Kitschy never looked so CUTE thanks to Cristina Prusz of Le Partie Sugar! Inspired by the birthday boy himself, Cristina selected a party theme to celebrate her son’s first birthday that was not only adorable but very personalized… Cristina’s now one-year old son, Hudson, weighs-in at a whopping 26 lbs and stands at 34 inches tall! You won’t ever find her little guy dressed in the typical baby onesie. Oh no. It’s all cardigans and button-ups for this little man! ;)

I absolutely adore the fantastic mustache water bottle clip-ons and the brilliantly unique, hand-made place card holders made from men’s shirt cuffs! Since the party was held on a rooftop in L.A., the interactive Homemade Hot Cocoa Bar kept guests warm and cozy while they hammed it up in front of the photo booth using clever kitschy photo props. The “Dapper Little Gingerbread Men” cookie favors and playful customized t-shirts for the little ones were perfect gifts for sending home with guests.

KEEP READING to discover more of the boyish charm party elements like necktie napkins,  fondant mustache cupcake toppers, whimsical table centerpieces, homemade marshmallows and more…

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Cristina…

Inspiration

“Every party begins with some inspiration, and this one started with none else than the birthday boy himself. He doubled his birth weight in two months, quickly outgrowing his infant stage and at one year stands 34″ and weighs in at 26 pounds. This coupled with the fact that you’ll find him in cardigans and button downs instead of onesies, made it the perfect way to celebrate his one year milestone. So I took the Little Man idea and made it my own by incorporating some kitschy elements and boyish charm, so it was fitting for his first birthday party.

Party Decor

A red, aqua and chartreuse color theme kept this kitschy birthday shindig coordinated, along with a few splashes of mustache, tie and ‘man’ elements. The table centerpieces were kept playful, with framed Jonathan Adler mustache and tie graphics and pom-pom table cloth overlays. I made these heavily starched men’s shirt cuffs to hold all the menu cards labeling the food and drink (one of my personal favorite touches!), which were nicely complimented by the necktie napkins. Since the party would go until dusk, we also had aqua and chartreuse paper lanterns hanging overhead which all the little ones loved to see.

Party Favors

For the favors, my creatively-talented girlfriend, Jen of Shop Snug Haven, made the most adorable t-shirts for our Little Ladies and Gents. I picked up each child’s shirt size and Jen used her stash of fabric (which coincidentally was leftover men’s dress shirt fabric from back in her NYC days) to make ties and lips for our little guests. We also used that fabric to make the little cake bunting for Hudson’s cake and the fabric garland for the photo booth. The other guests (who outgrew the 12 – 18 month size many, many years ago) took home Dapper Little Gingerbread Men favors.

Food & Beverages

The party was held between 3:00 – 6:00pm, so we had plenty of little treats for our guests to enjoy. Since the party was on our outdoor rooftop overlooking Los Angeles, we wanted to keep folks warm with a homemade Hot Cocoa and Fixings Bar complete with little peppermint candies, cinnamon candies, salted caramels, hazelnut pirouettes, whipped cream, homemade marshmallows and Kahlua for the adults.

To round off the Sweet Treats, we had a first birthday cake for the birthday boy, homemade ‘pockets square’ strawberry pies and little mini cupcakes topped with adorable fondant mustaches for everyone else. Our Savory Eats consisted of some ‘guy food’ snack staples like the popular pigs-in-a-blanket, corn dip with tortilla chips, and caprese skewers (for guys with a healthy side) – plus our little guys had their favorite go-tos…cheerios and goldfish (any mom of a child under 3 knows to never leave home without these!). There was of course beer and wine for the adults, plus other refreshments at the beverage station – and guests could keep track of their bottle drinks easily with the mustache bottle toppers.

Activities

To bring out everyone’s inner-child, we had a photo booth set up in the corner complete with mustache and tie props, plus a ‘I love hudson’ and ‘mister hudson is turning one’ signs. After the photo session, guests could leave a birthday note to Hudson in his photo book next to their photos. We’re also enclosing individual photos in the thank you notes.”