It's been some time since I've updated my blog. I'm sorry about that.
This past weekend, Coraline Mae celebrated her first birthday. It's hard to believe my baby girl is one. Has time really gone by that fast? The changes in twelve months has been incredible. She went from a dependent seven pound newborn to an independent twenty-five pound little girl. I've learned so much about myself this past year. And I've learned more than I ever imagined about love. My love for her is so tremendous, so it seemed fitting that we chose a rainbow heart theme for her breakfast brunch. Of course, it was a crafty affair because everybody knows handmade means love! Or it at least it does in my world :) Even if it was exhausting to try to complete all the tasks while working too, I'm not sure I could have it any other way!
For her outfit, I made her crown of hearts from a recycled white leather skirt, cutting out the heart shapes using a Sizzix die. I then Mod Podged Martha Stewart glitter onto the hearts. It took a lot of coats! The headband itself is made from FOE elastic, and the hearts are hot glued to felt, sandwiching the elastic between. Her skirt was made using a Moda jelly roll in Snow, and strips of rainbow fabric (purchased locally) ripped into 3" strips. I serged the inside seams. An elastic waist with a casing and a fold over hem finished it. A dear friend purchased her the onesie top for her for Christmas, which just happened to match perfectly. Of course, we had to rainbow heart everything, including myself, so I made the heart necklace with sterling silver wire and gemstone beads purchased on Etsy.
This was the kitchen pre-party. The hubby and my dad worked a long time on balloons. This is where we served our breakfast casseroles. You can see in the background the curtain of rainbow hearts, cut from scrapbook and construction paper, again using the same Sizzix heart die from her headband.
Other parts of the house were decorated too, including our dining room (currently the hubby's record room) and our living room. The record room is decorated with honeycombs from Target. We covered the window to the door to the porch with rainbow wrapping paper and butterfly window clings. The guest table has jelly beans as a centerpiece and a book for signing. Her faux chalkboard with her statistics are seen in the background. On the far wall, you can see that the hubby even chose rainbow records to display to coordinate.
The cake was displayed on our kitchen table. We found the spell-your-own-word banner at Oriental Trading Company, and the Happy Birthday from the Christmas Tree Shop.
The cake stands were made from plastic rainbow color plates purchased at Big Lots glued to glass candlesticks from the Dollar Tree. My favorite display item was the rainbow star container found at the thrift store. When you wind the star, it plays "Over the Rainbow" like a music box. She gets a big smile any time she hears it :)
The hubby designed these party picks in Photoshop, and we decorated them with party hats stickers we found at Hobby Lobby. You also can get a better view of the cake stands. The textured teal table cloth and rainbow fabric were from my fabric stash.
Favors were gummy animals lollipops from BJ's and party makers and hats from the dollar store. The hubby designed the heart tags in Photoshop. The blue container with heart handles and rainbow tray were both thrifted.
Long view of the kitchen. So bright, so happy, just like my little girl! :)
You enter into our mudroom, so the doorway entry was decorated with mesh butterflies that I had purchased at a garage sale over the summer. I bought the cloud shapes and crepe paper strips at Oriental Trading Company, taping the strips to the back of the cloud shapes. I made the grapevine wreath last year shortly after she was born, using colored daisies I bought at Michael's. I added the pink balloon #1 purchased from a pack from Oriental Trading Co.
Just to make things interesting, we made our #1 jelly bean display a game where the winner won a Groupon. We also had
The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss out for people to sign. Cups and water bottles (not shown) were covered with a wrapper made in Photoshop by the hubby. Interesting factoid: Dr. Seuss and Coraline share the same birthday.
I printed some of my Instagram photos and displayed them on a heart garland I made of felt using the same Sizzix heart die. That die got a lot of use!
Close-up of the paper heart curtain
And of the cabinet photo display. We needed to use these cabinets, so made our display vertical. I wish I had glittered the clothespins, but I ran out of time.
I made a rainbow layer cake, which I felt was rather ambitious for me because I am by no means a master cake decorator. Unfortunately, the cake did crack, but the colors were just as beautiful as I hoped. It took four cans of frosting! The sugar hearts were purchased on Etsy.
I didn't make Coraline a smash cake, and I'm glad I did not because all she wanted to do was pick at it. I think she was a little overwhelmed with all the commotion by this point. I made her bib by tracing another one she had, and cut the heart and letters by hand with felt. I bought the red "You are special today" plate from Ebay, which I plan to reuse for future special occasions.
Nom nom
A close-up of her chalkboard. Fingers crossed, I hope to get a picture of her with this some time this week. She does not cooperate for posed shots any more, unfortunately. I made this using black foam board and metallic silver and gold markers. I did all the lettering by hand. And she had 2 more teeth pop up this past week, with 2 more on their way!
The birthday girl received many birthday kisses. Her smiles made it all worthwhile. I love you, baby girl! Happy birthday, beautiful! <3
Overall, it was a wonderful day! :-)
