1st Birthday Party: Setting the Stage

Eva turned one year old yesterday and we celebrated by throwing her a Pretty in Pink first birthday party! I have tons of photos that I want to post so I decided to break it up into pieces. Today's piece is setting the stage. Here are photos of all the fun decorations that we set up for her party. Almost all of them were handmade by me, and a lot of the materials were items that I dug out of my craft box. There was plenty of shades of pink, pretty flowers, polka dotted balloons, and glitter galore!

Featured above - The Birthday Banner:  I started working on this about a month ago because I knew it would take time to cut out, glue, and dazzle up each letter.

 The smash cake: Vanilla cake with pretty pink icing. Perfect for tiny hands.

Cupcake stand: Vanilla cupcakes with buttercream icing. I piped flowers on top complete with sparkly jewels.

Cakeballs: Double chocolate with pink and white candy coating piping. 

The Dessert Bar: Take your pick of tasty treats!  I had fun baking up all of these desserts.

Entry way: I wrapped the banister in pink crate paper. This was a last minute thing and I like how it turned out. Way easy.

Watch Me Grow: I have taken monthly photos of her in the same spot. I made glittery numbers to match each month. I love this so much. It's so fun to see her grow.
 

Flower Garlands: Tissue paper flowers on hot pink and light pink ribbons. These took so long to put together! But I really like the finished look.

Upclose of a tissue flower: These were some of the first decorations to start going up a week ago and Eva loved looking at what we had added each morning when she woke up.

Table Settings: I kept things pretty and simple here. Pink table clothes, pink plates, polka dotted napkins, girly balloons and a little bit of sparkly bling down the center of the table.

The Food: Fajita bar! It was easy to serve. Since we kept the guest list small we were able to do catering for the meal. Good decision.

Birthday Girl's Chair: Ready for some cake! I made the tutu skirt out of some extra satin ribbon and hot pink tulle. I also made her birthday hat, which she didn't end up wanting to wear, so it sat behind her.

That's it! I did put a lot of time into decorating everything because I wanted it to be special for Eva and for us. (You only celebrate your first year of being parents once!) I saved a lot of money by making things myself, and while it was definitely a lot of work, it was worth it. All the planning and pinning and creating came together exactly like I pictured it. More party photos to come!