All the Details Birthday #1

Felix is ONE-derful!!

… and I am VERY excited to celebrate.

Wedding Clothes Birthday Pose Year #1

I think since we hit the 1 year mark my anxiety has lessened just a little bit. There’s something about knowing that we all made it through the first year – in one piece, with our minds intact, and without any big awful catastrophes – that puts my new-mother’s mind at ease. Sure, we had our handful of emergency doctor visits for high fevers or strange rashes, but nothing even close to some of the things I was SO concerned about.

…

So…

that means I have plenty of room in my head to plan, procrastinate, and get all anxious about properly pulling off this

First Birthday Party

…. right?

HA!

SO MANY SNACKS 😀

I will say, I do feel proud of this table setup. Definitely looks like we’re ready for a party!!

A super simple way to add a WHOLE LOT of personalization and give your guests a sweet surprise is with these Customized Kisses. I bought a 1″ hole punch, similar to THIS one, so I wouldn’t have to do so much silly circle cutting. Using the drawing program on my computer I made up a sheet of 1″ circles with messages like “I’m ONE-derful” and “YAY! FELIX!”, printed them out, and quickly and carefully hot glued each one to the bottom of Hershey kisses and Rolos.

I had fun learning about my Open Office program…. SO easy to use. And free!

Just in case you’re looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office…

Yard signs were quick to make too, once I had the materials gathered. A package of 30″ Jumbo Bamboo roasting sticks was easy to find in the summer, and worked perfectly! The ends were even sharpened, making them easy to stick in the ground. I used bowls and cups from around the house to draw circles on lots of patterned cardstock. I printed out circles like I did for the kisses, only much bigger. I cut my pieces, stacked my circles, and grabbed my hot glue gun to help me finish up the project. Yes, I AM proud of the work I put in. I accomplished quite a lot, and got more photos than I know what to do with, which was pretty much my goal. I didn’t have as much time to enjoy myself ON the day of the party as I would have liked; I was running around like a headless chicken taking photos and micromanaging details. Next year I hope will be a little different….

Not wanting to take any chances, I tried hard to set a scene where people just HAD to take pictures. One thing I did was make a “photo booth” backdrop using ribbons and strips of fabric. I hung banners that I had made with ribbon, cardstock, and my glue gun. I made mustache, eyeglasses, and other general Funny Face Photo Props using foam sheets and long wooden sticks from the craft store. This party would never have happened had it not been for my glue gun, I tell you. What a wonderful tool! Mine has a high and low heat setting, so I can work with a wide variety of materials.