Hostess With The Mostess

THEME: My husband and I decided pretty early on that we wanted to have a "Bug" themed party for our daughter Madeline's first birthday. Not only was that the affectionate nickname we had used from when she was a newborn, but she is also very drawn to books and toys with bug details, so we knew it must be fate! She is definitely a girly girl as well, so I picked a trio of soft pink, bright pink, and green as our color palette. I designed three different bugs especially for her invitation: a ladybug, butterfly and caterpillar, and added hand-made pennant banners to the cards for a little something special. I was over the moon to have Rachel from *golden* make a personalized t-shirt for Madeline to wear on her big day! Rachel made the precious bug on the shirt to look exactly like the ladybug I had created for the party.

DECORATION: This is the first time that I have styled a party, and I had a lot of ideas that I wanted to try! It's important as a SAHM mom that I really watch my budget though, so I started looking around for party decor pretty far in advance to find some great deals. For the backdrop behind the main table, I found bright plaid wrapping paper in our exact party colors for a steal at our local TJMaxx. I was even more excited to find the bright green netting, seen in the backdrop and over the white tablecloth, on sale as a (very) early Christmas item at Hobby Lobby. The netting also worked perfectly as covers on the children's tables! Instead of buying expensive flowers or centerpieces, I decorated the main table with two DIY ribbon topiaries that turned out even more beautiful than I imagined.

FOOD/DRINKS: We had quite a few little ones at our party, so "Baby Bug Bites" (strawberry puffs) were provided, as well "Pbee&J" sandwiches cut out like butterflies and "Caterpillar Kebobs" (fruit skewers) for the older kids. Specially made caterpillar and butterfly sippy cups were also on hand for the kids to drink their "Bug Juice", and take home as part of their party favor. The cupcakes were the biggest hit though! They stood on a fun cake stand with a flower vase that was very quick and easy to create. I found the complimenting Wilton flower petal cupcake liners at Michael's. The cupcakes were topped with adorable fondant bugs also made to look like the caterpillar and ladybug on Madeline's invitation. They were perfect! The kids couldn't wait to get their hands on those sweet bugs.

ACTIVITIES: My daughter and her friends had a blast in the bouncy house outside, crawled through our "caterpillar" tunnel , and played with creepy crawly bugs and nets that I found together for a very reasonable price on Amazon. I think the adults enjoyed watching Madeline plunge into her special bug smash cake the most-- she could have sat and enjoyed that cake for hours!

Before they left, guests were asked to write a little note or wish to include inside Madeline's sparkly green time capsule box, to be opened on her 18th birthday! I found adorable little pink and green favor boxes on Etsy and added a gooey, light-up caterpillar that had "bitten" his way out, courtesy of my round, scalloped punch. The girls also took home pretty little bug hair clips in their favor boxes, while the boys' got their own bug and net sets.

Madeline had a fabulous time at her party, as did her guests! Every detail and DIY project was totally worth seeing that constant smile on the birthday girl's face.

Vendor Credits:

Party Styling, Invitations and Paper Details: Sugar Bee Designs

Birthday shirt:  *golden*

Cupcake & Smash Cake Toppers: Leah Rose Sweets

Favor Boxes: Cakes And Kids Too

Sippie Cups: I Have A Favor

Tutorials for Invite Banner, Cake Stand with Vase, and Ribbon Topiaries are here:
http://abubslifeblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/party-crafts.html