I cannot believe my baby girl is ONE year old!! And this is my last 1st birthday party- at least to plan for my own children. Bittersweet. I thought Jake was going to be the last, but God had other plans. So I had to do the big party since I did with all the others. I chose Strawberry Shortcake for the theme because I've always wanted to do one. Maggie wanted to be included, so we did a joint party- though it was more about 1- Maggie wants a sleepover for her actual birthday, so the celebration will continue for her, no worries. Anyway, I had a lot of fun getting this Strawberry Shortcake party together and I think my beautiful girls loved it too!!
My dream for SS was food and decor for each character. Of course dreams are bigger than reality so I had to scale things down a bit. Still got something for each character, had plenty of food, a dessert table and decor to boot. It was still a big to do for my girls.
The invitation
Always fun for me to create! Not necessarily a decoration, but I wanted to include it. This template was somewhat "easy" to come up with once I decided to literally look to Strawberry Shortcake for inspiration. Pink polka dots from her skirt and green & white stripes from her leggings. I usually do photo cards, but wanted card stock so I could have a back this time. I wanted to include instructions for the birthday time capsule (I did this for each kid's 1st birthday) and also gift ideas. I considered putting "no gifts please" on the invite, but knew grandparents and such would want to give regardless, so I also added some gift ideas. I love how it turned out.
Balloons, fireplace & centerpieces
It would not be a party of mine without balloons! I picked polka dots, 1's, 5's, a Strawberry Shortcake pack, the big #1 and strawberries. I really wanted these strawberry hanging lanterns from Oriental Trading, but spent more at Party City than I thought I would and had to forego that expense. SO I grabbed a pack of red polka dot balloons and added my own leaves- wah lah, strawberries! I used my window as a fireplace decoration again and added strawberries I cut with my Cricut, plus an autographed picture of Strawberry herself, framed, and Maggie's doll, all flanked by balloons, of course.
These centerpieces were really easy to put together. I found the printables on a blog a couple years ago and downloaded the files. I just print everything, cut it out and glued the box together. Then added the circles to sticks with tape and set them in the box with tissue paper.
Banners, door sign & hanging decor
Allie's photo banner- one picture for each month. Birthday banner made with pink polka dot & green/white stripe paper to coordinate with the invite
The large #1 had a leak in it. Party City tried to rig it, but the air wouldn't hold, they couldn't replace it since I ordered it online. I was really disappointed
Time Capsule, Favors & Water Bottle Labels
I've done a time capsule for all of my kid's 1st birthday parties, so had to do this for Allie as well. People can bring notes, memorabilia, anything to add for the kids to open when they're 18. They've each had an animal to sign as well- the boys had a dog and Maggie had a bear, so I got that for Allie too. Then I found these cute 1st birthday butter mints at Party City in the party colors.
Found these labels on the Strawberry Shortcake website so I just had to print them out an attach to a baggie. I also added a sticker on back to thank guests for coming. Each bag was filled with strawberry twizzlers. I wanted strawberry jam as favors, but wasn't able to make that happen.
I love water bottle labels, they add such a cute touch and are really easy to do. This time I made circles, cut them out and attached to card stock cut to size.
Decorations are one of my favorite parts of my kid's birthday parties, I really enjoy putting everything together and seeing what I can come up within a certain budget and sometimes with items I already have on hand (like the strawberry doll & window. ) Hope you enjoyed!
No comments:
Post a Comment