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REAL PARTIES: Office Party First Birthday

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Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

I’m SO excited to share this wonderfully creative party with you today! I first stumbled on it due to a google alert for HWTM and pretty much keeled over from cuteness overload after just the first few pics!

Jessica from Modern Moments Designs created this “{Not So Typical} Office Party First Birthday” theme to celebrate her adorable son Emerson, and although Jessica describes herself first as a “a wife, a mother, and a cupcake addict“, it’s pretty obvious there’s a very talented graphic designer in there too! For example, take a peek at (a small part of) the amazing invitation that she designed for the party:

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

Pretty cool, right?! More details on this “vintage book” style invitation are below, along with LOTS more inspiring images (as captured by Courtney Jade) and all the creative party details, as told by Jessica…

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

Our little Emerson tuned ONE in December! I always hate it when my babies get older. I think first birthdays are always hard on mamas. Here’s a look at how we celebrated his big day….

I knew I wanted to do a vintage style first birthday party. (Since Emerson is our third son, I felt like I had to be a bit more creative since we’ve already done many of the “traditional” party themes.) Thankfully, I’d been thinking about Emerson’s birthday for awhile and bookmarking things on Delicious. Here’s a peek at the final inspiration board:

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

Emerson’s birthday invite was the first piece that set the tone for the party . I created a heavily distressed vintage book invitation complete with a removable book slip cover!

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

Courtney, from Courtney Jade Photography took the amazing photos of Emerson used in the invitation and was kind enough to blog about the invitations (with plenty of detail shots!) right here.

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

I booked the party at Gymboree Play and Music. It was so fun and the staff was amazing! I literally brought in my whole house for Emerson’s party. Thankfully, I had a ton of help though from my mom and sisters, who came early to help me set up the dessert table…

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

I went with a ‘Milk and Cookies’ theme for the dessert table. I created an assortment of cookies, most of which I didn’t even have to bake. It was so easy and quick! Who knew if you just added chocolate to pre-made cookies it made them taste better and look prettier?!

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

A few of my favorite decorative elements on the dessert table were the adorable polka dot suitcases. I purchased them all the way from Australia from etsy shop Retro Bird Designs.

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

Since I broke my arm in early November, I really took it easy and “made” many treats that really just required some extra chocolate or assembly. I got a ton of ideas from Hostess Blog (HWTM), like these Candy Cane Mint Milanos, which were easy to make and a huge hit! I also loved the $0.99 cent picture frames that were used as signs at this birthday party and this bridal shower on HWTM and used them all throughout the party. Aren’t they cute?!

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

One of my favorite items was the chocolate milk served in mini glass bottles with retro stripe straws! They were the perfect size for little ones and really added that little something  ‘extra‘!

Continuing on with the cookie theme, I made Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and sewed them in glassine bags that I purchased from Garnish, which is also where I bought the cute wooden forks.

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

If you know me at all, you know I love cupcakes. I always make cupcakes. For Emerson’s party, I made both banana and coconut. I’m partial to banana though!

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

Click here to check out a DIY tutorial on the little cupcake stands that I made for each kid. These were super easy to make too and I am in LOVE with how cute they are!

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

I gave each of the kids their own screen printed muslin bag with their name on it. I also made some extra bags with the words ‘thank you’ on it.

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

I didn’t want the kids to have to carry all of their goodies, so I purchased little polka dot gable boxes to put all of the party favors in and made little ‘library cards’ to clip on the boxes so each kid had a label on their box:

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

With so many kids, I think over-labeling their items is the best way to go!”

Office Themed Boy First Birthday Party

Vendor Credit

26 Comments

  1. Fernanda January 4, 2011 at 10:34 am

    Adorable!

  2. Latisha Horton (Eccentric Designs) January 4, 2011 at 11:01 am

    Everything looks so amazing …

  3. Sandy January 4, 2011 at 11:19 am

    Love this party!! There are so many great ideas. Where can we find the milk bottles from? Thanks!

  4. Mindy January 4, 2011 at 11:26 am

    so creative, cute and fun!

  5. sandyq January 4, 2011 at 10:31 am

    WOW its soooooooooooooooo cute!!! Love this BLOG..

  6. Kelly Lyden @ WH Hostess January 4, 2011 at 10:35 am

    Such a cute theme!

  7. The Fairy January 4, 2011 at 10:44 am

    Super cute! I keep seeing these little milk bottles and would love to know where to get some without having to drink a bunch of lattes …

    • Melinda January 18, 2011 at 6:13 am

      If you’re looking for the mini glass milk bottles you will find them in my Etsy shop. Best Wishes, Melinda (Australia)

  8. Rowaida Flayhan January 4, 2011 at 11:56 am

    adorably cute! love it

  9. Samantha {Papermints} January 4, 2011 at 12:25 pm

    Omg, seriously cute stuff! Love the little cupcake pedestals and the cake smashing pic is so adorable!

  10. Nancy Hilliard January 4, 2011 at 12:44 pm

    Oh my gosh! I love your blog! So many wonderful ideas! Makes me want to start on one of my New Years Resolutions………..Celebrate more!

  11. Jessie January 4, 2011 at 1:22 pm

    This is incredible!! I can’t believe she’s not a professional event planner.

  12. Sandi January 4, 2011 at 7:47 pm

    wow! the dessert table is incredible! and the birthday boy is too cute!

  13. Chrystal Tuning January 4, 2011 at 10:03 pm

    WOW!!! She is amazing!!! she out does herself every party, I have been blessed enough to be her friend and I tell you she is sooo creative and heartfelt in all she does!!! She makes us all a little jealous!!! Great Job Jess!!!

  14. Courtney JADE January 4, 2011 at 11:36 pm

    What a great post!! Jessica is amazing, and I am happy to be her friend! She throws such amazing parties, you should check out her blog! :)

    • Natalie McGensey January 17, 2011 at 6:35 pm

      Can we have the information on her blog, please? I would love to start following her.

      Thanks!

    • jenn s. January 17, 2011 at 6:52 pm

      Hi Natalie –
      You can follow Jessica’s blog here: https://modernmomentsdesigns.com/ – and she’s also on twitter here: !/jessicawilcox :)

  15. Miche January 5, 2011 at 10:05 am

    Adorable party…Emerson is sooo cute, love those baby blues!

  16. Susan @ Entertain Exchange January 5, 2011 at 2:37 pm

    Adorable!

  17. Valerie@yellow+gray January 7, 2011 at 5:17 pm

    This is an awesome party! Love the color scheme. I’m curious about the inspiration board. How do you do that?

    • Jessica January 8, 2011 at 7:11 am

      Hi Valerie,

      I designed the inspiration board in photoshop. I am a total visual person and it helps me focus on the details I’d like to include at my parties.

    • Valerie@yellow+gray January 20, 2011 at 3:15 pm

      Thanks Jessica!

      I’m very visual too so I def. need to learn photoshop. The board is awesome!

  18. Jessica January 8, 2011 at 7:10 am

    Hi Everyone! Thank you so much for the wonderful comments! I really appreciate it!! So, the glass bottles were purchased in Australia. The glass bottles came from Santa Vittoria Fruit Nectars. They are sold at Woolworths/Safeway in 6 packs for around $5/pack. Each bottle holds approximately 4 fluid ounces. I begged a friend to send them to me. An alternative I’ve seen used are the Starbucks Frappuccino glasses or the Archer Farms (Target Brand). Any small glass bottle will work. Hope that helps! Sorry I couldn’t be of more help! I’m hoping someone will start importing them to the states!

  19. Melinda January 18, 2011 at 6:17 am

    Anyone chasing the glass bottles is welcome to purchase them via my Etsy shop, http://www.retrobirddesigns.etsy.com. I’m out of the full Polka Dot suitcase sets at present, but may reorder them in future if the demand is there.

    I hope this helps.

  20. Amanda January 20, 2011 at 9:32 am

    This party is GORGEOUS! TY for finding such great part inspiration :)I featured this party today on my blog and linked back to you!Amandafrillsandfrolic.blogspot.com

  21. Jackie January 31, 2011 at 11:30 am

    I love this so much! It’s similar color/pattern scheme to what I’m planning for my daughters first birthday. I LOVE baking cupcakes in souffle cups but I have never seen them with polk dots! SO adorable, where did you get those?

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