Wow, I am still scratching my head wondering where the last year went. I can hardly believe we’ve just celebrated Baby O’s First Birthday! I knew I wanted to do something simple and fun. But I also figured this milestone was more about celebrating with family and close friends, than it was about doing something really fun for the kids, since she and her cousins are still so young. (Look out though…I have so many fun kid party ideas for her, & her cousins, when they’re older…Super Hero Party, County Fair Party (with a petting zoo!), Vintage Circus Party, Star Wars Party, Dinosaurs Party, and more!). So, I thought a Picnic Party would be perfect for now…and I could have a few activities for the kids. Plus, we had the party in a park, with a playground in running distance, to keep the older kids happy!
I wanted to do this post as a how-to in case readers are interested in the food/decorations/theme – aspect of the party, as well as how to keep things budget-friendly. So, here it goes…I’ll try to give price & source information where I can.
Invitations:
Sources:
Completely inspired by this lady’s invites here.
Materials: A2 white paper from PaperSource ($3.25/25, left-over from our wedding invitations!), Scraps of Lecien “Flower Sugar Yellow Tiny Flower Dots” fabric ($2.50 /quarter yard), found here.
Note: If you don’t have a sewing machine, you can use fabricTac glue to adhere the fabric scraps to the invite. You can also experiment with scrapbooking paper in lieu of the fabric. I love the look of mixing patterns (rather than using only one) too.
Kids’ Activities:
Sources:
Sidewalk Chalk ($2.50/pack at Target), Bubbles (left over from our wedding), Handmade “Vintage Coloring Books”* printed on cardstock paper & tied with ribbon from craft store ($2.50/3 yards)
*(Note: Since this was just for personal use, I did a google image search for “Vintage Coloring Books” and “Vintage Coloring Book Pages” and copied ones that looked appropriate and were large enough to print to about 3″x4″. If you are reading this and have any questions, feel free to ask.)
Food & Decorations:
Sources: My amazingly cool, vintage picnic basket was purchased here, for $15.
These adorable stripey straws were purchased here, at $4/25 straws. There are so many colors to choose from!
The pink & white gingham fabric was purchased from JoAnn’s Fabric, on sale for $3.50/yard. I purchased 6 yards, in order to cover two tables. It is a very common print, and you can also purchase something similar online here.
Mmm…Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Icing…Oh, how I loved you!!
I was visually inspired by this cupcake, but didn’t want a jam-filling. So, the cupcake recipe I used was c/o Martha Stewart. It was my first time to make cupcakes from scratch and, I’ve gotta say, I may never use a box mix again…This was easy (the instructions were fool-proof) and I felt oddly proud of myself for making it from scratch, even though it took little know-how.
My Mom helped me with the icing…{1/2 cup shortening + 1/2 cup margarine + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar}. I made it the night before and kept it in the fridge, in the mixing bowl. The day of, we added some whole milk until it was at the desired consistency. Then, I followed this lady’s cute instructions on icing. I think mine could stand to be cuter, but perhaps it will just take a little practice! Either way, they were deeelicious!!
By the way, the tiny pink and yellow sugar cookies were from my Little Sister. They were amazing! And adorable!
Sources:
Pink Floral Vintage Hankies (above): $2.50/each from this shop
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Tissue-Paper Pom-Poms are an excellent (easy + affordable!) party decoration! I followed the tutorial here.
I purchased 4 packs of (12 sheets each) colored tissue paper from the craft store, for $2.50/pack.
And, I WISH I had better photos of the food, but it was the last thing on my mind, come party time! I tried to get some photos of the leftovers….
“Caprese Kabobs” were a big hit! To make, simply toss mozzarella & tomatoes in a plastic ziplock bag, with olive oil and chopped fresh basil. You can leave it in the fridge overnight, to season. Or you can go ahead and thread them on the skewers the night before, and leave them in the fridge, assembled. Also, note: I wanted really cute little skewers, but we ended up cutting normal wooden skewers in half and this worked just fine.
Sources:
The wooden basket, above, was from the Target $1 bin, but you can find similar ones online.
Mmm, “Pigs-in-a-Blanket” are one of my Husband’s favorites! We made them with turkey “Lil Smokies” and Crescent Roll dough. Very simple, and a crowd-pleaser.
(Vintage sheets from my Mom and etsy. The best thing about them? They can be cut up and used for tons of craft projects after the party!)
Pink Lemonade…I used the 8oz mason Ball jars, that you can find at most grocery stores or Target/Walmart. This was a cute idea, and a big hit with the guests. I simply used this concentrate, from Minute Maid (below) and put a slice of fresh lemon in. I had all of the filled jars in this aluminum tub, filled with ice. Too bad I didn’t get a “before” photo, but you can see that they certainly didn’t go to waste!
Sources:
Aluminum Ice Tub from Target. I’m a tad embarrassed to say that it was about $20 (I was frugal everywhere else, but for some reason, felt this was a good place to splurge!). Hopefully I’ll find good ways to reuse this.
And, finally, some cute Party Photos!…
This was funny…You know how you have a certain idea in mind how important events will go, like when your daughter eats her first piece of Birthday cake, and you’re there with your camera in hand and everyone is ooing and ahing over how cute and funny she is? Well, I was so caught up visiting that I was no where near my camera at the time. She crawled over to this blanket, where some of her friends had been sitting, and started eating a cupcake off of their plate. She looked like a curious little scavenger….
So, we moved her to her own blanket and gave her her own cupcake, to “re-inact” her first bite, where all of the relatives could watch…
And then, she mostly just wanted the giant red strawberry on top…
Wow, what a cutie. And, lastly….
Party Favors:
My sweet friends came over to help me assemble these, bags filled with oatmeal cookies (with my Grandma’s cookie recipe attached)….
Sources:
Brown Bags from Michael’s Craft Store (a few dollars for a pack of 25), Hole Punch, Yellow Ribbon ($2.50/3 yards) & Fabric cut into strips when I ran out of ribbon (this is actually much more economical, and still looks cute), Free Download of Recipe Cards printed on white cardstock, & yummy homemade goodies, such as these oatmeal cookies, to put inside.
Want the Oatmeal Cookie recipe? Just leave a comment if you do, and I’ll try to post it here soon.
Have a great week!!
