Yellow & Gray is such a fabulous color combination… it works well for all kinds of occasions, including weddings, baby showers and even first birthday parties! Speaking of which… check out this {super chic} Yellow & Gray First Birthday Party by Nadia of mamemima. The handmade decorations for this summery, indoor/outdoor party are so charming and sweet… and I’m pretty sure that hot air balloon piñata (made by the birthday boy’s Aunt) is way too cute to break! ;)

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• Handmade fabric birthday bunting, paper pinwheels, fringed party hats & more
• Tolsby IKEA frames ($1 each!) used to spell out birthday boy’s name on the dessert table
• Darling homemade hot air balloon piñata trimmed in tissue fringe
• Yellow & gray monogrammed paper birthday crown

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Nadia…

Inspiration & Theme

The final inspiration (because I went back and forth for months) for this party came from my son’s nursery: a pale yellow-grey palette and giraffes. But last minute I decided to do something different. Since this is one of the few parties I’d have total control over, before the “character” theme demands start, I thought I’d keep the theme simple and not too baby-ish. I kept the color scheme but it was hard to decide on a theme because there were so many things I wanted to do. At the end I settle on a silhouette-stripes-polka dots ONE theme. How is that for simple!

Decorations Details

We planned an outdoor party and set up a tent with some tables and chairs in our yard. I decorated the tent with balloons and crepe paper streamers and the tables were covered with yellow tablecloths and yellow flowers in pretty vases. I’d been taking weekly pictures of my son for the past year and used those pictures to create a garland background. People liked it a lot and spent time looking at how much G has grown.

I also set up a welcome table with a “guest poster” (my version of a guest book) people can sign, some pictures of G and party hats. I used Ikea frames to display little notes among the different tables and to display my son’s name in the main dessert table inside.

I’m very visual and detailed oriented so I put a lot of effort in trying to make everything look pretty. I also made little food signs and decorated with pinwheels placed in Izzy bottles, crepe paper streamers, fabric pennants and lots of balloons.

Activities

I had planned so many activities for the kids, like a chair game and put the tail to the donkey, but I ran out of time and never got a chance to execute them. Luckily we have a big yard and the kids were running around, playing ball and jumping in the jungle gym. As a surprise we had an ice cream truck come and park in our driveway. The kids (and adults) loved it. They all stood in line to get their treat!.

Before cake time we also had some fun with the piñata, handmade by my sister. The little kids had a chance to hit it until my oldest son took over and in one swing send it away. It was time to let all the goodies out!

Food

The party was in the morning so we had a brunch type menu for the adults: bagels, assorted pastries, fruit an veggie platters, cheeses, antipasti and wraps. We also had some pasta and french fries for the kids. Cheerios and berries were the favorite for the little ones. For the dessert table my sister baked chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, cake pops and the smash cake. We also had pineapple jell-o and I put together a tiny candy table with Peruvian (I’m Peruvian) treats my sister brought, with little bags for people to take home.

Diy Projects

Basically I designed and handmade everything with the help of my mom and sister. I designed and made the invitations and the “guest poster” for people to sign. I also made the big ONE fabric covered letters, the party hats and the pinwheels. My sister made the pinata and my mom made the paper crepe streamers. I sewed the fabric pennants.

Favors

We had kids in different age ranges and I wanted to give them all something they could actually use. It’s summer time so I thought beach pails will be the perfect favor. I just added a couple of books, bubbles and some beach toys for the little ones. For the big kids I found bubble ice cream bars. A lot of people thought they were real ice cream bars and were worried they would melt under the sun! Ha! I attached a little tag to all the pails and ice cream bubbles to add a little personal touch.