Noah's first birthday party!

Whew.... our birthday party weekend has come to a close. Yesterday we celebrated Noah's very first birthday. We were truly lucky to have so many friends and family come share his special day with us. And, let me say, for the record, that the weather was beautiful! For those of you who do not know, anytime I plan a party there is some kind of bad weather! But, yesterday, we got lucky! It was funny too, because the weekend that Noah was born it rained, and rained, and rained some more! Everyone thought it was appropriate because of his name. So, after watching the weather daily this past week, I had prepared for a rainy first birthday. But, I guess God had different plans for Noah's special day and the skies were Carolina blue!
I have to say I truly enjoyed planning all the details for this party. So, I thought I would share Noah's day with you summarized in photos! It was a bittersweet day for me as my little baby boy turned one... but at the same time, such a happy day to watch his little face when we lit the birthday candle, and watch his little chubby fingers pick at the icing on his cake, and then watch the smiles when we patted his head to make his hair stand up with the electricity from the balloons! I do have to say the two truly funny parts of the day for me were first that although Noah loves to hear music, he did not really seem to enjoy everyone singing happy birthday. Maybe he thought our voices were just that bad????! And, after we gave Noah his little birthday cake, he was very serious as he picked at the icing. I, of course, was trying to get a photo of him smiling with the cake. So, Bryson, being the sweet brother he is, jumped right in and decided to help make him smile for me. He grabbed Noah's foot and started sniffing it and saying..... "stinky feet Noah, stinky feet Noah!" Noah laughed and laughed... and so did the rest of us! (video of that to come later!)

































Some people at the party asked me about a couple of things I used for Noah's celebration and I thought I would share those "little details" I was talking about earlier that I love planning!
Noah's birthday cake was AMAZING! I have used the same girl for several of my recent "event" cakes and they are all fantastic! her name is Jackie Treschl and she is local and is starting up her own bakery. For now, her "bakery" is her home kitchen, but I have a feeling she will be moving on to a bigger and better kitchen SOON! She is fantastic, ALWAYS good and ALWAYS adorable! You can check out some of her cakes on her blog.
All the cute little cupcake toppers and treat bag toppers and water bottle labels came from an Etsy vendor that I just LOVE! Dani of DaniNotes is also truly amazing! I have never been able to email someone ideas that I have and then when they arrive on my doorstep they are exactly what I envisioned! She is good! She has said before, maybe "it's a fellow mommy thing!" She is also the mommy of three boys. She has her Etsy shop as well as an online boutique and blog. Check it out!
And, I HAVE to mention one of my FAVORITE details about Noah's party - his party hat! I Just loved it! And, believe it or not, he did not scream to take it off either! I happened to discover StellandLivi Designs on Etsy and instantly knew that I wanted to see about doing a custom hat for Noah. I posted about his hat earlier this week. I just have to also say, that this was a situation where when it actually arrived at my doorstep I ripped into the package like a child at Christmas! The hat and bunting (banner) were so cute I almost physically jumped up and down! You would have thought it was my own birthday! Teresa at StellandLivi is as talented as talented can be when it comes to creativity with felt! Just beautiful! If you have a little ones with birthdays to celebrate, you have to check out her blog to see what she has created! And, as absolute joy to work with . Noah's hat was custom and she could not have been easier to talk to about what I needed.
Finally, I have to share this little idea I read on another website or blog or something (I cannot remember). I bought the Dr. Suess book "Happy Birthday to You" at Barnes and Noble and used it as a guest book. I asked each guest to write an happy birthday message on a page of their choice in the book. This way, it's like a guest book, but also a keepsake that we can read to Noah year after year on his birthday!
So, as I mentioned, this party was so much fun to do. And, truthfully, the "elephant" theme just sort of evolved. It was never really "planned." But, using the elephant made the party favors so fun and cute. To explain, the young children received the clear boxes with animal crackers and the ellie on top, the older children received the handmade lollipops as favors, and the adults received the peanut treat bags with those cute treat bag toppers. Elephants and peanuts... what could be cuter????!
And, if you would like any info on the handmade lollipops, email me and I would be happy to share. I have done these a million times and they are always a hit with older kids. They are simply melted bits of candy (in this case, blue and green Jolly Ranchers). Easy and adorable party favors!




* Thank you to Party Perfect who also posted Noah's party and to StellandLivi who mentioned it too!