out great and he seemed to really like it- who wouldn’t?!






As far as activities go I kept it super simple.  Asher was turning 1- let’s be realistic.  My amazing boss Cheryl has a mid-sized bounce house.  Yep.  She loaned it to us and we set it up in our playroom.  Thank the Lord it fit, as it was a scorching 100+ degrees that day.  Oh my poor June baby!!  The kids loved it!  We also had a crawl tube for the small ones.  It was great!!  Thanks to Auntie Jen and Uncle Ryan for the loan on that one!!  (It really is who you know!)




All in all it was great and I do think Asher had some first birthday fun.  I think I learned a little something about party planning, too.  Simplicity is going to be the key for me in the future.  Work smarter, not harder (to keep my sanity), and Asher will have some great birthday parties. :-)

We are so thankful for our family and small group who celebrated with us!!




He practiced walking to Gma.

And after the party was over, he unwinded with a little dancing.


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