Maggie's 1st birthday party- the details- part 3

Activities, Favor bags & Maggie's Outfit

As the trend with this party - and well, life I guess - I thought of several activity ideas and bag stuffers but time did not allow or the idea was just better in theory than practice. Like I wanted to make a bean bag toss or a live ladybug station or yummy ingredients packed in the favor bags (I did banana bread for Will's). But I realized I can't do it all and she doesn't need it all - she won't remember this after all -so simple it is. Just like Will's 1st, I had a coloring station, time capsule and video slideshow.

Coloring station
I printed ladybug coloring pages online, added some crayons and a great activity for the kids is ready. We set this up in the quiet room of the house....because coloring is a quiet activity. :)

Time Capsule
This was a pretty big hit at Will's 1st and I rather enjoyed it, so I knew this would make an appearance at future children's 1st birthday parties as well. I sent instructions with the invitation to write a note or advice or bring an heirloom or memorabilia for place in the capsule (an empty popcorn tin) for Maggie to read when she turns 18. We did provide staionery and pens at the party, but some people prefer planning ahead to thinking on the spot, so I wanted to accommodate both. Some people showed me what they made/wrote beforehand but I'm certain I'll forget in the next 17 years so I'll be excited to see what's in there!

We set up the time capsule on the entry way table with stationery, pens and that cute signable bear we found at Party City-- Will had a blue dog. :)

Video Slideshow
This is another love of mine, which started in high school when I had an idea to make a mother's day video for my mom. Back then, I didn't know anything and only used a camcorder and VCR to transfer footage back and forth. Of course, the quality sufferred so when I was introduced to actual video editing software (probably by Daniel) a whole new world opened for me! I honestly cannot recall why I didn't make one for our wedding (insert sad face) but I did make one for Will's 1st birthday- documenting his first year of life and all the changes he made. I used both still images and footage from our video camera. With Maggie, I just used photos to keep it simple. I'll add the video at the end of the post, hope you enjoy!

Favor Bags
Party-themed favor/treat bags/boxes are really cute and hard to pass up and (I have used them before), but I really enjoy making my own. I bought white paper bags and embellished them with each child's name - cut on green and pink paper with my Cricut - and ladybug stamps on back. The girls' bags got a little extra flair because I had some leftover spots and flowers from the ladybugs and cupcake toppers. I also tried different letter layouts for each child, a few are the same.

I chose pink candy and favors for the girls' bags and green for the boys -- with a little red and some multi-colored Smarties mixed in. I happened upon these ladybug pencil cases one day in JoAnn's clearance bins and couldn't pass them up (who could for $.49?!) so the girls got a little something extra. I also attached a cute little 'thank you for coming' tag to the candy bags, but yet again failed to take a picture.

Maggie's outfit
A pretty 1st birthday girl has to have a pretty, customized outfit, right? Of course! A matching shirt, bib & hat were in order and I thought awhile how to incorporate her name, ladybugs and "1" into the design and came up with this. I purchased very little for the homemade portion of the outfit- party hat, pink boa and pink onesie- all very inexpensive. Then I assembled everything together with materials I already own.

she wanted those shoes!

we didn't expect the hat to stay on the whole day

so she wore her pretty headband in between

I did not make the tutu- bought it on Etsy. I've been told they're easy to make, but I could not have made this much cheaper than I bought it and saved the *potential* stress. Also, the sandals were not purchased for the party, but fit in very nicely. I have one more birthday post coming soon!