As a mom and a party stylist, it was so exciting to put together a party in honor of my precious blue-eyed baby boy Eli. We had so much fun celebrating this milestone birthday with him and I’m fortunate to say that the celebrating has kept right on going ever since. Through his party, I was able to achieve an ultimate goal of mine since starting One Stylish Party last May — a party feature on celebrity event stylist Amy Atlas’ website!!!! Whoohooo. You can read the guest dessert feature on her site here. And now I can FINALLY share all of the party details and even more pictures from Eli’s big day!
I knew early on that I wanted to do an Up, Up and Away 1st Birthday for him and I couldn’t be more thrilled with how it turned out. There’s just something so joyful and happy about this party theme and happiness is one of the many things that Eli has brought to our family of four over the last year.
Although I picked the theme, the inspiration for the decor and color scheme was drawn from Eli’s most favorite possession – his mint green colored blankie. I complimented the mint green with light aqua and smokey gray which were carried throughout the party printables, linens, desserts, handmade party items, balloons and more. I wanted the party to include a mixture of patterns and textures to create a look that was modern, yet still appropriate for a one year old little boy.
The focal point of the dessert table was the three-tier shimmer fondant balloon cake accented with baker’s twine balloon strings made by Divine Cakes, Inc.. The cake was a true work of art and tasted even better than it looked (my personal favorite layer was chocolate chip cake with cannolli filling – yumm!) The cake stand was a DIY project made from a candlestick I found at Homegoods. I added white spray paint, glued on a wooden circle and some baker’s twine to create the perfect pedestal for the balloon cake.
I knew I wanted balloon cookies, but I never could have imagined the edible art that I received from Frog Prince Cake & Cookie Design. Each shimmer balloon cookie had a unique design incorporating patterns from the party printables, my son’s name and the number 1. I decided to display the cookies on a DIY stand made out of my hubby’s old baseball card boxes covered in tissue fringe.
Other desserts on the table included, cotton candy flavored marshmallow squares, vanilla butter cream cupcakes, rock candy sticks, homemade chocolate covered Oreos and vanilla cake pops.
To compliment the sweets, I used a light aqua backdrop and a basic white floor length tablecloth so the sweets would take center stage. I made a coordinating tissue tassel garland to hang across the backdrop and then added in a few personalized details including a tissue fringe “E” and “1” to represent my son’s name and age (stay tuned – tutorial coming soon!). To the left of the table was a custom confetti filled balloon (available in the One Stylish Party Shop) with a coordinating tissue tassel to help tie in the Up, Up and Away theme.
There were several tables set-up throughout the house to help bring the party them to life. One of my favorite tables to decorate was the entry table, which included a month-by-month banner of my son Eli, DIY upcycled frames with more favorite pictures of my son, two balloon bouquets, a white flower arrangement and a perfectly coordinated paper pinwheel garland by Peckled.
The dining table was set-up right in front of the dessert display and featured white table linens, a gray chevron table runner and a DIY cupcake holder centerpiece (upcycled from a candelabra also found at Homegoods). Each table setting included a light aqua bordered plate, a gray napkin, an aqua striped wooden fork, a plastic milk bottle with a gray striped straw and a DIY chocolate lollipop.
The true highlight of the party for all of the kids was the cookie decorating station. I pre-made about 3 dozen balloon sugar cookies which were placed on top of a DIY cookie stand made from two silver platters and a painted soup can. The table included squeeze bottles with cookie icing and an assortment of sprinkles, mini m&m’s and other little candies allowing each child to create their own cookie masterpieces.
Each child who attended the party received a personalized gable box to fill with cookies from the cookie decorating station, as well as sweets from the dessert display. The kids were so excited to be able to pick out exactly what they could take home with them (although the parents might not have been too thrilled!) The gable boxes featured the same tissue fringe detailing that I incorporated on the dessert display, giving the favors a cohesive look with the rest of the party. The favors were set on their own table complimented with a yarn pom pom garland and balloon backdrop. It was the perfect way to leave a last impression with all of the guests who attended the party!
Event Styling & Party Printables: One Stylish Party
Photography: Kathryn Pool Photography
Cake: Divine Cakes, Inc.
Cake Inspiration: Libby Lane Press
Shimmer Balloon Cookies: Frog Prince Cake & Cookie Design
Confetti Balloon, Tissue Tassel Garland, Yarn Pom Pom Garland, Milk Bottles, Straws, Wooden Utensils, Gable Boxes, Tissue Fringe Letters & Numbers: One Stylish Party
Pinwheel Garland: Peckled
Marshmallows: Mia Mallows
Rock Candy: Nuts.com
lisa says
Hello! Will you be providing a tutorial on the fringe letters or the pom garland? Super cute!!! I want to incorporate this for our next birthday party!
charmf.tumblr.com says
Wohh just what I was searching for, appreciate it for putting up.