Birthday Party Details

Here are the details for the birthday party we had last week for my 1 year old and 3 year old.  It was a great summer evening spent with friends and family!  My inspiration was this simple evite.  I didn't have time to send out formal invitations, which I normally like to do, but I found this cute evite and started there.  We had our party at a neighborhood park and I've always liked red, white and light blue together.  Perfect!

from evite.com

Let's start with the centerpieces.  Since the party was at the park, I thought checker tablecloths would be perfect.  These were easy to find at local party stores, especially since they had plenty of picnic/4th of July themed items for summer.  Next, I got inspired when I stumbled across, Garnish.  They have the best selection of paper goods and containers!  I loved their berry boxes and striped straws and definitely wanted to incorporate them somehow.  I used the straws as sticks and printed out photos from Evie's 1st year.  I filled the berry boxes first with floral styrofoam that I cut to size, stuck in the straws with the photos, and topped it with some moss I found at Michael's.  It was so much fun to see all the photos on the tables.  The best part is, I can reuse all the photos for Evie's baby book and the berry boxes will become handy containers for all sorts of things around the house. 

                                                  

Next, decorations.  I've been loving all the flag pennants I've been seeing, like here and here.  So, I decided to make some simple ones of my own.  I just got a book of scrapbooking paper from Joann's and made my own "flag" template our of a manila folder.  I cut them out from various red, white and blue papers (trying to get 2 from each page).  We taped them up to some string and voila, a simple pennant banner that I can use again in the boy's room. 

                                    

Lastly, the favors!  I was most excited about these.  I got inspired from this great blog, totally dedicated to kids' parties, Hip Hip Hooray.  I especially loved these muslin bags and decided to make my own.  I ordered bags from muslinbag.com, and bought iron transfer paper from Joann's.  The trickiest part was making the graphic show up in reverse so that it would read correctly once it was ironed on.  My mom had the great idea of making these little overnight bags for the kiddos.  So we filled them with a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss and a small washcloth.  Once they get home, these adorable bags can be used for all sorts of treasures. 

                                     

I'll leave you with a few more photos from the party.  We made little snack saks for each child and flag shaped rice krispie treats on a stick (using those fabulous striped straws).  Fun!  Fun!

Like I said, the planning and prep was a lot of fun.  Most of the supplies were simple items purchased at either Joann's or Michael's.  Email me if you have any questions!