1st Birthday Pumpkin Party

My baby turned ONE!  

This picture pretty much sums up how Clara felt about turning one.  The youngest of three girls, all she wanted for her birthday was to be a big girl.  {I assume that's all she wanted because we didn't really get her any gifts...}

But I did throw her a fabulous Pumpkin Party!  Here are some of the pictures from her big day.

Invitation

I made the invitation myself!  It's not professional quality but for my first attempt it was not bad.  I used PicMonkey and .jpeg images that I found online to create the invitation.  I had it printed at FedEx Office.  Check back to see my PicMonkey tutorial!

Outfit

This sweet little number came from Xannazoo on Etsy.  I love to shop on Etsy for special occasion outfits and gifts.

Decorations

I decorated the tables with Lollipop Pumpkins and gourds.  Click here to see how I made the Lollipop Pumpkins.  I also used Deco Mesh Ribbon and burlap for a table runner.  You can buy Deco Mesh ribbon at Hobby Lobby or Michaels and I've even seen it at Walmart.

I filled the little orange and white striped cups with Brach's Autumn Mix Candy Corn. 

The Farmers Market crate came from Walmart!  Seriously, Walmart has stepped up their game in the Arts and Crafts department.  I filled it with gourds that the girls brought home from Rombach's pumpkin patch.

 I put my Fall Mason Jars on the Dessert Table.

This is the tutu that I made for Clara before she was born.  We used it for her newborn photos.

I decorated the house with photos of Clara well before her party.  I tend to leave them up for a while after too.  We all love looking at the photos and reminiscing about the past year. Clara's Number 1 captures photos of Clara with her sisters, parents, grandparents, great grandma and Godparents.

I was amazed at the number of photos that I had of Clara.  I had to edit it down to under 100!  I try to find pictures of Clara with the family members that will be at her party.

Clara woke up from her nap to find the house had been transformed for her pumpkin party. Tim hoisted Clara up on his shoulders so she could get a better look at things.  Did you notice the picture on the cabinet in the background?  I can't believe how much she's grown!

Birthday Cake(s)

I leave the real birthday cake to the professionals to create.  They did a great job and it was delicious!  I highly recommend chocolate mousse filling!

I attempted to make a pumpkin smash cake for Clara.  I have a bad feeling that Clara may be allergic to eggs (bad bagel experience) so I made an egg-free smash cake for her.  I also made it dairy and nut free so that Sidney could have a bite.  Click here for the recipe.

I'm glad I didn't spend a lot of time on the smash cake.  The appearance and taste did not matter at all to Clara.  All she cared about was squishing it between her fingers.  In hindsight, I wish I had spread out a plastic table cloth on the floor (in addition to the seat of her high chair). Clara threw a good amount of the cake on the floor. 

Activities

The girls worked on Thankful Pumpkins with their cousins.  Sidney was thankful for "twirly dresses"!!

The kids also decorated pumpkins.  If you need to buy a bunch of pumpkins, ALDI is the place to go.  They sell huge pumpkins for $2.39!!  I bought eight of them for the kids to decorate.  I bought the face stickers online at Oriental Trading Company.

If you're planning a pumpkin party, you're in luck because there are so many great, inexpensive decorations to choose from.  Dollar Tree has a lot of great decorations.  

Happy Halloween!