This is all about the hard work that went behind the scenes of Jameson’s first birthday party!

THE THEME

Jameson didn’t care much about the theme (haha), so I decided on a “one year in a flash” style party I found inspiration for here. The colors I chose were blues, whites, silvers and a flash of bright green, and I planned on using his photos and the time capsule in the party as well. Here’s my original post on the party theme. And in the end, I even found a way to use his love of his little brown bear stuffed animal in his outfit.

THE INVITATIONS

The invitations were printed with SmartPress on their Felt Weave paper. Here’s a recap and more photos of the final invitations.

THE TIME CAPSULE

Each invitation included a card to fill out for Jameson’s time capsule. Jameson ended up with $15 in ones (hmm…); an Akron neighborhood map; lots of well wishes, and some sealed envelopes which I didn’t open even though I’d love to know what’s in them.

I still need to get a final box or jar to put everything in and seal it up for eternity 18 years.

THE DECOR

You probably didn’t forget these lovely garlands on the chandelier. Here’s a recap on how they were made.

I also did one that I hung Jameson’s 12 months of photos on over the fireplace, so there was a festive garland in just about every room.

We had balloons everywhere. We rented a helium tank from ABC Rentals. You get more helium for the same price it costs for a tank from a party store. I actually think the balloons did the most to shout “birthday party!”, more so than the garlands of dots and snowflakes. Everyone loves balloons!

THE PHOTO WALL

In addition to the garland with 12 months of photos, I had a photo wall in the shape of a 1 for Jameson’s party. This was my favorite part of the whole party and everyone loved to look at the photos. It was hard to select the ones to display.

THE FOOD

We decided to do a couple stations of food to try and break up some of the crowd since we had this in our home. A lot of people attended, and it only felt crowded for a little while when people first were getting food. It was all easy food too:

meatballs in Brian’s special sauce
spiral ham & buns
pasta salad
mini hot dogs in crescent rolls
veggies & dip
nachos & taco dip
chips & pretzels
cheese & crackers
relish tray (pickles & olives)
m&m’s

THE CAKE

Brian and I argued over the cake a few times (to say the least). I was planning on a mini bundt cake for Jameson, and I wanted to do a (or a couple of) regular bundt cakes for the adults. Bundt cakes would mean I could make a homemade cake myself, but they’re practically pre-decorated so I wouldn’t have to do anything sophisticated to decorate.

In the end we compromised with a store-bought cake for the adults that I decorated with frozen pound cake cubes to make blocks. It is clearly homemade decoration, but no one seemed to mind.

As for Jameson and the other baby cakes? They turned out fabulous. I made them on Friday night and I followed this recipe with carrot & peach baby food and applesauce to the T and was very happy with the results.

I baked them in the 6 mini bundt cake pan for 19 minutes. (P.S. I doubled the recipe and got a ridiculous number of little cakes, some 19 or so, I didn’t realize how much it would make). The icing was also great and I would make both again.

Jameson was pretty neat with his eating, but he liked it! In fact, I think he liked it all.

THE FAVORS

Finally, everyone got to leave with a photo (of course) and hot chocolate peppermint bag that Brian and I made on Friday. I couldn’t have done it without his help. The cocoa powder made a mess of the bags and made the marshmallows look “dirty” so the bags needed scrunched up close to a funnel to keep it fairly neat. My brother had his last night and said was good, so it was worth it. I followed this recipe.

The best part is the leftovers can be used as gifts for Jameson’s daycare teachers and co-workers.

THANK YOU

Thank you’s are doubling as Christmas cards this year, so I’m knee deep in getting them done by tomorrow. I am so happy with how everything turned out and we had so much fun! We have such great family and friends.