Little ONE, Big Adventure [Little Girl's 1st Birthday Party]

I had some other DIY posts I've been wanting to share with you but after my daughter's first birthday party last weekend, I just couldn't wait to share and decided to bump this one up!  See, here's the thing: I apparently created a theme that doesn't exist. At least on Pinterest (which in the crafting world is really all that matters, right?) I didn't do this to be ultra creative or to get new blog content.  As a matter of fact, I wish I had a little more help in deciding how to pull it all together because as it was, I was up making things the night before the party as my mind finally figured out what I wanted to do. Or maybe a little because I always work last minute like that.  But let's go with the former... it makes me sound less of a hot mess.

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When deciding the theme I had 2 points I wanted to hit:
1- I wanted a theme that demonstrated some sort of "girl power". Although we are all about tutus and hairbows at our house, it always kind of rubs me wrong when people automatically call my daughter a pretty princess. Her bedroom is decorated in lovely pastel watercolor flowers and quotes (lots of quotes) about being curious, growing wild and achieving her goals. I want her to know even at age one that there is more to life than being a pretty princess (not that there is anything wrong with wanting to be a princess either- just... be a capable one).

2- I also wanted to incorporate a theme that actually related to her. This is hard to do for a first birthday because they aren't into that much. We don't let our kids have screen time before age 2 so she doesn't have a favorite character & her favorite toys are whatever brother is playing with. But boy does this girl love to climb. She climbs EVERYTHING, all. the. time.


So here's what I came up with:

{I made this invitation on Picmonkey using backgrounds and mountain images I found on google}


When asked to explain the theme I would say "Little ONE, Big Adventure. It's mountains, clouds, very 'climb that mountain' seek adventure sort of theme".  When I tried to look this up on Pinterest  I found that everything was either too woodsy themed, or airplane themed. I also found that every single one of those ideas tended to be very masculine. Hmmph.

Who says girls can't be adventurous too? So this is what I came up with. Blues and pinks, mountains and clouds. Simple and absolutely perfect.


Now... onto the party details:
For the decor, I kept it simple. I had my husband cut out wood triangles in varying sizes. Then I painted them to look like mountains in blues and pinks. These went on the tables.  On some of the tables I also included some simple framed quotes that I also created on Picmonkey. Want to save yourself some time? I've included links to my designs so you can just print them off for your own party for free! Find them under the photos. ;) I've got your back jack.

{Love the sort of rugged wood grain look to them!}

Here are the printables, which print perfectly in a 5x7 size:

Get it here: "Seek Adventure" Free Printable

I don't know why the background looks yellowed (yes I do- my house has terrible lighting!) but behind the words it prints WHITE.

Get it here: "When you come to a mountain climb it" Free Printable

I also made cloud confetti to sprinkle on the tablecloths. 

I kept the wall decor simple and all about my daughter. On one wall I hung a mountain banner that I made out of Cardstock (and white paint for the peaks!) an "about you" chalkboard looking sign and some of my favorite photos from the moments following her birth.

{B&W Photo Credit: Elizabeth Hannah Studios

On another wall I included a newborn photo and months 1-11 (she wasn't 12 months by the time we had her party!) that I took with her bunny to show how much she has grown.

I hung some large Pom Poms from the divider ceiling and also included a banner that my friend made for me a year ago to hang next to our  Letterboard which displayed a fun little bit about her party "to dos".

But my favorite element was this "Adventure Bank". I had seen some really cute ideas online about making a bank to save money up for trips or other adventures, but I wasn't interested in people putting money in it. No.. I wanted adventure ideas! So I took one of those glass blocks with the opening on top (often used as a bank), added a vinyl design (found on google) put a piece of paper on the back and set it out with instructions on what to do.

I wanted our family to come up with some fun things for our daughter (and of course the rest of us) to do over the next year. It could be small adventures like a picnic in the park or big adventures like visiting a new state.  Here are some of the things people came up with:

As you can see from the picture on the right, our three year old also filled out a few of them himself.  He told me all about what each paper said. It. was. adorable.

Now this sits up in my daughter's room and we will work to empty this bank over the next year and maybe even add a few new ideas as we go!

I didn't forget about the cake!
What would be a party without cake? Although I didn't make it, I wanted to share photos of her smash cake (made by Spoonful of Sugar) and our adorable custom cupcake toppers from one of my favorite etsy shops: Shabby Mint Chic Party.  Even though this girl can't go one meal without smearing food in her hair, she managed to be the cleanest most delicate smash cake eater ever known and literally made no mess at all. Seriously, her tutu was as clean as when she started. *eye roll* Oh well, she still acted awfully cute for the camera ;)

{Cake from Spoonful of Sugar Baking and Catering}

{Custom cupcake toppers from Shabby Mint Chic Party. She has made so many awesome things for me, if you don't see what you want on her site, contact her and she can probably do it!}

Yes, that's a makeup brush in her hand. It's clean and my kids love it. She wouldn't let it go! As you can see I also painted large mountains that I stuck to the wall for a photo backdrop. All I used was poster board, paint and sticky tack (to hang it up!)



Last but certantly not least- her OUTFIT!

What's a birthday party without a special outfit? Especially when we own our own etsy shop that specializes in infant & toddler apparel.  My lovely mama created this ah-mazing tutu and we created the onesie design based off of an image we found and loved online (that just said adventure under the mountains). I wish the light pink showed up better in photos. It's absolutely perfect!

If you'd love a custom outfit for your little one's birthday, shoot us a message on our etsy page and we'll hook you up! *This exact mountain design not available for purchase because it is not our design*

{Isn't she darling though?}

What do you think?
How did I do in pulling off this sort-of-made-up theme? I'm so pleased with how everything turned out and I think it was absolutely perfect for celebrating my curious, climbing sweet little one year old on her special day. I would love to hear what themes you did for your baby's first birthday so please comment below and let me know!  We've got years of parties ahead of us, so I could always use new ideas!