Friday, October 26, 2012

Sophie's 1st Birthday Party



Sophie's first birthday party last weekend was by far my favourite party I've put together.  I'm not sure if it's because blue and white is my favourite colour combination or if because by now, after hosting several children's birthday parties I know what works for me and how I best organize things with as little stress as possible.  Either way, it was a wonderful morning celebrating the first birthday of our little girl with close family and friends.





Decorations consisted of a simple photo board, fabric bunting which I had sewn, jars of daisies wrapped in gingham ribbon, washi tape cupcake flags and checked tablecloths.  I also designed some bag toppers for the party favours which coordinated with the invites I had made.

We had some smaller tables set up under our patio but with the morning becoming quite hot, most guests congregated under the shady corner of our backyard where we had picnic blankets spread out, a picnic basket filled with baby toys and our sand pit close by for the little ones to play in.  The good old slippery dip was brought out at the end of the party too.













As for the cake and all of those fondant daisies I made, I'm not sure my photos do it justice.  I really wish I had a better shot that showed more detail as it looks smaller here than in real life and the icing was a pale lemon and not so yellow. I baked two simple butter cakes (I wasn't sure if one would be enough for all our guests) and smothered them in frosting before adding the daisies on at the last minute.



 

And as exhausted as we all were that afternoon (and the following day) we had a wonderful time celebrating.  Our mix of guests really made for a fantastic party, we had blue sunny skies (lucky considering it rained on Monday) and there was enough delicious food to go around... a perfect party combination in my books...

35 comments:

  1. What a lovely party you had for your sweet Sophie! Everything looks perfect, and Sophie is adorable!

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  2. Gosh it's all so beautiful! Such a lovely way to celebrate a 1st birthday. I love the blue and white theme too. And your cake! Wow you must have been so proud of how it came together.

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  3. All looks amazing! Love the bunting - did you make it or buy it? Also love the food spread!! What are those little tart things with blueberries on?? Oh Id love to know all about your party food! All lovely and soo soo soo organised and cute party favours! (Sorry Im blabbering now! Cassie

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    1. Thanks Cassie. For the food, I made homemade sausage rolls and zucchini slice the weekend before and froze them, towards the end of the week before the party I made a jelly cheesecake (the recipe for it is on my blog) and those little tarts you were asking about (I bought the tiny tart cases from Kitchen Warehouse at Cockburn Central. They were only around $14 for 48 and all I did was fill them with a white chocolate ganache... 150g chopped white chocolate and 1/3 cup of cream melted together... they can be made 2 days ahead and then topped with blueberries on the day of the party. You can also make your own tart cases from shortcrust pastry). The day before the party I made the cupcakes and birthday cake and on the morning of the party I made chocolate brownies and decorated the birthday cake. To make it easier, I bought some meatballs as well as some cocktail sausages for the kids, my Mum did my fruit platter and my mother-in-law did sandwiches. Any more questions just ask or email me :)

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    2. Thanks! It all looks fantatsic! Those tarts sound delicious - I will have to try them,I haven't made jelly slice in years but I love that too! I think last time I had it was a few christmas' ago. You've inspired me once again - thanks. Cassie

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  4. OOOp! Sorry - just read that you did sew the bunting! Well done you! Looks fab!! Cassie

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  5. It looks beautiful Amanda! I'm sure little Sophie enjoyed every minute (and her darling sister too!) xxx

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  6. What a lot of effort you went to! It all looks gorgeous, especially the cake. And Sophie is too cute! x

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  7. simply beautiful Amanda. I love everything you did for Sophie's party. And little Sophie is so gorgeous. Your cake turned out perfect. I love seeing parents do so much for the happy memory making of milestones. . . something I would like to make more effort with. I am inspired! xx

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    1. I think first birthday parties are special and I like to do that 'bit extra'. When I was making the lolly bags and proudly showed my design to my husband, he said I'd gone to a lot of trouble for something the children wouldn't even care about :)

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  8. oh wow! What a gorgeous party. That cake looks amazing! You know what I love the most? It looks so chilled out and pretty. A perfect combination. Well done Amanda. You are making beautiful memories for your girls xx

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  9. Little Sophie looks so sweet in her blue birthday dress and the cake is perfect...in fact all your efforts were, really! What a special day!

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  10. Well done with the cake, the daisies scattered over it are so sweet. Looks like it was a lovely day!

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  11. Just gorgeous Amanda. I love blue and white too, and with a perfect dash of lemon there as well. Her dress is adorable and I can't go past the daisies in the jar - my fave :-) Well done! Mel x

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  12. What a lovely party Amanda, you did so well with everything. It all looks fantastic and sounds like it was a great success. xx

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  13. Amanda, your cake looked fantastic. Well worth all those hours of fiddly piping. Everything looked so well laid out. I can see the organised teacher in you coming out. Lovely photos, looked like a fun day.

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  14. Happy birthday to your beautiful Sophie :)

    That cake is absolutely stunning. You are very good at putting together parties. This one, like all the others, looks so pretty.

    Lucky girls to have such a thoughtful and creative mummy.

    x

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  15. What a fantastic job you did Amanda! Everything looks just perfect. That cake (and the daisies!) is a sight to behold. Wonderful memories for Sophie to look back on in years to come. ;)Sharyne

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  16. What sweet memories to cherish, Miss Sophie (and Miss Grace)look very cute and happy. Your cake looks wonderful, perfect for a 1st birthday.I liked the photoboard idea as well.

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  17. Happy Birthday, Sophie! She is so precious and I love her sweet dress. I also love the colors you used for the party and daisy cake is so pretty. Great job!

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  18. sophie's birthday party looked like such a sweet day -- i adore her pretty dress and the cake! the cake looked so cute...you are very talented. and i love how you sewed the bunting (my bunting was super quick by cutting out felt...i envy your sewing skills!)

    and most importantly, sophie looked like she had a lovely time. :)

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  19. Lucky little Sophie. Looks like a great party. Everything looks fantastic. And that cake is amazing!! Her dress adorable too. And I love the bunting! Happy Birthday Sophie!

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  20. YAY! It's perfect. All of it.
    The cake looks amazing. And the theme is so true to your gorgeous little girl.
    Every little detail is so pretty Amanda. Looks like such a fun morning. Wish we lived closer :)
    xx

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    1. There would definitely have been an invite in your letterbox if you weren't on the other side of Australia :)

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  21. Happy first birthday to beautiful little Sophie. Gorgeous party and I have to say the cake looks amazing! I have Violet's second birthday coming up soon, but not sure yet what we're doing for it.

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  22. Happy First Birthday to your sweet little one Amanda, how that first year flies by! Great job with everything, it all looks beautiful.

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  23. Her birthday looks completely adorable! Love the baby blue xx

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  24. Amanda I cant't believe how much Sophie has grown...she is completely adorable!
    Looks like her first birthday was a most delightful day...love all your handmade touches.
    Xx

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  25. What a gorgeous, gorgeous day, happy birthday little lady! Love the daisy cake x

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  26. Oh my. What a delightful do you put on, you clever mama! Just astounding, all that attention to detail. And of course my blue and white loving heart is all a-flutter ☺. The jars are the bees' knees. Bravo, my friend! J x

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  27. I'm in awe of all those daisies and that beautiful cake Amanda. So special, and I love the simple little jars of daisies to match. x

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  28. Oh Amanda I am so sorry I thought that I had stopped by to comment on this beautiful post but it looks like I didn't, I'm sorry. It looks like you did a beautiful job on Sophie's birthday I love the photos each month you stuck up on the black board, I so wish I had done something like this for the girls. And that cake is just so so beautiful, all of that work you put into making it can be seen. I am truly sorry this is belated but I hope that your little Sophie enjoyed celebrating her special day. xx

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  29. WOW! Sophie's birthday looked SO beautiful! You did an amazing job, I love the blue and yellow, so pretty for a little girl. Your cake looks amazing, and I just love all the gingham!
    Jxx

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  30. You did such a beautiful job on your daughter's birthday party. So many sweet details.

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