very first birthday

Party people in the house! We had a birthday celebration this weekend to celebrate Eve's very first birthday. We've been getting a little stir crazy from the long winter, so we were in the mood for a party. And who wouldn't want to party with this girl?!

First up, alert the public. I went the lazy green route and used digital invites from Paperless Post. This is one great site. We're talking well designed stuff people, not some crappy evite. Their selection is awesome and they manage your responses to boot. Two thumbs up to Paperless Post.

Now let's raise the roof and get crafty. It was time to pull out all of those things I've pinned and thought "I'll try that someday."  First up, a DIY Yarn Wreath I saw on Effortless Style.

It was really very simple - just a Styrofoam wreath form and some yarn. Wrap yarn until covered. Two things to note though - this does take a wicked amount of yarn. Being yarn ignorant I had no idea how much to get so I ended up having to go back for more. One super large yarn roll should suffice. Also, this is a 2 1/2 Top Chef episode project (for you non Top Chef fans, that's about 2 1/2 hours). So make sure to give yourself the time.

 Instead of several small flowers, I went with one big Carrie Bradshaw flower. Very season 3.

You may remember my Dollar Store obsession paying off with my Peppermint Wreath. Well that place rocked it again by supplying me with lots and lots of gum balls.

I'm not much of a 'theme' person, but I did find myself using polka-dot (surprise surprise) type things over and over again. So for those party people in need of a theme - let's go with polka dots. Colorful gum balls = polka dots.

I found the wooden letters for $.99 and the wooden circle thingys (what would you call those) in the dollar bin at Michael's. They were originally naked wood, so I dressed them in white and attached them with some pink grosgrain ribbon and my trusty glue gun.

The design fairy was on my side as Eve works perfectly with the rule of threes.

The ice cream cone bubbles from Target worked perfectly for favors, trimmed with polka dot ribbon. Hey, those hydrangeas could act as big huge polka-dots too. Oh this is getting fun. Kind of like Where's Waldo.

Martha Stewart provided me with a paper pom kit that was easy enough for a craft challenged person like myself to follow with no problem. Thank you Martha.

More polka-dot ribbon to keep with the non-theme theme.

Eve is a hard core meat lover (we are so proud) so I made meatball sandwiches (polka-dots get it?) along with fruit kabobs and tomato, basil and mozzarella sticks. OK, so maybe I am getting into this polka-dot theme.

There were vegetables on this spread, I promise. Mental note- make sure everything is on the table before taking pictures.

And of course, what is a birthday party without a cake.

Most importantly the birthday girl approved.

A good time was had by all but I have to say I'm glad its over.  I am pooped out! Thanks to everyone who joined in the celebration. My how quickly a year flies!