The Clark Family: Party

In my way of coping with my little guy reaching his milestone 1st birthday, I began preparations a few months ago. This way it made it an event I was really looking forward to, and it gave me an outlet for my creative juices that like to hit once in a while. I didn't really care for a theme... just blue, with punches of other colors... and fun!

I first found this cupcake idea from a Parenting magazine a few years ago. I saved it thinking it would be fun to do for a birthday party sometime. Plus the birthday boy wouldn't be able to blow out the candle anyway, so a fake candle seemed to be a perfect fit! The candles are supposed to be made from cereal straws, but they must not make those anymore since I searched three stores and couldn't find them. Instead I used creme filled rolled wafers, which weren't as colorful, but probably tasted way better! I treated myself with a Michael's gift card I had to getting a pastry bag. Pat and I both like homemade frosting better than store bought, and this tool gave it a perfect look! I had Olivia and Savannah wanting to help with decorating, so I had to let my perfectionist ways go aside as they decorated the cupcakes with me. Sometimes cute cupcakes are cute, but with all the decorations on top they don't really taste all that good. These were SO yummy!

I made birthday hats when Olivia and Savannah were turning 4, so made Henry's hat then too. I found a pattern on Pinterest and just used scrapbook paper and supplies I had at home. I used a blue ribbon that I later used to make his birthday shirt.

I wanted to make Henry a shirt with fake suspenders on them. At my last girls' craft day I made it using the same ribbon on his hat so it would match. I just used stitch witch to attach them and added buttons towards the bottom. I didn't really get a better picture of just him on his birthday, but we got professional pictures with him in the shirt and hat so hopefully those turned out nice.

Making a few banners was fun for me to do too. I got a cricut for Christmas, and knew it just had to be done.

Balloons on a string idea was from Pinterest also. I started with 7 balloons and ended with 4. I blame my sister, who was helping blow them up. :) Only 4 balloons looks pretty pathetic.

The final decoration was a 12 month collage of Henry's monthly pictures. I made it on-line from Walgreen's. The lighting in each of the pictures was different due to taking them in different rooms of the house and at different times of the day, so putting it in black and white helped make it look more uniform. It was certainly a great focal point, and piece of discussion for our guests.

We started with a meal of tacos with all the fixings. Henry sported this bib I made for him a while back.

When everyone had their fill, the birthday boy dug right in to gifts. (Literally... he was getting started without us!) And that photo right there was about the end of his attention span with unwrapping gifts. I had to laugh that all the pictures of gifts are of me corralling him.

Gift from Aunt Katelyn. It says "Future Puller" on the back.

Mater from Cars riding toy.

Next up, it was cake time! Henry didn't quite know what to think about everyone starting at him while singing. But, he sure seemed to know what to do when the cake was put in front of him!

He cowed down on that baby! We laughed as he constantly had his hand moving: cake to mouth. Daddy took him upstairs for a bath right after which resulted in lots of dirty laundry!

Something I was really excited to have the kids do at the party was a nature scavenger hunt. I love exploring, and with our beautiful woods around us I thought it would be a perfect way to get everyone outside and have some fun. The day turned out to be cool and rainy, but some of them braved it anyway. It was fun to see my dad out there, helping them find things like mushrooms and birds' nests.