Lucy's first birthday party
I keep things really simple for kids birthdays but it feels like I've just got to do a little bit more than just a cake and some colorful gift bags for the big first birthday. For Otto's birthday I did another simple but very cute party, and for Lucy we celebrated in the same dining room and living room, with some different colors and a bit of slightly girly decor. I’m not planning on winning any party planning awards with this one, but it was cute and I’d love to share how you can get a very pretty, festive look with just a few simple things!
Simple, pretty first birthday party for baby girl
I made my first ever balloon garland with these pink balloons inflated to different levels. I just strung fishing line through the tied ends and hooked it to the nail behind that painting and tied it to the sideboard. It’s fun to have something in this corner behind the highchair for those necessary cake photos!
We cleared off the sideboard and put the presents and cake there, plus some pink flowers.
I now have a great go-to almond flour cake recipe that is super easy and everyone loves. I made that, plus classic butter cream icing, and Otto helped decorate the cake. For his third birthday we did the same cake but with a big orange and yellow sun over the whole top, just like the one that Jason painted in his bedroom when we moved him upstairs. It was very memorable for him. This time when I told him he could help me make Lucy's cake, he said it should have a sun on it, too! But he also wanted to have pink roses, like Winnie the Pooh's birthday cake does in his book of Pooh stories. I thought pink roses sounded appropriate (ha) and bought a couple $5 bouquets at Safeway for the cake and to add to an arrangement of mostly white flowers and sprigs that we had from our anniversary! And we got some more pink flowers for the table.
We got out her baby book and had guests (the grandparents) write a note to her on one of the big open pages.
I happened to have a vintage pink tablecloth with eight napkins, that I had bought at Goodwill or Goodwill Outlet probably 13-15 years ago, that my mom was cleaning out of my old bedroom a few days before. I don’t usually use tablecloths because I don’t really have any, but she gave me a bunch of these old ones that I had thrifted and it was actually perfect! (I wish I had had time to iron it, but when preparing for a party on one of your few days off with two little kids around that’s not always an option. I did spray it with water to release some of the lighter wrinkles!)
I recently got that small cake stand and a cake server--things I’ve realized I will need as a mom now, a person who makes cakes more than once every few years! I don’t have room to store a whole bunch of party supplies and a big variety of things, so just the classics will have to do for now. But it’s way more special to have a little stand for the cake, and of course easier to serve with a server than a big knife or spatula! The cake stand is from HomeGoods. They have tons in different sizes.
We had an early dinner, had cake and sang, and then opened presents and played with them until bedtime. Just the grandparents and Jason's brother, and his sister on FaceTime for opening her gift. Very simple, small, special birthday!
We kind of weren’t sure what to get her because we already have plenty of toys appropriate for a baby or a one year old. I checked back to my favorite toys for one-year-olds post, and we still have all of that stuff from Otto! But we got her a couple more wooden Montessori recommended toys, plus a special stuffed animal of her own. She doesn’t really have many of those because Otto has so many. And so far Otto has been enjoying playing with the new toys as much as Lucy, so really I guess we did need a few more!
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