Annabelle's First Birthday

First

I want to say Happy New Year to all of you. I hope each and every one of you have a great 2015. I truly can't believe 2014 has come and gone, and that I am even writing this post. To think that my daughters first year of life is behind me, boggles my mind. A lot of you have been following my journey as a mother from the very beginning, so I thank you for taking this journey with me.

Ok.... so FINALLY, I'm getting around to writing this blog that I know a lot of you have been dying for. I honestly didn't want to rush through it and forget details that I know all you mommies can use because you are planning your own little one's party.

If you know me you know that when I throw a party I plan in advance and I think big, but I plan with a budget. I like my money in my closet:),so spending money to have someone plan a party for me is not an option...Even with that said, I do end up stressing myself out, but it's always worth it in the end. My daughters party turned out exactly how I pictured it to be... the children had fun and all the adults had a fabulous time as well. I had about 30 kids and 65 adults attend and the venue we chose was

Costa Del Sol

in Union, NJ. This venue is my go to for events because its close to my home and I love the space.

I decided the theme of Annabelle's party would be "Once Upon of Time". I didn't want something cheesy and wanted it to be very whimsical. Lets face it the party was my dream birthday party,lol and I took full advantage, especially knowing there is going to be a point where she is going to want the cheesy birthday themes that I will be more than happy to give her.

Overall, the party was everything I wanted it to be and more! To have all our family and friends celebrate our daughters life was beyond amazing for me and my husband. I have to be honest this is not something we will do every year, but it was worth all my hard work.

Check out all the details below of how I made the decor, the vendors I used and pictures from the actual party. I hope this inspires you to throw a fabulous first birthday for your little one.

Stay tuned this week for some mommy and me post and beauty items I'm currently using. Also I decided to relaunch Annabelle's blog this Friday so stay tuned.

Peace & Love

Lissette

These items were what I literally used for everything. If i could modpodge my life i would lol.

For the candy table sign I used this wood panel with a stand, all from Michael's. All were very inexpensive.

My best friends boyfriend made this crown for our pin the jewel on the tiara. The kids really enjoyed the game.

I made three type of letters to create her name. I used flowers purchased at Michael's to create flower letters. Yarn letters which you can get a tutorial here

Pinterest.com

and the rest I modpodged.

To save money I purchased these wood pieces from Michael's and glittered them up for the candy table.

.

I created these using wood candle sticks, wood letters and crowns that I spray painted gold. I glued the letters on top and the crowns on the candle sticks. I modpodged and glittered all first. I let them dry and re-modpodged so the glitter can stay put.

I purchased the mason jars in bulk at Michael's and added labels to them. I went to my local supermarket and purchased nestle quick and marshmallows for a cute inexpensive favor.

I decided not to purchase real flowers because I wanted to spend my money on the entertainment. I purchased these bouquets from Michael's and used vases that I asked my mom and mother-in-law which they had on hand and modpodged them and used ribbons and crowns I spray painted for the final touch. The chalk board number signs I got from my baby shower and just glittered them up. The books are also from Michael's and once again I just modpodged them.

Here is a close up of each vase. Fyi I had glitter all over my house for a month. If i don't see glitter for a long time I won't mind it at all.

I created these promenade balls with crepe paper, yup I said that correctly, crepe paper. Tutorial here

www.theidearoom.net

I purchased these photo props from

www.etsy.com

and the frame I made by just spray painting.

The sign for her candy table.

Annabelle had a first birthday shoot, so I decided to create a guestbook on

www.snapfish.com

with the pictures from her shoot. This is a perfect keepsake.

I created these burlap signs by using letter cutouts and pink spray paint. the kit for the signs can be purchased at Michael's.

I originally wanted to do a tree of life and have baby pictures of my guest hanging but I didn't have time to collect pictures so I just made it a crown tree.

I created princess crowns for each little girl. By using fabric stiffener and spray paint. I purchased the containers at Michael's and placed each crown in them. I even made some for the Photo Booth. Everyone loved these.

My good friend Jacqueline made the strawberries...she is so talented. If you want her info please contact me.

These cake pops were so beautiful that I didn't want to eat them.

My dear friend Kristen is beyond talented and made all the treats for the party. These are the cupcakes and sugar cookies,You can find her on instagram @sophebands Her talent is endless.

The rice krispy treats were sooo delicious.

I love me some chocolate covered pretzels.

The photo booth was something I wanted to do but didn't want to break the bank. I decided to do some research and found this tutorial that basically gives you links to each item you need.

SimpleBooth

You will need an ipad, if you have two even better. Download simplebooth on your ipad, its about $30 but worth it. You can add your own decal for your event and your guest can easily facebook or email their picture to themselves. I purchased the backdrop from a fabric store for $15.00 and the stand from

Fancierstudio-Background-Backdrop

The best thing is all the pictures are saved to your ipad.

My friends and family had fun with the photo booth.

I love my friends

I hired a facepainter and she was beyond amazing, Here are some of my favorites she did. How amazing are these cute little faces. Here is her info

Pattysweetcakes

make sure to check her out.

I also hired a caricature artist who was so sweet and talented. You can find his info here

Phatheadcaricatures

The face painter also came with a balloon guy, so it was perfect for the kids. The adults even got some balloon beer mugs,lol.

Pattysweetcakes

Here is my beautiful niece and behind her is the balloon princess made for Annabelle.

I purchased her digital invite from

Theblueeggevents

and created them myself. I purchased pink trifold panels and her mint envelopes from

Cardsandpockets

Very easy to make nice DIY invites.

Perfection!!

I kept the tables simple.

I setup Annabelle's letters on one side of the table with the favors behind it.

Her candy table was such a big hit and gone within seconds of me telling my guest they can eat the treats. I was smart I hid a little box for me and my husband so we could enjoy later:).

Here is her crown tree.

A close up of her letters which I will be hanging in her playroom when we move one day.

A close up of her favors and candy table sign.

Another shot of the mason jar favors.

I truly love how these turned out.

A close up of her burlap signs that I made. I also plan on using this in her nursery.

The cake stands were purchased at Home Goods.

I love how mint, gold and pink look together.

The little frames were purchased at Michael's.

The jellybeans, gumballs and sixlets were purchased at Party City.

Sugar Cookies.

I will be putting this in her playroom as well.

Her Cake was my absolute favorite. Since it was the weekend of Thanksgiving my normal cake lady was on vacation so I saw a mutual friend use this vendor and I'm so happy I used her. You can contact her via instagram @sweetjoyny.

Her cute hat is from @lmmbboutique on instagram.

For each child I gave them a gift bag and filled it up with toys from Dollar Tree. I was surprised that the Dollar Tree had cute toys, so I was happy with the gift bags and the children seemed to love it.