Black + White Fall-Inspired First Birthday

10/28/2014

Black + White Fall-Inspired First Birthday

Your child's first birthday is such a wonderful time of reflection. It's not only a big number for your baby, who is now considered a toddler (yikes!) but parents should celebrate too...especially if it's your first. My husband and I feel completely blessed by our guy. Sure, there have been tough moments but we have really tried to embrace all stages of this first year and celebrate them all. Here is what we did to celebrate...and there are lots of pictures in this post, so beware!

In planning our little man's party, a black and white theme was the first that popped into my head. And my dog really became my inspiration - I mean look at him - he's all black, white and brown kraft paper all rolled into one! Being that our guy was born on the 21st of October, it made it pretty easy to incorporate fall-inspired food for the party. On the menu, we had Warm Vanilla Apple Cider, Caramel Corn, and Pumpkin Spice Cake just to name a few. I will share these recipes in the next several posts.

I had a large roll of brown builder's paper handy from left over painting projects. This is awesome for so many things! Seriously, you must get it. For roughly around $11.00 it is so worth it. I used it to cover my table so then I used permanent marker to label what the appetizers were. This is actually a great alternative to a traditional tablecloth for the holidays or really any large get-together, especially for a kids table. Leave a box of crayons there and it will keep kids occupied while the adults get to linger at their own table.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Trimaco-35-in-x-140-ft-Brown-Builder-s-Paper-35140/202040749?keyword=painters+paper

Using the brown builder's paper, I also made a backdrop for his high chair during the cake smash. I had purchased a large roll of 1inch kraft stickers from Amazon to attach the black crepe paper to the builder's paper. I also used the stickers to post up his monthly pictures, secure napkins around silverware, and to decorate a ghost pumpkin. I was also going to put them on the balloons but that was a last priority and it didn't make the cut due to time.

I also cut out some bow ties to use as decoration and to use on my caramel corn favor bags. I found a free clip art template online and then I purchased a book of paper from Michael's for $5.99. From this paper, I also used it as a background to post all of his monthly pictures I had taken (as you can see in the picture above).

Also at Michael's, I found this kraft and chalkboard banner paper. So using jute twine, also purchased cheaply from Home Depot, I made some banners...

I also used the banner paper and attached to 12 white balloons, numbered for each month.

I love making caramel corn during the fall months. I wanted to send it home as a favor so this is how I did it. I got some cheap brown lunch bags from Target and also got the gift tags and the chalkboard pens I used in the Dollar Section at Target. I used the bow tie and a small clothespin (purchased from Michael's) to secure the bags.