How to Throw A One Year Old's Birthday Party

Step 1:

Get on Etsy, and order cute things.  *But not too many!*

 High Chair Banner from Any Good Ideas

 Banner from Bekah Jennings

Shirt, bib, hat set by Little One Boutique

Step two:

Make plenty of cupcakes:

{Mostly} Sugar Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes 

(For the Birthday Boy.)

Oreo Cupcakes 

(Um, yes please.  These were divine.)

Chocolate Cream Filled Vanilla Bean Cupcakes  

(Have YOU ever cooked with vanilla bean paste?  You'll never be the same again!)

Blueberry White Chocolate Cupcakes

(These were my absolute favorite.)

Step three:

Plan a menu.  

Since Toph's birthday is the day before the first day of spring, I went with:

Fresh fruit

Crudites

Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad (made by my mama)

Deviled Eggs (made by my mama)

Chicken salad finger sandwiches on rye

Beverages:

Cranberry Punch (recipe given by Lisa)

Coffee Punch

Milk

Apple Juice

Water

Step four:

Decorate!

 Cupcake/crudite table (not pictured: the salad, sandwiches and eggs)

 (Many thanks to Ashley for the exquisite napkin placement.)

Beverage bar.

Step five:

Activities!

We had a photo booth:

 While testing the lighting, take lots of self portraits.  

We got posed photos of all our guests to send as thank-you cards!

Don't worry if the guest of honor wants to quit taking pictures and mingle; it's his party!

We also played "Toph Trivia" and the top three scorers received:

No, not the white boxes; those are the party favors!

See the three frames to the left?  I hand painted and decorated each to use as doorprizes, as well as selected extra cute pictures of the boy.

And, we played yard games:

Not pictured:

All the dads in the group playing a rousing game of ladder ball.  

Step six:

Improvise!

We didn't have a table to sit gifts on, so we wrapped our deep freeze.

Count on us to keep it klassy!

Step seven:

Thank everyone profusely for coming, and let the little guy chill out with his new water table after company leaves:

One last thing:

Shower him with kisses and squeeze him extra tight; he'll only be ONE one year...and you've learned how fast it goes...

Kisses from Gigi

Kisses from mama.