Rex's 1st Birthday Party

Rex turned one year old six months ago, so it is about time I finally get around to blogging about his first birthday party. I realized that I hadn't documented it on the blog yet when I started thinking about his next party - so sad. But better late than never. We had a small party for family and close friends at our home on a Saturday in October. Saturday's in October are always centered around football in our household, so I kept the menu casual and ball game friendly. I made most of the food myself, ordered a few items from a local grocery and farmed out the cakes and cookies since I prefer not to bake when I host parties.

First, let's start with a picture of the Birthday Boy. I try not to flood this blog with pictures of him since it is a food blog and I strive to stay true to its origin, but I do love sharing him with my readers when the posts allow me to go in that direction. Forrest and I are so in love with this little guy and are so thankful for him every day. It was a hard first year with lots of adjustments, but we are so happy that he is the reason we had to celebrate that day.

Below is a picture of the invitation, the main birthday cake and his one year photo garland (thanks Pinterest for the idea) in the background. Very early on in his life Rex was given the nickname, "Beep Beep". I think nicknames are so funny, because it is almost impossible to shorten the name Rex and it seems like there would be no need for a nickname. But nicknames are given for all sorts of reasons and almost everyone in this family ends up with their own. As soon as I saw this stationary suite I knew this would be the party theme. It was too good to be true.

The next picture is a shot of the plastic silverware displayed in mason jars tied with Divine Twine, the smash cake in the shape of a car and his embroidered bib.

The website I used for the invites had coordinating almost everything. Below are the water bottle labels that were too cute to pass up.

I wanted to have something for the children to do while the adults gawked at the football games of the day. Since the party was in October, I put together a table with craft supplies and mini pumpkins for the kids to decorate in the backyard.

Below is a closer look at the photo garland I hung on our mantel. We took pictures of Rex on the 11th (he was born on the 11th of October) of every month during his first year. I then chose my favorite shot from each month and made the photo garland showing his growth during the year. It was a great personal touch to the decorations and the guests really enjoyed looking at them.

I ordered the cookies from a company that is sadly no longer in business. They made the most delicious decorated sugar cookies I have ever eaten. I put labels on the back of them from the same company that did the invitations and these served as the party favors.

As I mentioned above, I made most of the food with the exception of the mini-muffalettas and the sushi. I have also included a source list below of the companies I used for all of the party details. I love throwing parties and this one was a blast. 2nd birthday, here we come!

Menu:

Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Pizza Puffs
Mini Muffalettas
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Sushi
Hot Dogs & Chili
Potato Chips

Source List:

Stationary: WH Hostess
Cakes: Sweet Little Designs
Custom Jon Jon: Etsy seller renwill22
Custom Bib: Monogram Express
Cookie Favors: Company no longer in business :-(