Red and Turquoise Winter One-derland Party

I've heard that having a birthday so close to Christmas can be tough on kids and adults. They get forgotten amongst all the craziness of the season. That is the absolute LAST thing I want for Cohen Gray. I want his birthday to be a real celebration every year, due to the circumstances surrounding his birth.

So many people say the first birthday shouldn't be a big deal since the baby won't remember it. I disagree. And as I've scoured the interweb for ideas for little c's birthday party, I've found countless people that think the same thing as me. When I compare what I did for the Winter One-derland Party, I did half as much as many mothers do for their kiddos' parties. No joke. We'll blame it on the fact that I work full-time, that I don't know anything about design, and that it came at the busiest time of the year. Ok, now I'm not feeling as guilty for not doing so much.

And so I present to you the Winter One-derland Party for Cohen Gray Hancock.  

 
 Because the party was from 2:00-4:00 (conveniently sandwiched in between the birthday boy's morning and afternoon naps), I decided to do a dessert buffet rather than food or simply cake.

 
Here's a tip: don't bake the cupcakes 2 days before the party and not cover them. They'll turn rock hard and people will lick off the icing and not eat the actual cupcake. Not that I did that or anything. I've just heard. The runner is wrapping paper. The cupcake toppers were easy peasy with a snowflake punch I grabbed at a scrapbook store going out of business and selling everything at 50% off. I snagged the pinking shears there too. A little tape and a toothpick and voila! Instant cupcake toppers.

 
 
 

White popcorn containers from Walmart with scrapbook paper and my snowflake punch again. I really liked how they turned out. I wish I'd had double the popcorn as there weren't enough savoury things. Things to remember for next time.
 

Turquoise turds a.k.a. French Macaroons. Tasted great. Looked like poop.
 
 
The AWESOME cake pops my friend April made. These were the absolute hit of the party and everyone asked about how she made them. If you live in northern Utah and want amazing cake pops, let me know and I'll put you in touch with her. Not only did they look great, they tasted great. She's not just a pretty face!

 
 
And what first birthday party would be complete without a photo for every month that the birthday boy has graced this earth?

 

Scrapbook paper, Currency font, pinking shears and ribbon.
 
And the garland that has inspired me to make Valentine's Day garlands, St. Patrick's Day garlands, President's Day garlands...the list goes on and on. Fun with sewing machines.

 
I also sewed doilies together and hung them in all the windows and put some individual ones on the mirror. The hanging snowflakes were for the birthday boy as he loves to walk down the hallway at "school" and try and touch all of the kids' artwork hanging from the ceiling.

 
And of course, the birthday boy before he slipped into his cupcake coma. I love the red velvet goatee.