My youngest turned one a month ago now and I put together a picnic inspired party in the park for him. I enjoyed thinking and planning this one out a couple of months in advance. I made lists upon lists for the prepping and the day of the party. We had the party thirty-five minutes from our home, so for my sanity I didn't want to forget anything. It almost worked...the only thing I forgot was an ice cream scoop. That's a success in my book! :-)
I designed the invitations in PicMonkey and then printed them as 4x6 photos at Walmart. I glued them to white cardstock to give it a little more stability before placing them in paper sack envelopes to mail. I used washi tape to keep the back fold down and stuck one first class stamp on each sack and they mailed without any issue at all.
I followed this tutorial to fold the paper sack envelopes. She used super cute inserts for her picnic party details. If you're looking for party inspiration her blog is a great source to use.
The wind was blowing like crazy that day, so my tissue paper pom poms are a little crazy looking in this photo and you can barely see the torn fabric ribbon banner I made. On both sides of the corner post of the pavilion I taped photos, one for each month of his first year.
We had a simple menu of hamburgers, hotdogs, bagged chips, fresh mixed veggies, strawberries, and watermelon. I purposefully kept it simple and easy to prepare and I am so glad I did!
My grill master husband.
I found those cute picnic baskets at a local estate sale for a few bucks. We used one for the bags of chips and one for the thank you favors, bagged homemade chocolate chip cookies. We used
this pudding cookie recipe by Chef In Training. It is by far the best chocolate chip cookie I've ever baked myself...soft, gooey, yummy! And, they're so easy to bake, my self-proclaimed non-experienced baker of a husband actually made them for the party. I take these cookies to lots of get-togethers and they're always a hit.
These are the notes we stapled to the cookie bags as a thank you favor.
I made the template in Word and printed ten cards to a page of cardstock.
I found the plastic serving trays at The Dollar Tree and Walmart.
The silverware is placed in red tin cans from the Target dollar spot.
The fly nets over the veggies and fruit came from a yard sale, a quarter each...Score!
I baked all the cakes myself. I might be crazy.
The banners on the rectangle cakes are made from a tiny gingham print fabric.
The checkered tablecloth came from the Dollar Tree.
I made the card for this cake using my Silhouette.
My mom made this adorable bib for the birthday boy.
The zigzag fabric came from a local quilt shop,
and I found the gingham at a local antique shop.
She used a white terry cloth towel for the backing.
His priceless reaction to the crowd of 50 singing Happy Birthday to You.
With some advanced planning and a vow to keep things simple I thoroughly enjoyed throwing this first birthday bash for my son. With every party I throw I learn something new and learn to be more organized. Now to start pinning for next year....LOL!
