a vintage garden party.

i love birthdays. when i was growing up, my mom always made our birthdays so special. she made all of our cakes; i have many memories of barbie dolls with skirts made of pink frosting, and rocking horses with licorice-whip-reigns.

i'd been looking forward to bella's first birthday party for months! i knew exactly what i wanted to do: a vintage garden party. lots of flowers, lace, jars&bottles and vintage-y decorative paper. i found images of this sweet lil party on my google searching, which provided the inspiration for bella's party. because of budget constraints, i stuck to just a few sweet treats for our guests, and handmade everything from the decorations, to the cake, to the homemade cake ball pops. it was a lot of work, but really enjoyable, and oh-so-fun.

my friend, amanda, of {aka}photography (see our images on the side of my blog... amazing, right?!) asked if she could take some photos to capture the special day. i was happy to oblige :)

the table

silver platters for frosted sugar cookies (dollar tree, $1 each)

pink cherry blossom branches/pussywillows (joanns, $8 with coupon)

lace tablecloth (borrowed from mother-in-law)

square white paper plates, napkins, plastic forks (dollar tree, $1 each)

paper doilies (dollar tree, $1 each)

wine bottles and jars for candy and flowers (washed out jam & spaghetti sauce jars, free!)

flag bunting: scrapbook paper & ribbon (hobby lobby, $12)

mod podged tray for centerpiece: scrapbook paper, mod podge and an old wooden tray (all on hand, free!)

i made these blossom branches out of branches i found at a park and my in-laws yard. i washed out old wine bottles and made "blossoms" out of scrapbook paper and tissue paper. placed on paper doilies i purchased at the dollar store, i loved these sweet branches!

i made this photo bunting by making the traditional flags out of scrapbook paper and ribbon and then took mini clothespins and pinned the pictures to the ribbon. nick&i took pictures of bella at each month in her crib, so this was like a decorative timeline :)

i made this rosette "b" for bella by cutting a b out of foamboard and making what-seemed-like-thousands of rosettes out of pink tissue paper and gluing them on with my trusty gluegun. i hung it on the wall from pink ribbon i hot-glued to the back.

for decor on the gift table, i took some old shudders my friends gave me and pinned various photos of bella throughout her first year using mini clothespins. this kept with the vintage-y theme and served as the perfect showcase for some of our favorite pictures of our sweet pea :)

bella *loves* strawberries, so i made her the yummiest strawberry cake from a paula deen recipe you can find here. i frosted it with storebought whipped cream cheese frosting. i also handmade her cake toppers--paper and fabric flowers i hotglued onto lollipop sticks--and stuck them into the top of her cake.

for quenching our guests thirst, we served pink lemonade in this glass dispenser and ice water served in vintage glass bottles.

i have become a huge.fan.of.cake.balls, so i wanted to try my hand at making cake ball pops. with the help of my friend, amanda (who mastered the dipping!) they came out super cute. i filled a pink basket of bella's with blocks of styrofoam and covered it with moss i purchased at the dollar store (moss for a dollar? yes please!). i stuck the cake ball pops in the styrofoam along with little signs i made on lollipop sticks that read "happy birthday bella grace".

i also handmade cards to label each treat, embellished with ric-rac, ribbon and fabric flowers.

my fav: reeses pieces easter candy! not only are they the best candy everrrr, but they were perfect for bella's party because of the pastel colors. i scored four bags of these on clearance after easter, and filled old crystal bowls and washed out spaghetti sauce & jam jars that i also decorated with scrapbook paper and fabric flowers.

bella had so much fun opening up her presents! including this handpainted stool from her aunt jessica, uncle james & wyatt! soooo special.

i *love* handmade quilts and we have several of them, thanks to nick's grandmother :) i spread them over the floor for people to sit on, and to give a picnic feel.

cake time :)

family shot :) i think in the background you can see our ugly apartment chandelier that hangs over our kitchen table... my girlfriends, amanda and jessica (who are incredibly artistic and creative!) made white tissue poms and covered it up for me... thanks girls! super cute.

perfect birthday! it was such a special, special day with our family and friends. i love having all these photos to capture the memories for bella to look back on. still can't believe she is one. trying to hold on to all of these moments before she is playing with barbies, wanting to drive, or asking me to shop with her for a wedding dress (tear). thankful for the days we've had, and SO excited about the days ahead.

we love you, sweet bella grace!!

this post is linked to these *sweet* blogs:

faith, trust & a little pixie dust
little rays of sunshine
homemaker in heels
mod vintage life
tatertots and jello
the shabby nest
dyi by design
at the picket fence

bacon time with the hungry hungry hypo

centsational girl

today's creative blog

my girlish whims