This past weekend we had my daughter's first birthday party. We kept it to a simple cake and punch party so that we could enjoy our friends and daughter and not fret over food the entire time. But, I just couldn't keep the decor simple.
Her name is Abby, so we went with an Abby Cadabby theme. Abby Cadabby is a fairy in training on Sesame Street. Her colors are bright pink, purple and turquoise. She has a star fairy wand and wears a tutu. All things I love! I saw another blogger do an Abby Cadabby party in the summer and emailed her. She sold me her leftover decor for $25. A steal for me!
This is the sign I made hanging on the front door. Step by step directions are here.
This is the view when you enter my home. We hung Martha Stewart Crafts tissue puff balls and Abby Cadabby items from the two foyer chandeliers. We also had balloons scattered about.
This is the cake table in our dining room. The tablecloth is a plastic party store cover that I added ribbon to the edge. I attached it with glue dots used in scrap booking. At the top of the picture, you can see the birthday garland I made here.
The punch was a great recipe I found online here. As I made it an hour before the party, I discovered I had bought red punch and not blue. It was tropical punch in a blue packet, but was red. The ice cream blended in made it more pink- thank goodness. The punch jar is sitting atop a cake stand wrapped with lots of tulle.
This is the cake and cupcakes for the party guests. The cupcake above the cake was just for my daughter. The inside of the cake was pink and blue swirled- a fun surprise! It tasted great- very light which I appreciate it.
This is the view when you enter my home. We hung Martha Stewart Crafts tissue puff balls and Abby Cadabby items from the two foyer chandeliers. We also had balloons scattered about.This is the cake table in our dining room. The tablecloth is a plastic party store cover that I added ribbon to the edge. I attached it with glue dots used in scrap booking. At the top of the picture, you can see the birthday garland I made here.The punch was a great recipe I found online here. As I made it an hour before the party, I discovered I had bought red punch and not blue. It was tropical punch in a blue packet, but was red. The ice cream blended in made it more pink- thank goodness. The punch jar is sitting atop a cake stand wrapped with lots of tulle.
This is the cake and cupcakes for the party guests. The cupcake above the cake was just for my daughter. The inside of the cake was pink and blue swirled- a fun surprise! It tasted great- very light which I appreciate it.
The cake was made by Billa Cakes, a friend of mine. Here are cake details if you live in the Austin area. She did a great job and made it fun, too!
The cupcake toppers came from Sevencupcakes on etsy. I bought them to save time- a holiday birthday requires more planning than I allowed. They could easily be made with scrapbook paper and punches, lollipop sticks and glue.
My cake stand is a vintage milk glass piece from eBay and the cupcake stand is from Crate and Barrel. It is a must have piece in my book.
I decorated with lots of ribbon, tulle, star garland, crystals, feathers, and flowers- not over the top Abby Cadabby. The silverware was placed inside a jar I normally use in my kitchen. I added tulle inside, garland on the outside and clipped an Abby Cadabby hairbow on the garland.
This is the treat bag table and honestly where I had the most fun!
The far left is 2 dozen fairy wands from Oriental Trading company. I tied ribbon and tulle to each wand and placed them in a vase.
The far right was a basket used in my daughter's room filled with Abby Cadabby sippy cups from Target filled with puffs. These were for the babies and littlest ones at the party. I decorated the basket with tulle, ribbon and small wands.
For the bigger kids, I filled Abby Cadabby buckets with glitter pencils, index cards, crayons and small slinkys. All of the items came from Target. They had Abby buckets in the dollar spot a few months ago. Score!
We also had treat bags for the biggest kids with crayons, index cards, pencils and candy.
This is the treat bag table and honestly where I had the most fun!
The far left is 2 dozen fairy wands from Oriental Trading company. I tied ribbon and tulle to each wand and placed them in a vase.The far right was a basket used in my daughter's room filled with Abby Cadabby sippy cups from Target filled with puffs. These were for the babies and littlest ones at the party. I decorated the basket with tulle, ribbon and small wands.
For the bigger kids, I filled Abby Cadabby buckets with glitter pencils, index cards, crayons and small slinkys. All of the items came from Target. They had Abby buckets in the dollar spot a few months ago. Score!
We also had treat bags for the biggest kids with crayons, index cards, pencils and candy.
We had Abby Cadabby temporary tattoos for everyone and pictures of my daughter smashing cake from her photo session a few weeks ago.
The dining room chandelier was transformed into a big pink over-the-top fixture. I just played with tulle until it was full. I added stars, feathers, and another tissue ball.
I also hung fake plastic crystals from the curls. They were $4.99 in a big carton at Michael's. I'm sure I'll find lots of use for them in the future.
I decorated the fireplace mantle with various pictures of Abby, ribbon, streamers, tulle, and tissue balls.
I hope you had fun touring our daughter's first birthday.
UPDATE: She is now almost 5 years old and we've thrown some great birthday parties! See them here:
2nd birthday- Milk and Cookies Party
We served milk and cookies as you'd imagine with a little Cookie Monster decor. The kids decorated felt sugar cookies for playing took pictures with milk mustaches. We gave them cookies to go and Nestle powder for making chocolate milk.
3rd birthday- Dolls and Doughnuts Party
This was a brunch party and the kids all came in their pajamas. We served doughnut holes, kolaches and yummy homemade breakfast treats including a rice krispies birthday cake. The kids made necklaces from Fruit Loops cereal and competed to eat a whole doughnut hanging from the ceiling without using their hands! I made the food table look like a bed complete with pillows and her favorite dolls.
4th birthday- Merry and Bright Christmas party
For her 4th birthday, we held it just before Christmas and Santa came! He read the kids a story and using wrapping paper we set up a little photo booth for everyone. We snacked on cake that looked like snowglobes and presents and simple party foods. The kids made snowglobes with baby food jars and their green handprints made a Christmas tree for Abby's room during future holidays. The guests took home advent calendars building Santa's beard with cotton balls and treat cups filled with Christmas cheer!
The dining room chandelier was transformed into a big pink over-the-top fixture. I just played with tulle until it was full. I added stars, feathers, and another tissue ball.I also hung fake plastic crystals from the curls. They were $4.99 in a big carton at Michael's. I'm sure I'll find lots of use for them in the future.
I decorated the fireplace mantle with various pictures of Abby, ribbon, streamers, tulle, and tissue balls.
I hope you had fun touring our daughter's first birthday. UPDATE: She is now almost 5 years old and we've thrown some great birthday parties! See them here:
2nd birthday- Milk and Cookies Party
We served milk and cookies as you'd imagine with a little Cookie Monster decor. The kids decorated felt sugar cookies for playing took pictures with milk mustaches. We gave them cookies to go and Nestle powder for making chocolate milk.
3rd birthday- Dolls and Doughnuts Party
This was a brunch party and the kids all came in their pajamas. We served doughnut holes, kolaches and yummy homemade breakfast treats including a rice krispies birthday cake. The kids made necklaces from Fruit Loops cereal and competed to eat a whole doughnut hanging from the ceiling without using their hands! I made the food table look like a bed complete with pillows and her favorite dolls.
4th birthday- Merry and Bright Christmas party
For her 4th birthday, we held it just before Christmas and Santa came! He read the kids a story and using wrapping paper we set up a little photo booth for everyone. We snacked on cake that looked like snowglobes and presents and simple party foods. The kids made snowglobes with baby food jars and their green handprints made a Christmas tree for Abby's room during future holidays. The guests took home advent calendars building Santa's beard with cotton balls and treat cups filled with Christmas cheer!
