Anya’s First Birthday Party + Cake Smash Session

Wohooo!!!! I’m finally posting Anya’s photos from her little cake smash session and some of her party pics! Many of you guys have been asking me for the pics, so … here they are! :o)

I can’t believe she’s already one … I know, I know … everybody always tells you, and you know it’s true, but it really only hits you when it’s already “too late”. They DO grow fast! I think Tim will agree when I say that she’s the most precious thing in our life! We can’t imagine our life without her anymore, I don’t think there are words that can possibly explain how much we love her!

Happy first birthday my little girl! We love you SO very, very much!

My little angel:

A couple of photos of her first birthday dree … I got the shoes from Gracious May, I just love her designs … and the butterflies on the wall are actually in Anya’s room :o)

Aren’t they pretty? :o)

I got the yummy cake from The Mixing Bowl, in Fort Collins. I had a “little” bite … uhm … deliiiiicious! I want a cake smash for my next birthday also :o)

Ok, ready for some detail shots? I have to admit … it’s hard to plan a party having been to soooo many wonderful events in my life. You end up with so many ideas and it’s hard to narrow them down ;o) BUT I gotta say, I had a BLAST designing Anya’s little birthday party! I wanted it to be girly, but not too girly, bright, colorful (but not over the top) … I wanted to incorporate some of her photos and onesies she wore when she was born … it had to be cute, with some shabby chic elements and a slice of humor here and there :o)

Let me tell you, mommy was busy for a couple of days … but it was all SO worth it! :o)

Here’s a photo of our dining room / with the main snack table: Thought the lanterns added a nice splash of color and playfulness :o)

A couple of photos of the birthday banner I made for her. I wanted her to have something that she could keep for forever and maybe pass on to her kids … :o) Hey you never know, right?

I’m sure you can only imagine how hard it was for me to not her thousands of photos printed of her :o) I wanted to incorporate at least a few of them, thought it would be nice to see how much she’s grown in the last year …

Oh and I got the onesies printed printed at Customized Girl

Thought it would also be nice to throw a couple of photos of Tim & I’ baby photos … yup, that chubbers … that’s me :o)

I loooove handmade stuff & lots of pretty details (blame the wedding industry) :o)) … Best and biggest investment was a ~50 stack of shabby papers I found at Michael’s (Life’s Journey, Designer Paper 36 double sided papers)

I hung the little harts above our little guest book alcove:

The guest book (which is a Kolo Album) got a personal touch also … remember the butterflies that are hanging on Anya’s walls? I made smaller versions of them and glued one on every page & asked our guests to take a quick photo of themselves:

Btw, did you check out her photo that is right next to the guest book? :o))

Yup, the paper is from the same booklet I got at Michaels, you’d be surprised to see what else I made from it:

I looooove tulips (and orchids) – and since Anya doesn’t have any favorite flowers yet, we went with mommy’s choice :o)

I figured it’d be boring to just put them into boring vases, so I put them into some old milk bottles, and old jars I found on etsy

And what’s a party without some old-school milk & cookies?? :o)

Ok, now we’re getting to the delicious stuff :o) I got the cupcakes from a local bakery called The Mixing Bowl. The did such an outstanding job. Loved how everything came out … even the little bumble bees :o) Aren’t they just super cute??

Hosting parties can be overwhelming .. let’s face it. You have 3 choices, you’re either killing yourself in the kitchen the day off, you get a caterer or you just put out snacks. Well, I for once just wanted to enjoy the party … standing in the kitchen was not an option, especially because we had out of town guests and I wanted to spend some time with them rather than worrying what’s currently cooking in the oven. Hiring a catering company was not really in the cards, so I decided to get a couple things before her big day. I was actually in NY about a month before her birthday and since I knew what kind of colors I’ll incorporate into the party, I got her 3 different colored m&ms (not that she could have any) … mad a couple cupcakes the day before (with some yummy, homemade caramel toppers), put out a couple cream puffs (got the super fast recipe from auntie Carol – top secret & super fast to make :o)) ) … oh and hey, check out the little popcorn cones … easy & fast to put together :o)

oh and check out the super cute pinwheels I got from Elizabeth St (trough etsy). Sooo pretty! Loved the paper she used!

Ok, ok .. almost done … last thing I made out of my shabby stack of paper were some little plates. I didn’t want to go with any plastic plates one could pick up at Walmart and since the papers came in different colors and designs I thought it fit the theme … They were really easy to make and it only took about half an hour (ok, maybe 1h if you consider that I had to clean up after Anya, while she was playing “unattended” in the kitchen cabinets … haha)

Loved the little bowls! :o)

I’ll have to admit … I’m a tough cookie when it comes to photos … haha … but I guess I had to be a host at the party, so I couldn’t take many photos of the party itself (boo), but here are just a few: