I cannot believe my baby is ONE! *Cue the tears.* Riley's first birthday seemed to come and go a lot more quickly than Ian's did, and I was so not prepared. We decided to keep it super small and only invite immediate family and 3 of Riley's buddies. I loved that it was intimate, and since it was SO hot outside that day, it was nice to not have everyone crammed on top of one another inside. Although I was prepared with our corn hole and some shade in the back, it was still miserable out there. We were so appreciative of everyone's birthday wishes to our little man!
I picked the donut theme the week before his party after stumbling upon the "donut grow up" idea on Instagram. I figured it would be something I could easily pull off with little prep time, but still look cute and put together (although scrambling the two days Ian was in school that week and having Riley with me while trying to run million errands wasn't ideal - ha!).
I did see where you can order donut boards from etsy and other places that were adorable, but obviously I didn't have the time to do that. I'm glad I didn't though because this one was super easy to make and really affordable, which is right up my alley! I went to Home Depot and got one sheet of pegboard for just under $10, I think it was. Then I ordered these hooks off of Amazon for really cheap. I tried hard to find some long wooden ones, but I knew these would for sure fit the peg holes, so I played it safe.
I don't have great handwriting and certainly don't know how to do calligraphy (although I would love to learn), so I tried to figure out the best way to make the "donut grow up" look like it was done free handed without having to do it myself. I used Canva to find a font I liked and printed it on transparent paper I found at Michaels (I'm sure you could find some on amazon too). It just peels right off and sticks wherever you want it to go (and surprisingly it was actually pretty each to reposition off of the peg board had I needed to). Before I peeled it off, I bought some glitter and glue and traced the letters with glue where I wanted to add the silver glitter, let it dry, shook off the excess glitter, and that was it! I did cut around the wording so it wasn't just large sheets of paper, which made it look more like it was freehanded.
I decided to do a balloon arch to add a little more to it and make it more festive! I bought this balloon arch strip from Party City, and it makes it SO easy to create them. This was only my second time making balloon arches, so I would love to get more creative with them the next time. I was pretty pleased with how they turned out being that I'm still an amateur. ;) I know there are other ways to make them that are pretty simple too, but the strips just made it a lot easier for me since I was making them both by myself!
I made Riley's name banner before he was born, so I was excited to finally use it! I ended up using a tension rod and some plain white curtains we already had to create a "backdrop" to go behind his high chair. I kept the ribbon banner that I made for Ian's birthday (not quite sure how it didn't get lost or destroyed in the past two years!) to use it again for Riley, and it worked perfectly with the rest of the decor. Which, by the way, the ribbon banners are super easy and fun to make yourself too!
That little Lightbox you see in the picture above is SO fun! I completely forgot about it after we used it for Ian's 2nd birthday, but I was glad we pulled it out for Riley's birthday this year. I've linked one similar below if you want to snag one for yourself!
I had been taking month by month pictures of Riley over the past year, and although I missed a few months, I loved putting them all together on this little chalkboard that the boys have. I had written a few milestones on the other side, but it got erased by a certain little toddler before I could get a picture. I should've known that wouldn't last very long!
Lastly, I used the cookies I ordered as the goody bags for his party. I made the little tags in Canva as well and just printed them off on regular paper (although I usually prefer card stock paper for projects like this since it's thicker). I ordered his cake and cookies from Publix, and they were delicious! I am always super pleased with their bakery when the girl I usually use isn't available to do our desserts.
Overall, I thought his party was a success, and I still can't believe we have two toddlers in the house! Boy oh boy, how does time go so quickly the older we get!?
Riley man, you are so special to us, and I love getting to be your mama. You have been such a blessing to our family, and we couldn't be more thankful that you're ours. We love you so much!
Have a great week friends! Thank you so much for reading and letting me share the details of this special day with y'all!
xoxo, Ash
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