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How To Plan The Perfect Sweets Themed Party and Other Lessons Learned From Planning a 1st Birthday Party

I am happy to say that I survived planning my child’s first birthday party!  In an effort to save money I decided to DIY as much as possible and was determined not to spend over $300.  200 trips to Hobby Lobby, and 50 botched DIY projects later, I really tried but I didn’t stick to my budget, the party was freaking fabulous anyway (#sorrynotsorry)! The theme of Camilla’s birthday party was “Sweet Cami”.  The idea came to me one day when I was daydreaming about how sweet and cute she is.  I mean…

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…and thus the sweets themed party came about and it didn’t disappoint. There was sugar for days.  Donuts, cupcakes, candy buffet, cookies, popsicles, cotton candy, and a coke float station.  It was a sweets bonanza and as expected kids were bouncing off the walls!  I know my beautiful sister-in-law cringed when she walked though the door because she tries to limit exposure of sugar and artificial anything to her kids. Needless to say, her kids were TURNT UP at Cami’s party!

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Behind the coke float station we had a little section for the adults, because let’s be honest for a first birthday party, you primarily have grown-ups there. The “adults” area included a bellini machine and a mimosa bar with fresh fruit and chilled champaign.

At a one year old’s birthday I wasn’t quite sure what to do to keep the kids entertained.  At the time of the party Houston had experienced it’s second flood in three weeks and so the weather was pretty crummy.  The plan was for the kids to get in the pool in which I had purchased these awesome floats (donutice cream, cupcake) that totally went with the theme.  God smiled on the party because the sun came out for a good two hours and the kids were able to swim!  Just in case, my rainy day play was this cupcake decorating station that ended up being fun for the adults (who were also hopped up on sugar and bellinis).  The kids (and adults) were able to take their decorated cupcake home in cupcake boxes.

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And when the birthday girl arrived, fashionably late, she was elated to see everyone there just for her!

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But even more exited about the sweets, which she happily gummed down with her 3 1/2 teeth.

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Here are some of my favorite things about the party:

The Hand Made Photobooth

This was a true labor of love.  With the help of my Cricut I was able to make all of the play desserts and photobooth props.  The sweet shop stand was a cube organizer turned on its side.  A friend (that’s better with power tools than me) drilled 4 holes at the top where he then added PVC to hold the canopy.  This took me 2 months a lone to get together but the kids were so cute taking pictures with it.  As far as the photobooth photography, there is a great app called pocketbooth that we used.  I would highly recommend getting the paid version.  All you need is a tablet, tripod, and printer and the app does the rest for you.  With our iPad connected to a wireless printer we were able to print pics for people to take home like the ones below.  Everyone enjoyed it and I enjoyed looking at the digital copies after the party was over.

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My dad trying to figure out how technology works, haha! This may be my favorite pic!

The Lit Marquee Letters

This was my first purchase for the whole party.  Whatever I did I knew that I wanted to incorporate marquee letters but I was discouraged because for one letter it can be pretty pricey.  And then I found these Heidi Swapp Love Marquee Love Letters which were extremely reasonable compared to what was out there (and I looked around hard!)  Another cool thing about these letters from Heidi Swapp is that you can decorate them, paint them, washi tape them.  I chose to keep them white but the package includes a pattern, lights, light covers, and a letter which is great for $8!

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Outdoor Decor

The party started off a bit soggy with the morning rain, so thank God my DIY outside decor was water proof.  Also a bonus is that I will be using these lollipops agin in my yard during Christmas!  #winning

When guests arrived they entered to a driveway lined with lollipops that I made out of pool noodles, duct tape, PVC pipe, and cellophane (tutorial on this to come).
When guests arrived they entered to a driveway lined with lollipops that I made out of pool noodles, duct tape, PVC pipe, garden stakes, and cellophane (tutorial on this to come).

 

Pops of Pink and Custom Sweetness

Cami doesn’t know it yet but her favorite color is pink, so I wanted to make sure we incorporated it.

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The first time I got to paint my little girl’s toenails! Pink or course! It’s not as easy or awesome as you imagine it to be before you have a little girl. This was done while daddy rocked her to sleep, in the dark, by cellphone light.

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The custom cupcakes were out of this world!  Amaris at Shortcakes Cupcakes & Treats knocked it out or the park and wowed my guests with the creative cupcakes she came up with for the party.

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Strawberry Limeade Cupcakes
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Peanut butter & Jelly Cupcakes. The kids LOVED these!
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Strawberry Shortcake.
Neapolitan Cupcakes...I mean...there's a freaking Twix in a cupcake ya'll! Doesn't get much better than that!
Neapolitan Cupcakes…I mean…there’s a freaking Twix in a cupcake ya’ll! Doesn’t get much better than that!
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Custom sweets cookies made by Treats Buy Terri via her etsy shop.

When it was all said and done, Cami had a great party and was in really great spirits (pro tip: make sure your kid naps before the party).  Every burn achieved from the glue gun was worth the joy I know that Cami felt being around her friends and loved ones.  And she will have really great pictures taken by her daddy to remember it by!

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plan the perfect sweets theme party

 

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17 comments

    1. Thank you Caitlin! Good luck with the 2nd birthday party! I told my husband Cami won't get another big bash until 5, haha! We'll see if that stands, as I already have a great idea for the next party :)
  1. OH my goodness! This party is so adorable! You did such an amazing job, every little detail from her gold shoes, to your shirt, to the cupcake station... girl, you did so good. I would've made my self sick trying every single thing! xoxo
    1. Thanks Bree! I had such a fun time planning it all. Some of the candy is still lingering around my house months later!
    1. Thanks Michelle! It was a really fun theme to plan. I had to reel myself back in a few times, haha! Thanks for checking it out!
  2. Probably the first 1-year old birthday party I've ever wanted to attend! Hahahaha this looks so cute! I'm a sucker for sweets! I have a crazy sweet tooth! The pictures of your little girl are just too adorable!
    1. Haha! It was important for me for the party to be something that adults could enjoy too. I have been to many-a-kid's birthday as a childless person and they are pretty boring! There were sweets for days and we had so much left over. I'll admit I had cupcakes for breakfast two days after the party :)
    1. Thanks Naomi! We ended up having a bunch of candy left! We are still working through the gum balls 2 months later haha!
  3. Wow! Brittany this is too perfect! I hope nobody I know see this blog post cos they will get inspired and do a great party and then I will hand to keep up! AMAZING job! Congrats! And your lil girl's expressions are priceless! So cute! Who's your photographer? He/she does a Stella job! I would have eaten all this up hehe...
  4. Wow! Brittany this is too perfect! I hope nobody I know see this blog post cos they will get inspired and through a great party and then I will have to keep up when it'll be my turn to organize one! Anyway.... AMAZING job! Congrats! And your lil girl’s expressions are priceless! So cute! Who’s your photographer? He/she does a stella job! I would have eaten all this sweet stuff up hehe…

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