1st Birthday Party: Crate Paper and Cupcakes!

The girls' 1st birthday party was so fun! I know 1st birthday parties are more for the parents and family to enjoy but you could genuinely see the excitement on the girls' faces that so many people were around and giving them attention on their special day. I loved it and know I will never forget it! I had various ideas for themes and party decorations and in the end decided to keep things fairly simple but with a few special touches. I thought a cupcake theme was appropriate for a 1st birthday so that's what I went with, and I loved the browns, pinks and oranges in Crate Paper's Pink Plum collection. All of the party decor went around this theme and colors. I started with their birthday invitation and used my Cricut Wild Card cartridge to cut the pieces out. 

Next, I created a party centerpiece using a couple of scalloped chipboard pages from a mini album. I turned the pages so the holes lined up and I could tie them together with ribbon. The chipboard cupcakes and chipboard "celebrate" are by Maya Road. 

I used Martha Stewart micro mini beads on the "celebrate" and "1" and love the texture it gives the chipboard.

What party wouldn't be complete without party hats? I think these were my favorite thing I made for the party and they were fairly simple. I cut a large circle the size of my 12 x 12 patterned paper and then cut it in half. I shaped the half circle into a cone shape so that the flat edges of the paper met each other. I cut tiny pieces of tissue paper and then hot glued them on the base of the hat. To do the tops of the hats, I gathered the cut tissue paper fringe and tied it off the middle and went through the bottom of the hat to draw the fringe through the top. A little hot glue ensured that the fringe would stay in place. 

I used a scalloped punch and circle template to do the circles and then added a foam thicker by American Crafts for the "1". I stapled elastic string to the hats to finish them off.

The last couple items I made were large cupcakes with the girls' names to sit behind their high chairs. I used my Cricut again to cut the pieces and topped the cupcakes with chipboard flowers by Crate Paper. The letters on their names have the Martha Stewart mini beads on them. I also made tissue paper flowers and hung them from a light fixture in my kitchen at various lengths. 

Here's a look at Miss Lily in her high chair ready for cake...

And here's Miss Nora...

Sweet little birthday girls...

And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this look at their 1st birthday decor. It was so much fun for me to make everything. I looked at the store-bought possibilities and didn't like a thing I saw. It was very meaningful for me to create it all myself. As you can see, I truly kept things simple by using one collection and coordinating all the colors. We even had pink gerbera daisies, a pink, orange and brown birthday cake and pink, orange and brown balloons. Fun, huh?! :)