Violet's First Birthday Party: The Food

5.16.2011
So Violet's first birthday party was a success! The kids all had fun and Violet loved having all of her favorite people at her house. As usual I took WAY too many photos, so I'm going to do this in a few posts rather than a ridiculous long one, starting with...the FOOD!

I'm no Martha Stewart when it comes to food, so I have to say that I was pretty relieved when I didn't burn anything. I didn't do any real 'theme', so I tied it together by using reds and pinks throughout:


I've been collecting milk glass off and on for a long time now from the Salvation Army and I paired it with some basic white ceramic serving pieces. The beverage dispenser is from Cost Plus World Market. 


A friend of mine made the cupcakes (thanks Michelle!) , I ended up buying the flowers toppers from Etsy seller Millalove (ran out of time to DIY them), and I made the cupcake wrappers myself. I like cupcakes because there is no cutting or dessert plates necessary - I tried to do as much portable/finger food as possible. I always hate carting around a plate at a party. The little snack cones held veggie sticks - all of the kid parties I've been to have them and they always seem to be a hit. (Today was no exception.)



I (gasp!) made the Martha Stewart poppy cookies myself. I took a few shortcuts (I bought the sugar cookie dough instead of making it from scratch). Unfortunately they expanded during baking and ended up looking like blobs instead of flowers, so while they were still hot I cut them a second time with the cookie cutters and peeled off the edges. It seemed to do the trick and we had a lot of yummy cookie edges to snack on pre-party (bonus!)


I bought the cookie icing at the grocery store in tube form. You just squeeze it on, spread it with a knife, and it sets in about four minutes. A few pink sprinkles and a blob of black tube icing in the middle and bam! Quick and easy poppy cookies. I think the Martha Stewart recipe said it would take five hours and twenty minutes (seriously who has that kind of time?!) Mine took about 45 minutes (and I was able to do other things while they baked). Ten minutes to roll out the dough and cut, ten minutes to bake, and about 25 minutes to add the icing. Mine of course aren't nearly as perfect, but I have to say I'm pretty impressed with myself for a non-baker! (And they didn't taste too shabby either).


Napkins were from the Marimekko store at Crate & Barrel, and the favor bags are from Etsy seller Paper Nook. The stripey straws and paper cones are both from Shop Sweet Lulu, and the pink and red plates are from our local party store.





I also put together some veggie and fruit cups (Thanks for your help Mom! I seriously could not have pulled this off without your help. Love you!) inspired by a photo I came across on Pinterest. Another easy and portable idea for food. Yay!



In addition to the sweets and veggies, we had green salad, pasta salad, burgers, and hot dogs - your typical picnic-y type party food, nothing fancy. 


We kept the decorating pretty inexpensive with plain old crepe paper streamers and some fresh flowers from the grocery store/leftover from Mother's Day.


So there you have it - FOOD! Stay tuned for more party photos to come. Hope your weekend was festive!

16 comments:

  1. Violet is a lucky 1 year old!! Everything looked great and yummy. I'm planning my little girl's first birthday party as well and I love your tips!! What is the delicious looking drink in the dispenser?

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  2. Wow, you did a fantastic job! What a lucky little girl!

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  3. Thank you ladies! The drink is strawberry lemonade with lemons and strawberries in it.

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  4. This is one of the cutest parties I have seen in a long time! And I love the Marimeko...went perfectly with everything. SO so cute!

    Happy Birthday to Violet!

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  5. This looks like such a beautiful party! SO inspiring! Quick question - what did you give as favors??

    And happy belated to Violet!!

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  6. Thanks CarMaj! I gave each of the kids a mini play-dough, stamp, crayons, and mini bubbles. They also got to keep their pinata candy, wands, and headdresses.

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  7. YUM! Nice work, Lauren. Looking forward to seeing more photos.

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  8. This is so cute! You have such a creative spirit!

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  9. you did great, and now I feel awful. My youngest turned two a few weeks ago and due to us traveling to NYC to be with family I didn't put much thought to it like I did with his first. Thankfully I can redeem my self next year. I'm gonna tell my sis to look at this post for inspiration for my niece =)

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  10. Wow! That is all so beautiful. I wish I had a little of that ability to create parties! I'm dropping by from the Alexa hop. I also followed you on Google and Twitter, liked your FB page, and voted for you at Circle of Moms. Very impressed! Have a good week!

    http://www.meldreamsoften.com

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  11. Happy birthday Vi! Wow! Your party is very amazing! Credits to your creative parents! Combination of red and pink is just beautiful!

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  12. I originally read this post on my phone a night or so ago, but didn't comment due to my technical ineptitude. With that said, I love your party color theme. Oh, and the "poppy" cookies are just gorgeous!

    Personally speaking, I'm a fiend for party planning, and went crazy preparing the details for my little boy's first birthday this past December. I mean, I spent six weeks making "Yo Gabba Gabba" party hats. My husband thought I was crazy...

    This year, I'll know to get started even earlier. :)

    Thanks for inspiring me to throw a party mid-year though!

    Baby Talk without the Babble

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  13. Wow i just love the party and food looks so yummy my mouth get watery.I like this post a lot.Thanks for share

    Baby shower favors

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  14. HELLO Inspiration!! I am TOTALLY stressing..my Sons first bday is quickly approaching..and I have no clue what I am going to do. I like the idea of no theme, just using colors. Great pictures! What a great Momma you are to throw such a lovely first birthday :)

    Delighted Momma

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  15. Happy birthday Vi! Wow! Your party is very amazing! Credits to your creative parents! Combination of red and pink is just beautiful!

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  16. Hi I'm Heather! Please email me when you get a chance, I have a question about your blog! LifesABanquet1(at)gmail.com

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