Birthday Bash (Part: Details)

First birthdays are serious business, just search Pinterest. The decor, the cake, the smash cake, the outfits, the food, the pictures--all kinds of details that the birthday girl (or boy) won't notice, but are still slaved over by mamas (and daddies). We tried hard not to buy into all of that (Kyle more successfully than I), but I still wanted to do a few special things. We didn't do everything ourselves though. Chad and Jodi were extremely helpful.

Since Hamish won't remember any of these details though, I have to include them here. :)

Invitation: A few minutes on Photoshop and we had our simple, and colorful invites. They remind me a little bit of watercolors and a little bit of finger paint. I loved them, and they set the stage for the rest of the party.

Food: Grilled hot dogs, finger sandwiches (ham and cheese, cucumber and cream cheese, and goat cheese and pecan), and a trio of cold soups. Water, iced tea and Izzes to drink. 

I have wanted to have a cold soup party for ages, ever since I got the New England Soup Factory recipe and there was a picture of cold, colorful soups in glass containers. This was my chance. I made gazpacho (red), cucumber chive (palest green), and mango (creamy yellow) soup and served them each in a glass carafe. A paper cup and a spoon, and we were all set.

Decor: Our decor consisted of three items: 1. lots of balloons; 2. a polka dot table cloth that matched the invitations; and 3. a bright yellow marquee 1.

1. How much more cheerful and fun can you get than balloons? Chad picked up three dozen for me and we tied them outside along the patio, on the front steps, and on the birthday girl's high chair.

2. The table cloth was almost as easy. A white table cloth from Target, a selection of craft paint thanks to my very artistic sister-in-law, and a potato. I just stamped around the perimeter in bright colors and let it dry.

3. The marquee 1. The most involved project I took on (compared to potato printing and asking Chad to buy balloons, anyway) was from a blog about a year ago. Their project had involved the word "MOVIE" for an outdoor movie night. Five letters seemed like way too much trouble, but a 1 is easy. The hardest part was finding the right lights. Ask for patio lights at Home Depot or Lowes. I made no progress asking for "String lights, like Christmas lights, you know, but with big round bulbs."

Once I had the lights, the rest was easy. 1 sheet of foam core board, 2 sheets of poster board, scissors and a can of spray paint. One tip that Marie came up with: The easiest way to cut the holes in the foam core for the lights: a serrated apple corer.

Cake: The pièce de résistance  was the cake. Which came courtesy of Chad and Jodi. They make such a great team. One gorgeous two-tiered cake for the guests. One little tier for Hamish to get into. She didn't make too much of a mess though, so we ate her cake the rest of the weekend. It tasted as good as it looked!

That was it. A simple, colorful first birthday for our favorite little girl. We liked it.