Georgiana's 1st Birthday Party!

I accidentally deleted this pic in the post and blogger will only let me upload it as the first one, so here it is:

Last Saturday we had Georgiana's first birthday party, and it honestly could not have gone any better. My friend Lindsey designed and printed the invitations, the snippet image (above) just doesn't do them justice, the border was pink to match and they set the tone for a lot of the decor. I am so spoiled to have such a talented and generous friend! Thanks again Linds!!

I am going to post approximately 3 billion photos, so please brace yourself :) The first set are ones that I took the morning after the party. Yes, I am that weird. With all of the hustle and bustle of fun, I forgot to snap pictures of most of the decor and the food tables, so Sunday morning I had a little decor photo shoot while Kelly and Georgie rested up...

The cake table remnants:
We ordered cupcakes from Albertsons, chocolate with whipped frosting and white cupcakes with buttercream. After sampling both, the chocolate was my fav, I didn't realize the buttercream was soooo sweet. Albertsons also made Georgie's cake, which is pictured way down below. I learned that Albertsons makes the first birthday cake for free, how cool is that!?! And below, I thought Georgie would like a really understated simple hat:

In lieu of a traditional cupcake tree/tier, I wrapped up polka dot presents (I hot glued two of the boxes together in case they were bumped):
Georgie's cake topper and candle, the week of her party I became the proud owner of a Cricut cutting machine, I heart it so much:
The pink gumballs were a huge hit with some of the little kids. I'm not so sure if they were such a hit with some of the parents, sorry friends! Taye was one of the little ones who thoroughly enjoyed chewing them, that is until they "lost their power," and he would have to get a new one. Oh how I love Taye's verbiage!

Marshmallow sticks. I got this idea from Legendary Doughnuts. I thought they would look cute on the table, but they actually ended up tasting really good too! They were so easy to make, just stick giant (or you could use the regular size too) marshmallows on candy making sticks, dip in melted candy coating or chocolate, and then dip the top in whatever you would like. I used crunched up pink fruit loops, but Legendary uses M&M's. My aunt helped me make them, and we were thinking chocolate dipped mallows with crushed graham crackers would be the cutest S'more Sticks! Only note, if you do make marshmallow sticks that are about the same size as a cupcake, be prepared for cupcake leftovers, or just order a few less cupcakes (mental note).

Another quick tip, some of my last minute helpers (thanks again Linds and family!) helped me by scooping ice cream into punch cups and then putting them on cookie sheets in the freezer. This made serving cupcakes and ice cream to roughly 60 people quick and easy!

Another Cricut project:

Party Favors!

The favors were my Grandma's cream wafers inside Container Store boxes. My friend Lindsey made up recipe cards and stickers for personal touches.

Entry/Hall table:

These tulip vases ended up being some of my favorite decorations and they were by far the easiest:

Balloons, Georgiana's favorite decoration, lots of oohs and awws and pointing:

More oohs and awws:

The tissue poms were a close second to the balloons. When I brought Georgiana downstairs Saturday morning, she was so excited. She kept pointing up to the poms with her mouth wide open. The poms are still up, they are cheerful and she absolutely loves them! Simple pleasures:

More simple pleasures:

Napkins:

The Menu:

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches on Potato Rolls

Coleslaw

Watermelon

My Grandma's Macaroni Salad

Carrots & Hummus

and...

Cheese Balls.

I bought them because they were orange and round and I thought maybe some of the kids would like them. Oh, I have so much to learn! We have enough leftovers to eat pulled pork sandwiches everyday until Christmas, but those 3 lonesome cheese puff/balls are all that remain. I poured them in punch cups, and it was an easy way to serve them.

Can you tell I like tiered plate holders, we used a third one for the watermelon:

Yum and easy to make ahead, two great qualities for entertaining food:

And now, for anyone still reading, the day of the party pics.

***

The Birthday Girl!

Another party scene pic:

And yet another (sorry if I am boring you, but the blog is my scrapbook, so please bear with me :)

My nephew Ryder, doesn't he make it worth looking through all of the decor pics!

Crazy Party Girl!

The aftermath, we forgot to snap a picture before the party, but you get the idea:

We rented tables and chairs, and it was the best idea ever (and way less expensive than I thought it would be). Most everyone ate outside and we opened gifts outside too. It was so nice for all of the little kiddos to be able to run around and be silly outside with bubbles, a sandbox made out of a pink princess pool, hula hoops and bouncy balls! And, most of the toys are things Georgie girl will be able to play with this summer.

Pink & Orange Punch (another aftermath pic):

Auntie Tiffany, giving Georgie a tasty treat. But, Georgie closed her lips so fast and didn't want a second bite!

Kelly and I really thought that Georgie would end up in the bathtub after her cake. I pictured frosting in her hair, everywhere, but she really wanted nothing to do with the cake! It was her first time having sugar, so I thought she would go crazy. After everyone had left, I thought maybe she would want to try a little frosting on my finger, but she wanted nothing to do with it. I had to laugh at how badly I wanted her to enjoy her cake, I guess I should have made it out of peas or watermelon, maybe a little applesauce as I know she is very good at rubbing that in her hair. She did have a little bite of one of my Grandma's cookies today, and she LOVED it.

The top of her cake was a giant pink flower, I was picturing the bright frosting all over her sweet face, but she prefered it to stay on the cake. That's okay Georgie girl, somehow I ended up with orange frosting on my nose. Let me tell you that is some seriously strong food coloring! I love that my nose was stained orange, but Georgie's face was picture perfect, ha!

One of my most favorite pictures, my sister Tiffany, cousin Ashley, Papa and cousin Makenzie:

My heart = Melted Puddle:

All of the little boys were so cute about Georgie opening her gifts. Her cousins and friends all wanted to give her the gift they brought and sometimes tell her what it was before she opened it. Then, they would ask, "does she like it!?!" To which I would say, "Yes! She LOVES it!" And she did :)

She loved her cards too:

We've been playing with dolls and stuffed animals a lot since her party!

Visiting with the boys (Taye & Case):

Cousin Hana, Connie (who quickly became her best friend), and little Maxwell sipping some milk:

Georgie's friend Brody walked in, looked at the cake table and said "Nice Party!" Could he be any sweeter!?!

A quick food table pic when the party first started, sans the orange coleslaw bowl:

As soon as Georgiana was born, if not before, Kelly said that he wanted to have a big ol' 1st Birthday bash with family and friends. I was a little reluctant at first, afraid it would be overwhelming, but I am so glad that I ended up embracing the idea with him. In the end, Georgie girl had so much fun, and that was the main goal! I loved celebrating Georgie's first year with so many supportive people, people who helped make her first year special.

Call me crazy (I know I am!), but I already have a theme in mind for her 2nd birthday. I figure I probably only get to pick the theme a couple of times, after that I have a feeling she will have a few opinions on the matter. She wouldn't be my girl if she didn't :) I am encouraging my brain take a rest though. It was so nice to walk into Target on Sunday and not be scanning the aisles for orange and pink.

Okay, I've blabbed enough.

Happy 1st Birthday Georgiana, we had the best time celebrating your first year and wowza are we excited to enjoy year number 2!!!