DIY Woodland-Hipster 1st Birthday Party

Baby S just turned 18 months old two days ago, so I figured I better go ahead and share photos from his birthday party before the new year arrives.  Aahh!

It is a bit unbelievable when it's time to plan your baby's first birthday party.  We live out-of-state, so we knew that we would travel to southern California to celebrate with all of our family.  With that in mind, I knew that I wanted to bring a bit of Portland with us.  After all, Baby S is the first born Oregonian of the clan, and we had to represent!

How should we represent Portland?  With hipster woodland animals, of course!  Lol.  I found the perfect party invites to match my theme on Etsy.  It was like the designer of A Pretty Little Party read my mind.  I liked them so much that I ordered some party accessories from her as well: cupcake toppers, food label cards, etc.  

I bought plain white envelopes and decorated them to match the invite.  I repeated colors found in the invite, and added the paw prints.  Cute, right?

I wrapped the blue washi tape from the front of the envelope around to the back side.  Then I printed out "Made in Oregon" stickers, because Baby S was MADE IN OREGON.  

I created this DIY Photo Booth background with the invite graphics.  If you look behind each letter, you'll see a different hipster animal in each row.  Just make sure you have plenty of printer ink before you start this project.  I pasted each page onto 12"x12" card stock, and taped each row together for transport.  This was the perfect focal point for the party!

The park had four picnic tables, so I designated one for the little kids- the #LittleHipsters table (but I don't think any kids actually sat there...) I put together party favor bags with stickers and noisemakers and labeled it with each child's name.  

Since we live out of town, I asked my mom to purchase this low-priced high chair from IKEA to use at the park.  I figured we can keep it at her house when we come to visit, as well as her other grand-babies.  This was his birthday throne, but I never had the chance to take a photo of him in it....but he did eat in the ANTILOP high chair, and he looked very cute.  I decorated it with a small string of pennants that I assembled from pre-cut shapes.  I also hung a string of these around the entire gazebo, which instantly yelled "PARTY!!".

It was misting in the morning, but it turned into a warm day by the time guests arrived to the party.  Guests found mustache straws with lids and mustache cup labels on the drink table.  It's so easy to lose your cup, so I think this was a great idea.  Sad,y, the breeze running through did not quite agree with me.

After everyone finished their lunch, it was time to sing to the birthday baby.  This was a true "mom moment."  My husband and I love Baby S so much.  He had rough start, but was such a fighter, and now he's so healthy and happy.  We couldn't be happier.  And now we get to celebrate his first birthday will all of our family.  FANTASTIC.

We sang "Happy Birthday" and helped Baby S blow out the candle.  We weren't feeding him sugar, so we never even practiced a smash cake moment.  My husband managed to get some frosting on his finger, but that was about it.  I didn't want him to make a mess, but if you're planning to have that messy memory you better practice ahead of time- Haha.

We also wore Oregon t-shirts in case anyone forgot where we live- Lol.  Mine is a little state-monster character, my husband has big foot on his, and Baby S is wearing his "Made in Oregon" onesie from his baby shower, finally :)

My mom lovingly learned how to make and decorate sugar cookies just for his party.  It wasn't easy, but I'd say she mastered it!  These woodland animal cookies were so cute, and of course they were decorated in our theme colors.  Just like a room in your house, even at an outdoor party, consistency is key to a successful design and color scheme.

Of course we needed a birthday cake, but I didn't want to go over the top because we also had the animal sugar cookies, colorful donuts, and Hershey kiss acorn treats.  I happened to find a decorated cake at the local grocery store in the right colors for less than $20.00.  Funny thing is, with our other planned desserts plus what some family brought to share, we never even cut the cake!  

Check out our crunchy party favors.  I think edible party favors are the way to go, especially if some guests have a longer ride home.  My mom also helped me DIY these owl munchies of Gold Fish crackers.

Needless to say, the Man of the Hour was exhausted by then end of party.  Having his party in the park was great because kids were able to play on the jungle-gym, people could walk around, be loud and it never felt crowded.  The entertainment was provided and we supplied the music on speakers.  

Just like our wedding, the party passed too quickly, but we had a blast.  Our little hipster-party animal took a 2-hour nap with me when we got home.  I'd call that a SUCCESS! 

Happy 1st Birthday, Baby S  :D