Part One – Decorations
Before we found out Will was a boy, I happened upon a ladybug bedding set and was in love! We obviously didn’t decorate Will’s nursery in ladybugs, so I was excited this set was still available when we found out Maggie was a girl. What does any of this have to do with her first birthday party? Why, ladybugs, of course! Since finding that bedding, I knew if I ever had a girl, it would be all ladybugs all the time!
So theme was not really a question. How I was going to execute said theme was open to interpretation. Inspired by Maggie’s bedding, I chose pink and green for the colors- light, bright and a little more baby/girly to me than the traditional black & red, though that color palette would have been much easier. Finding pink & green ladybug stuff is not impossible, but harder than the typical colors. In the end, most of my actual ladybug décor was hand made with my Cricut Expression, which I wanted to do anyway. I had so much fun putting this party together!!
Invitations
I love designing my own invitations! I knew ladybugs and polka dots were in order so I got to work a few months before the party and here’s what I came up with:
I was happy with how they turned out, sent my test print and it came back perfect! When I sent off the rest, they printed lighter than my original. Yes, I did think about returning them, but decided they were still cute, nobody would know but me and it seemed so wasteful to throw them all away. They were a few shades lighter than I wanted, but it’s not like they were orange. I’ll save my perfect one for Maggie.
Balloons
LOVE! I don’t know why, I just have an undying affection for balloons- I think they make a strong impact, especially for such an inexpensive decoration. I decided early on I wanted polka dot balloons and for whatever reason, the pink & green ones are a hot item at our local Party City so it’s a good thing I got an early start or I would’ve missed out on these! I also found the white & pink ‘happy 1st birthday’ and daisy balloons there. Ladybugs and 1’s were obvious- I found all the mylars at Celebrate Express.
I didn’t have much time before the party to group the balloons how I wanted (should’ve done this the night before) so I rushing before the party started. They still came together so that’s all that matters.
Banners
Every birthday party needs a banner to state the obvious, right? Well, Maggie’s was no exception! I found the perfect paper at Hobby Lobby and used my handy-dandy Cricut to cut all my shapes, glued it all together and wah-la:
I did two banners for two reasons: 1. I was going to have a white ‘shadow’ letter behind all my green and pink letters but didn’t like how it looked so I had extra letters and 2. I had plenty of extra paper so I was going to put the second one outside. When the forecast showed a strong chance of rain, I just used both inside.I also made a highchair banner because I saw a picture on Facebook (friend of a friend’s kid’s birthday party) and thought it was precious. So I used the same paper as the other banner, but did squares to mix it up.
Notice the pretty ribbon between the letters? Well, I was going to do that for the large banners but ended up needing my ribbon for the cupcake stands and didn’t want to risk starting that project and not finishing, so tossed that idea.
Door Signs
I initially planned have one sign on the front door and one on the screen door heading outside but, again, was uncertain if we would go outside due to rain and thought one looked cute in the kitchen. I designed these to look similar to the invitation, printed them, cut a rounded edge and the scalloped backing on my Cricut, adhered them and tied on some ribbon.
Hanging Lanterns
I didn’t go out seeking paper lanterns but I stumbled upon some at Party City and bought the two packs they had left. I had to replace the baby shower decals with my ladybugs (cut with none other than the Cricut) so these are my semi-homemade decorations:
Wall Decals & Streamers
Not everybody likes streamers but I love the pop of color it adds, a roll can nearly decorate a whole house and it’s inexpensive! I knew I was going to hang streamers on all the doorways and initially wanted to hang poms on the corners and possibly from the ceiling. In fact, I was going to recycle the ones my sister and sister-in-law made for Maggie’s baby shower but they were a little worn down from traveling. Then I thought of making my own but really wanted polka dot tissue paper and only found it online for like $12! Since I had plenty of paper still, I decided more ladybugs and some flowers were in order and cut them with....you guessed it.
Centerpieces
I found this idea online a couple months back (cannot remember where!) that served a different purpose, but I thought it would make a great addition to Maggie’s decorations. They’re made with tin cans and scrapbook paper. I had plenty of scrapbook paper and at the time, Daniel was making a ton of green beans, so I had access to plenty of empty cans. Wash the cans, let them dry, cut paper to size and adhere. Easy breezy and inexpensive!
Of course, I had to add a 1, cut to size (Cricut again) and adhered to the papered can. Until the week of her party, I was certain something edible-on-a-stick would take place in the cans. I mean what would I do with so many left over decorations? But I did want to include monthly photos of Maggie somehow and came up with this. I cut some flowers with the last of the scrapbook paper, cut the pictures and glued everything together. I found baby puffs in pink & green and filled the cans about 2/3 with those…not quite enough to see them in the photos and I didn’t think to take a pic of the inside. Fail again….lol….good thing I’m not an aspiring photographer.
Lastly, you’ll notice little flower cutouts strewn across the table. These were leftover from my cupcake toppers (another post). I knew I could use them for something and decided on confetti! Hope you enjoyed all Maggie’s 1st birthday decorations! Come back soon for other party details.
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