Kinnley's Lady Bug First Birthday!

Alright, so let's just go back in time and reminisce!

I had so much fun planning Kinnley's first birthday party! I actually started buying and prepping in February 2014 for her party in August! When you settle on a theme that early it makes planning fairly easy and laid back. Since I had settled on a theme, I started with (of course) Pinterest. Secret boards are my friends.

With my pregnancy in full swing and not feeling my best, I was so thankful to have some great help from my mom (and my sisters!).

"Oh Happy Day" banner and mantle decor.

We hosted the party out at my parents' house. We just don't have the room currently to throw parties. Both the K and the 1 are from Hobby Lobby that I painted black. I sent Zach out for the flowers the morning of the party (thanks babe :) ). I got the cutest little bedazzled red clothes pins on sale at Hobby Lobby after Valentine's Day for 70% off (see what I mean about settling on a theme early?). We used the clothes pins to hang photos of Kinnley from her first year!

Kinnley with her smash cake!

Kinnley's smash cake was just a simple box cake with white buttercream frosting, courtesy of her Mimi. Plus the cutest little lady bug sugar cookie for decoration! My mom, Kinnley's Mimi, also made the paper decor toppers that say 'Kinnley' and '1'. It was decided that we should do the smash cake outside. Best. Decision, Ever. Her cake was served on the famous "It's your special day" plate. As kids, we were always served special meals on this plate. Like first days of school, birthdays, so on and so forth :) .

Birthday cupcakes with decorative toppers.

Once again a big thanks to Kinnley's Mimi! She made the cupcake toppers with her Cricut. I actually did contribute a little, by making these from-scratch red velvet cupcakes! Everything else served at the party was fairly simple. A simple red punch, a veggie tray, a meat and cheese tray, and of course the sugar cookies!

Here you can see that the cookies were packaged to go! Also, the cupcake stands from Pick Your Plum.

Another purchase I made way before the party was these cute little cupcake stands from Pick Your Plum! They always have the cutest things and for super cheap! The side that is showing is just plain gray, but if they are flipped it's chevron! (I'm thinking I'll be able to use them again for Baby #2's First Birthday!) You can also kind of see the lady bug cookies in this photo! My mom made them and then packaged them all separately so they would be easy to take to go! Perfect for keeping fresh and also sending multiples home with party go-ers so you aren't stuck with 37 sugar cookies :)

The party was a huge success and I cannot wait for her next party. For those of you wondering, YES I have already chosen a theme and created a secret Pinterest board...duh!