Birthday Party

The theme for Russell's first birthday party was based off of the children's book, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," by Eric Carle.  This was the perfect birthday theme because 1) I adore children's books 2) "The Very Hungry Caterpillar provided a fun color palette and an easy theme to do some fun and creative things 3) Russell is very hungry.

I had so much fun planning all of the little details for this party and was so proud of some of the things I did.  Who knows if the guests noticed though?  Doesn't matter.  I liked how it turned out!

The party was in my parent's backyard where we had dinner, presents, cake and ice cream, and then did some swimming!  Except for a couple of minor glitches when setting up, the party went off without a glitch (a big thanks to my family for helping me with everything).  Even without glitches, there are some things that still don't go entirely as planned.  For example, I was going to take a ton more pictures.  I found it more difficult to play host AND photographer than I thought (another big thanks to my Dad for taking over my camera).  

Decorations and Details: 

Tissue paper balls are a cheap and adorable way to decorate a space (and I had a big space to decorate).  I hung them everywhere!  

I made a garland of 12 pictures.  Each picture was of Russell for each month he has been alive.  I also made 2 garlands with pictures of the food that the hungry caterpillar ate.  

I found an adorable polka dot tablecloth at Target that had the same colors as my tissue paper balls and other decorations.  I used this table cloth on the present table.  I was going to display my cake on the table as well, but it was so hot outside I vetoed that idea.  I didn't want the cake to melt!  I put some tissue paper balls above the table as well as a giant green leaf.  I also placed the party favors, the birthday boy (temporarily), "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book, and a stuffed animal of the hungry caterpillar.  It made for a cute table!

I made some signs to direct the party guests to the backyard as well as signs to the bathroom.  To add an extra personalized touch to the party, I made each of them with pictures from the book.  They turned out really cute and was an easy and cheap way to add an extra little detail.

One of the things the hungry caterpillar eats in the story is a lollipop.  To add that element of the story, I had mini spiral lollipops as the favors.  I placed them in colorful buckets (that I found in the dollar section of Target!) and they looked so cute.  I was so distracted during the party, I wasn't very good at handing them out (sorry guests!).

The Menu:

I tried to base our menu off of what the caterpillar ate (without it being some really random dinner).  We had hot dogs (because the caterpillar eats through a sausage), watermelon (that we actually punched holes through!), cupcakes and ice cream (because he eats through those too), and some other menu items just to make the meal complete.  I tried to personalize the party for my sweet baby boy by serving Russell's ice cream.  It was delicious and made me happy that I had thought of it! We served the ice cream in waffle bowls with whipped cream, chocolate topping, and sprinkles that were round and colorful.

The Cake:

Who doesn't love an awesome cake?  I thought Russell's cake turned out pretty awesome.  I wrapped a tray in brown paper (that matched the cupcake cups and twine that I hung the tissue paper balls from) and made a 6" round chocolate cake with bright red frosting (I used the Wilton Red-Red food dye).  I used dyed fondant to make eyes and a nose to make a caterpillar face.  I used two different colors of green frosting the cupcakes to create a tie-dye look.  The cupcakes made up the body of the caterpillar.  I piped chocolate frosting onto the tray to make the caterpillar's feet and antennas.  It turned out so cute!  It was also really easy to serve because the head turned into Russell's very own cake and the guests ate the cupcakes.

I know a lot of people give one year olds a cake of their own.  Chocolate cake + red frosting = awesome pictures (because you can see EVERYWHERE the frosting and cake gets).  Russell loved his cake!

A big thanks to everyone who helped with the pull off the party and loves my sweet Russell!