The Making Of Alice’s Perfectly Simple 1st Birthday Party.

(Note: Don’t read this one first! The details about how wonderful and beautiful Alice is can be found here. LOVE!)

Lately I’ve been feeling that the simple joys in life are the best parts.

I love that my kids love the classic, simple toys best.

And I’ve been trying to figure out how to keep things just a bit simpler at home.

So when it came time to plan Alice’s first birthday party, I kind of went with that feeling — simple joys.

I just wanted it to be a perfectly fun and low-key party.

Sweet and pretty — just like Alice.

So if you’re in the market for an outside Spring picnic party — I think you’ve made a wonderful choice!

This was one of my most favorite parties ever.

Here’s how we did it…

This invitation inspired the idea and the colors really. I loved this invitation so much — and it’s free. My most difficult decision was choosing which of her amazing printables to use — I loved everything so much.

Does that party hat look familiar? It should. I called my sister the day before the party and asked if she still had all the party hats she made for my niece’s 1st birthday party almost 4 years ago. She did. They were awesomely perfect. (See? That’s simple!) And that burlap photo backdrop? That’s from Tom’s 1st birthday party.

Sidewalk chalk directions. Easy and super cute if you have a sister who not only makes and saves party hats for years, but also is WAY more artistic than you.

Dessert table.

I made the bunting above the table by buying a little stack of yellow fat quarters plus 1/2 yard of the kind of thin-lacey material from Hobby Lobby. Then I just cut them into different sizes and hot glued it onto twine I already had. The bunting was my favorite thing. It was exactly what I was picturing and I just loved it. And it was super quick to make.

The cupcake stands are “silver” platters and “crystal” candlesticks from the Dollar Tree that I hot glued together. I spray-painted them with primer first, then pink spray paint. (Make sure if you do this, you don’t put food directly on it. Cupcake wrappers are a must!)

I already had that basket with the apples in it. And I made my mom look through her garage and find me that wooden crate. I knew she’d have one!

The candy jars are ones I use at my house. The candies were bunny-shaped marshmallows (because it’s Easter time so they’re out now), and yogurt-covered pretzels from Publix.

The “tablecloth” is a blanket from Ikea I bought years ago and never used. So weird. It was perfect for this, though!

I made her cake and I adored it.

I know you could buy cake pans that size, but in case you’re me — here’s how you’d do it: Buy two 8-inch cake pans from the Dollar Tree. Once your cakes are baked, use a bowl as a guide to cut out the size you *actually* want it to be. Stack them and frost it and tah-dah!

The bunting is a free printable from this nice person! I loved it and will probably use it forever. I didn’t have wooden-dowel sticks for it, so I used some leftover grey-striped straws I had. (Leftover from Rachel’s baby shower.)

For drinks we had mason jars filled with lemonade, bottled water and juice boxes for the toddlers. Easy, easy.

I bought fabric from Hobby Lobby and cut them into squares. The tied-up packages housed a napkin, sandwich, crackers and grapes. When it was time for lunch, I just hauled the basketful of wrapped lunches outside and handed them out.

I thought it worked out really well, and loved that our guests didn’t have to worry about gathering a plate for themselves and their kids and all the chaos that can sometimes be. I just hoped everyone liked turkey and cheese sandwiches.

(The basket is from Alice’s room. All the baskets used that day were ones we use in our house.)

Picnic fun!

Everyone went home with a little pail of sidewalk chalk. Pails were from those lovely bins they have at Target that I may or may not have an addiction to. Aren’t they super cute? Lovely little things.