ONE of a Kind: Mia's First Birthday Party

I started with a design mood board, just like I used to do with all my invitation clients, so I could set the tone for everything and pull from a cohesive color palette. It's really all about creating a "vibe" more than copying-and-pasting ideas. I've always admired my friend Kelsey Klos' colorful parties so lots of her daughter's parties ended up on my inspo board. If anyone knows to do color well, it's her!

I used to design wedding invitations full-time (and gosh I LOVED making pretty, customized paper!), so I had to go all out with stationery! I did a die-cut scallop design with funky ombre colors and watercolor brush calligraphy. The envelope liners were the same artwork as the abstract piece I used in her party backdrop so it tied together nicely! (I also saved the liner scraps and cut them up to use as confetti at the party as well!) The envelopes were the prettiest pastel purple with a hot pink wax seal and colorful vintage stamps...one of my signature embellishments! I couldn't resist adding some sparkly thread to the main invitation as well. It just felt right!

One of my favorite details was the paint can "jarcuteries." I wanted to serve guests out of personalized paint cans, and I needed ALL THE COLORS. I initially found some blank mini paint cans on Amazon, but while opening up a can of beans for Mia (listen...this girl is a pinto bean queen), I had the idea to use canned food cans! Of course, I had this thought at the last-minute, so needless to say, my family went through A LOT of cans over the few days leading up to the party. I calligraphed and designed the labels for Brighton Paint Co. (named after my daughter Mia Brighton, of course) and printed  and assembled on the freshly-washed cans. I used paper cups as inserts to make prepping the food easy AND prevent guests from cutting themselves on the sharp edges because we are all about #safety over here. It worked perfectly!

I designed a custom color palette poster with all of Mia's favorite things in color form. I thought it was a cute way to sum up a snippet of her personality, and we got lots of laughs from it! The other art piece I made for her was an abstract watercolor piece. Okay, so really it was just the scrap paper leftover from a painting, but those little messes are works of art in themselves. It was the perfect pop of color! As an extra nod to the art theme,  I added a cute museum gallery description too. Those were my two anchor pieces for the backdrop, and then I added on from there. I wanted it to feel like an artist's studio (AKA like mine!) with random little bits of art and inspiration hung up everywhere. I used the Pantone postcards to flow color all across the wall, and then pinned on artwork samples, invitations, envelopes, paper scraps and my Butterfly Party Punchies for a 3D effect! The finishing touch was the custom fringe garland from Glam Fete! I think they are a MUST for any party...I've got a collection started now!

I have a slliiiiight obsession with the melamine cake stands in our shop from Joyeux Company, so I was so excited to use those to display all the desserts! (Seriously, they are SO cute, and I have, like, a millions colors available in the shop!) I used some of my art books from my studio to add height to layer up the cake stands, and I added in some cute glass ones from Anthropologie too. I also DIYed a disco paint palette (you guys LOVED this haha), and I displayed it by the cake, along with the most beautiful glitter paintbrushes from Lauren Glass Designs. The palette and brushes together were a total showstopper! And of course, the dried floral bouquet fit the vibe of the party so perfectly, and I love that I'll be able to use it as a decor piece for quite some time! 

I started with one of my very favorite party pieces...one of my lilac striped table runners!! They are 8-feet-long and totally waterproof, so you can reuse them over and over again. Pretty cool, right?? I actually designed the lavender watercolor stripes just for Mia's party, but I added it in to the shop too because purple is THE color of the year, am I right? I then used my Instant Party Pink Grid Placemat Pad to add in some hot pink to the color palette and topped it off with fun paint swatch plates and napkins! My Birthday Girl Party Pennant made the perfect centerpiece because HELLO, every party needs a pennant. I used our gorgeous glass candle stick holders and vases for some more funky color with single stem florals. 

My mother-in-law graciously made beautiful paint palette and Pantone swatch cookies for the party. They taste even better than they look if you can believe it!! I got Mia's cake at Publix, and I learned that if you're ordering a cake for a first birthday party, they will also give you a FREE matching smash cake. #themoreyouknow. The cake was almost a disaster though because I gave them the color palette to work with, and they only used orange and purple so it got real Halloween-y, real fast. But ya know what, we ain't got time to worry about cake colors, so it all worked just fine! And it ended up looking adorable on the cake stand! #crisisaverted. (I don't know why I use so many hashtags, guys. It must be a millenial thing. I guess that makes me #officially old. OMG I #cantstop.) MOVING ON...

We had a table set up outside with sketch palettes and crayons! Nothing crazy, but it was something simple for the bigger kids to have fun, and it still fit the theme. (I was too scared to let everyone loose with real paint haha.) For favors, I used mini jelly bags from the shop and filled them with a pack of crayons and miniature paint palettes. The kids LOVED the mini palette because you could actually paint with it, and I'm a sucker for all things miniature. Obsessed!I

I hope you enjoyed this little decor recap of Mia's one-of-a-kind first birthday party! Of course, she is the real star of the show. I just gotta tell y'all...that girl PARTIED hard on her birthday. She enjoyed every minute, so much so she didn't even take a nap. She was way too jazzed for that! (And nope, it wasn't sugar...girlfriend wouldn't even touch her cake, let alone smash it haha.) She's the happiest, most wonderful baby girl, and it was such a joy to celebrate her! Now before I go into mushy mom mode, let's get back to business!

Here is the list of where you can grab all the fun stuff I used for her party! Almost everything is from right here in the shop! I truly love and use all of the products I bring in from other small makers...I hope you find something you love too!