I can't believe that our little girl is already ONE! I have no idea where the last year has gone. People tell you that it's goes fast, but I had no idea it would be over in the blink of an eye.
Isla is growing into the most beautiful, kind hearted little girl. She has such a sweet heart and her little personality is shining through. I couldn't be more proud of who she is becoming. Every day we watch her learning new things, and her curious eyes watch your every move. Her laugh is infectious, her smile is BEAUTIFUL, and her joy is so obvious. She can't help but bop along to music and squeal while she excitedly runs down the hallway. The way she cuddles us, and all of her toys completely melts me from the inside out.
I didn't know that I could have so much love for such a little person. My heart feels like it's bursting, in the best kind of way.
We threw her a little first birthday party over the weekend, and made it bright, fun and colourful, just like Isla. As you probably know, I've always been a big DIY person, so planning this party was no different! Some ideas I came up with in my sleep, and others I got inspiration from pictures I had seen.
I had planned a confetti themed party, with a pretty little dash of boho thrown in, and it was going to be held out the back of our Nans place. There are these beautiful trees there, and with all the decorations I planned out, it was going to create this special little outdoor space. But in my head, the weather was going to be beautiful also, and unfortunately on the day it of course decided to pour down with rain!! As it always seems to do when you plan an outside event. Typical. SO, come Saturday it was a little stressful changing the whole party location to be undercover. In fact, I didn't even get to use my most favourite DIY project that took me probably a week straight to make, because there was no place to hang it. Ahhh. Such is life. The day still turned out really lovely, and Isla had an absolute ball which is the important thing!
I wish we had gotten more photos, but with the rush of things on the day, it just didn't happen! I've put together a few snaps so you can see some of the things we made.
One of my favourite things I made was the little romper you see on Isla above!! A couple days before her party, I drafted up a pattern from scratch, and cut out my pattern onto plain white fabric. Then I got my fabric ink out and mixed up some colours. Using different sized circular foam brushes (which I later found out are called Dabbers) I stamped on the confetti spots! Once dried, I ironed it to set the ink, and then sewed it together.
It turned out even better than I thought it would! She looked like a giant confetti marshmallow, and I LOVE it! If it didn't take so much time to make to the pretty fabric, I would be selling these in my shop! In fact.. I might just do it anyway!! Because it's so pretty, and life needs pretty things in it.
I picked up some glass vases from local Op Shops, with the idea to make some table decorations! When I got home, I painted them white. It probably took about 3 coats of paint. Then I used my confetti hole punch and coloured card, both from Spotlight, and glued on little confetti spots close to the tops of the vases. I love how they turned out. Then I realised I probably needed something to go in the vase, and I made up Pom Poms, and hot glue gunned them onto kebab sticks that I had also painted white. So pretty!
One of the big projects that took a lot of time was these giant paper mache letters! My Sister-in-Law had previously cut the letters out from foam blocks using a wire cutter. She had them for her engagement party, and said I could have them. She had all the letters I needed except for the 'I'. So I used an 'R' and cut it up to make an 'I'. Honestly, it was very messy and I had foam everywhere in our kitchen because I didn't use a wire cutter! But once I got a coat of paper mache onto it, it was much better. I painted them white, and then stuck more confetti card all over them! This took hours and hours, but I loved the end result! The letters were originally going to stuck in the grass, but due to change of location, they ended up on the food table.
Who doesn't love Oreos covered in white chocolate.. and then covered in Sprinkles?! Thank you Pinterest!!
Also whipped up some fruit kebabs sticks to have for people to make their own fruit sticks. (You know.. a healthier option to the Oreos!)
The day before the party I quickly typed up some 8"x10" prints to have around the place as well. Some of these will be going in her room now.
My favourite DIY project that I mentioned before was a beautiful white backdrop. It took so long to make, and unfortunately didn't get used! HOWEVER, it's now hanging in Isla's room, so I can't complain. It's made from deli paper. We cut up 1000's of little white half circles, and taped them into cones. Then using a pin and fishing wire, stitched them into rows of roughly 30. I really love how it turned out! He's a sneaky preview..
With the help of my Mother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law, we spent a couple nights making 16 giant DIY tissue paper flowers. I bought and painted the sticks white, then made the tissue paper flowers. I later stuck them to the sticks, and they were placed in the garden. There were dark pink, light pink, dark purple, lights purple, white and mint green ones. So pretty! We didn't get a photo of them at the party, but I got one afterwards. As you can see, Isla was a big help with getting a photo!
OH! And one more mention! Because they took so long to make! I bought some packets of little wooden spoons for the Ice Cream bar. I painted the ends white, then stamped on words, then painted on little coloured dots to go with the theme! Cuuuuutee.
I have a few snaps from her actual party, so I'll post them below. Lots of fun things, like an Ice Cream Bar and Macaroons with personalised box covers as favours! But another one of my favourites is the cake that my Mother-in-Law made! It was a confetti cake with actual confetti cake spots throughout it. Again, we got the idea from Pinterest. It turned out great!!
Oh! Another genius idea by my Mother-in-Law was the large blow up pool with little balls that she organised. She also hired play equipment for the kiddies. It was definitely a hit! Isla was making friends and making my heart burst even further!!
Now that the party is over (and the house is finally clean again), I can relax a little and get back into a normal routine. Getting to sleep before midnight is definitely a good thing!!
All in all, the party was a success! We are so lucky to have such amazing family and friends in our lives. Isla was totally blessed and spoilt with love. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us, and to everyone that helped make the day happen!!
SO MUCH LOVE FOR ALL OF YOU!
Until next time..
- A M Y D A V I S
