{Miss Maylin} First Birthday Party

The day of Maylin's birthday party was exciting for us, perhaps just as exciting as her actual birthday. It was so fun to be able to celebrate with our family and close friends. That's the thing about our little community- we have a close group of "bosom friends" {as Anne Shirley would say} that we do life with. We are so thankful for them. It's enjoyable to watch our girls grow up together, and for us moms {and dads} to share experiences and get advice from each other.

We are also blessed to have a supportive family on both sides. It's so neat to watch Maylin interact with my own grandparents and other members of our extended family. I love watching her relationship grow with my and Michael's parents, too. My parents spent the day with us entertaining Maylin while Michael and I set up for the afternoon party. We couldn't have done it without them!

We have a small sunroom in the back of our house where we decided to set up the food and the high chair for the smash cake. The weather was mild, so we were able to leave the door open to the house to let in the breezes. This kind of weather only happens for about a month in the Spring before it gets too hot, so we had to take advantage while we could.

Pinterest served me well for the brainstorming and executing of Maylin's party. I used a very simple tutorial to create the crepe paper streamer banner that went over the food table. I bought the crepe paper, table cloth,  and artificial daisies from the dollar store. I was really pleased with how the look turned out for such a small amount of money.

The place cards for the food were handmade by a friend who has her own invitation design business. She can pretty much do anything, and I am always so pleased with her work. She made Maylin's invitations, the name cards, the ONE glitter letters on the high chair, and a bunting banner that hung in our house. 

I used small mason jars that I already owned {bought years before with the intention of jarring salsa... that never happened} and tied a bit of jute around the lip to display the silverware. The guest cake, cupcakes, and Maylin's smash cake were strawberry with cream cheese icing.

I decided to have a fruit pizza bar, and I think this was the hit of the party. My mom made sugar cookies using Pioneer Woman's recipe, and "frosting" made of cream cheese whipped with marshmallow cream. Top with fresh fruit. There are no words to describe how good these were. 

The bunting banner above the table is the banner my friend made. I love it. I even decided to save it for future parties or showers, or maybe to even decorate in one of the girls' rooms. Who knows?!

I found these adorable bows and headbands for a steal and decided to make these the party favors. For some reason, all the babies in Maylin's little Sunday School class are girls, so by default there were no little boys invited to the party. Therefore I felt it okay to offer such a feminine party favor. Each little guest got to choose her own bow, clip, or headband.  The bows were displayed on an apothecary chest I found a couple years ago when I was antiquing in Colorado with Michael's aunt. I've always had aspirations of decorating with it in our home, but so far it's sat unused in a box. Until the party. It brings back fond memories of our time vacationing in Colorado, so I was happy to pull it out to use.

I DIYed this chalkboard when I was pregnant with Maylin to do weekly bump pictures, and it has been handy many times since then. 

I took all those monthly photographs of Maylin for her baby book and to keep up with her first year of growth, and then decided to make a banner to display them for her party. I used washi tape I found in the dollar bin to coat the clothespins.

Besides seeing Maylin interact with all her friends, my favorite part of the afternoon was the smash cake. I loved watching Maylin dig in to the thick frosting and get her first taste of refined sugar. This was also one of the only moments of the party that Maylin wasn't crying.

I made the fabric banner using this tutorial, and it turned out even better than I imagined. I'm planning on using this banner to hang over Hartlie's crib after Maylin moves to her new room. The tulle I found at the dollar store for $1 a roll, then referenced this tutorial to make the tutu for the high chair. The only difference is that I tied the tulle to jute instead of elastic.

For the cake smashing, Maylin wore a tutu from Halloween, her birthday headband, and a set of old pearls I had from high school.

And now, for the endless, almost identical pictures of Maylin enjoying her cake.

I always love watching Maylin interact with her little friends. The two beauties above are friends Alice and Mia, also born last March. I've enjoyed so much sharing with Judith and Brandi the first year with our babies, watching them grow and mature and become little people. I can't wait for a childhood full of birthday parties with these three!

Here is the {Drama Queen} birthday girl with all her little friends: Alice, Anniston, Shelby, and Mia. This was the best picture I got of them together. It's perfect because it showcases all their little personalities perfectly!

Maylin's first birthday party far exceeded my expectations. It makes me excited about planning next year's party!