Noah's 1st Birthday Party

Last month, my sweet little boy turned 1! I can't believe how quickly his first year flew by! We celebrated with a party at a local park, surrounded by family. We choose a park so that I wouldn't have to worry about cleaning up before and after the party at home. Plus, it made things simpler when we were ready for the party to be over. I didn't have to shoo people out of my house. :)

 The Decorations

I began planning his party months in advance! I wanted to keep things simple and low key, but still cute and fun! I am in love with bunting right now and found these adorable invitations on Etsy. I used this tutorial I found on Pinterest to create all the bunting that hung up around the picnic shelter. I used scrapbook paper for the large bunting. For the small bunting around his high chair, I took an idea from Heidi, of As the Foreste Grows, and used paint samples from Walmart that I cut into triangles and laced together with hemp rope. The tables were lined with Kraft paper. There were 3 sets of tables, one for the food, one for eating, and one for cake and presents. The table for eating had mason jars full of crayons for coloring on the table.

The Food

We served hot dogs and hamburgers, which Chas, the cloth diapering dad, grilled at the park. I made baked beans and pasta salad. We had fresh watermelon, chips and salsa, tea, lemonade, and water. The birthday boy had his very own, very large cupcake made with love by me! The party guests chowed down on homemade cupcakes with toppers from Etsy that matched the invitations.  The cupcake stand was a DIY project inspired by this tutorial from Annie, of Annie's Eats.  For favors, guests took home cellophane bags full of animal crackers and homemade sugar cookies in the shape of a 1.

The birthday boy loved his cake and had no problems bulldozing it! He acted exactly like every parent hopes their child will when their 1st birthday cake is set in front of him! 

The kids all played at the park during the party. Noah had a blast playing with all his cousins!

Noah received a lot of great presents! 

Family Shot! 

I loved his party, it was totally worth every penny and every second! Although, I will admit, it was A LOT of work! Honestly, the most labor intensive part was the food! I feel like I was on my feet for 2 days preparing. I made all of the decorations well in advance, but the food had to be prepared at the last minute. The bunting that went around the shelter was my favorite part of the decorations. I saved them and hung them around his nursery. I also am blessed to have sister in law who is an amazing photographer! I love that she was able to capture this wonderful day in some awesome pictures!

Invitations: The Parchment Place

Cupcake Toppers: The Parchment Place

Noah's T-shirt: Lil Threadz

Photography: Urban Fields Photography