I've been pretty obsessed with stripes lately, so thought I'd do a "sails & stripes" theme for his party with deep blue, seafoam green, and pops of yellow.
Once the invites were done, everything else came together easily..
The idea for the paper sailboats above came from here. I printed some coordinating patterns onto letter-sized paper and followed these instructions to make the boats. For the hat I printed the striped pattern on a half circle, glued it together to make a cone, and curled some strips of vellum to go on top.
I found the perfect striped fabric at Ikea and sewed drawstring bags to fill with goodies for the kids' favors. The adults got fruit jellies in glassine bags taped shut with striped stickers (printed onto adhesive sheets and cut into long strips).
All in all it was a great celebration. I know all the decor was really an excuse for me to have a little creative fun, but I figured a first birthday doesn't come around too often, and surviving the first year with a first kid is worth celebrating. This past year was quite a year for our family, with my dad losing a 2-year battle with cancer when Oscar was only 5 weeks old, and Oscar having some health issues that had us in and out of the hospital quite a bit. We are here today by God's goodness and grace, and are so incredibly thankful for Oscar, for each other, and for our family and friends.
a picture perfect party for a perfect little boy. congrats to all of you for being able to ride out all of the bumps of this year with so much love. and wendy, your designs are completely amazing!
ReplyDeleteyay for turning 1! :) Here's to many more years!
ReplyDeleteI love this stripe theme! Happy belated birthday to your little boy! He is adorable! Congrats on riding through the year.
ReplyDeleteJust Better Together
the party was just perfect, wendy! everything looked awesome and we had lots of fun! isa is still talking about puppies... THANKS, uncle irving. :P
ReplyDeleteHi! I landed on your blog while looking for some easy ways of making paper roses :-) I have to tell you that you are amazingly creative. Oscar is such a adorable baby - a Belated Happy Birthday to him.
ReplyDeleteso heartwarming and beautiful. here's to God's goodness through the highs and lows.
ReplyDeletewhat a wonderful celebration of life! sorry to hear about your dad...
ReplyDeleteYes, you definitely deserved a fun party after surviving the year! Looks like it was a lovely success!
ReplyDeletelove it!! was he fascinated by the candle or concerned? hehe - cornelia
ReplyDeleteAmazing Wendy.
ReplyDeleteI'm even more impressed than I thought I'd be.
You make me sick.
Ok, I don't mean that! It's just so incredible, how do you do it? You're oozing with talent, girl. Seriously!
Happy 1st Birthday to Oscar!! His party looked amazing - you did a fabulous job Wendy!
ReplyDeletethanks everyone :)
ReplyDeletejenn - you're hilarious.. and too kind!
yay!! =) happy birthday to oscar and good job and pr G for getting through this first year! ... and pulling off a party full of your special touches at the end. =)
ReplyDeleteVery cute theme! You did a great job Wendy!
ReplyDeleteOut of all of the one year old birthdays feting that first major milestone in a young family's life, yours was by far the most touching for what it represented, and the journey it marked. Your touches of beauty and creativity were the icing on the cake, adding extra loveliness to what was already a beautiful celebration of answered prayers. We give thanks to God for His mercy over every one of those mountains and valleys, for His hand in, over and through all things.
ReplyDeleteHappy belated birthday Oscar! I love how the post celebrates it, and I'm sure grandpa is pleased to watch from heaven that the family is managing by God's grace. Indeed, God is good.
ReplyDeleteMany more blessed years to come, Wendy.
absolutely perfect! what a sweet party. i love the details. fabulous job! happy birthday to your little man. :)
ReplyDeleteI stumbled on your blog via flickr. Wow what an incredible soiree you put together! You are amazingly talented.
ReplyDeleteAnd what a touching story about your year. I wish your family all the best.
I can't believe your little boy is one!!! Happy happy birthday, oscar!! Your decorations are so much fun and I bet the party was a hoot :D
ReplyDeleteWendy! It's been a while since I checked in! A long while.... I visited you back in June of ’09! You commented on my blog too. We connected over pancakes! :)
ReplyDeleteYour son is absolutely gorgeous! Oh I could just squeeze and kiss him! What a lovely age. My son is about to turn 3 very soon. Your son's name is Oscar?! My son is Oliver. Sometimes people call him Oscar as they forget his name! ;)
The 1 year party looks amazing! You are so talented and you have such good taste! I am going to devour this post and try to have a party just as special as this one for my Oliver.
Take care and I will check back often!
Hope you remember me!
Hugs, andrea
Happy one ! and all the best for the coming year. things are tough sometimes, but life is stronger. Hope to see you here more often ...
ReplyDeletexo
Great party! Love all the stripes and patterns! Beautiful invite, too. :)
ReplyDeletei love how you designed everything! :)
ReplyDeleteHey Wendy, I didn't realize that you had been through so much just in Oscar's first year. I still have his birth announcement up, and hope I can meet him someday. Your designs, pictures, and blog are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Oscar & your family for prevailing through a tough year. It's definitely worth celebrating. I love your designs and your blog inspired me to start my own. Keep it going!
ReplyDelete