Selah's nautical first Birthday Party! {part 2}

I absolutely loved planning this party! I honestly starting thinking of ideas a short while after Selah was born. I'm a planner and I love to think ahead. Like I mentioned before, a lot of the stuff was found, made and purchased months in advance. 4th of July decor was a big help for me. A lot of the props and decorations were used in Selah's 1 year photo session too, so it was smart for me to prepare them ahead of time.



The bunting above was one of the things used in Selah's photo shoot. I designed it in Photoshop and Caleb punched holes in the sides of each triangle and threaded it through leather cord for me. The framed photo on the left is one from Selah's newborn session, and the one on the left is one of her 1 year photos. I wanted them to be taken in the same chair so they could coordinate and we could frame them side by side for the party and use them for the front and back covers of her first year scrapbook. (See, PLANNER.) They turned out better than I could have imagined.



We put pictures around the room from her session. You might recognize the suitcase and life preserver if you scroll down a few photos.



I made the invitation above to look like a boarding pass. I created in in Photoshop and used the polka dot and checkered pattern on the rest of the printables to coordinate. Since we frequently call Selah our little "Sailor," I capitalized on that and ran with a nautical/cruise ship theme. We used red, dark blue, light blue and white for our colors which proved helpful when planning early since I found a lot of Memorial Day, Flag Day and 4th of July things on sale (see the patriotic bunting I found at Hobby Lobby, below?).


I made the backdrop from a tri-fold display board and square paper plates from Target. I just hot-glued them to stay in place. I got the idea from Buggie & Jellybean. I also adapted her idea for cake/cookie stands. I used formula containers, wrapped them with coordinating paper, and hot glued them to trays I picked up from the dollar store. I also laid a piece of coordinating paper on top. The little pom poms were made from tissue paper ... another Martha Stewart how-to.



The suitcases were thrifted and loaned to me by my friend Heather, the red trays were from Walmart (another 4th of July item) as well as the buckets holding the water bottles (again, 4th of July). I found the 1st birthday items (tablecloth, plates, highchair drop cloth and bunting) at Walmart and they were perfect since the red, blue and stars matched our theme.



This monthly photo clothesline is also a favorite. It's still hanging in our living room because I love it so much. I printed out all of Selah's monthly photos and attached them to a strand of hemp with a clothespin. I created the tags in Photoshop, used a 2'' scallop punch to cut them out, and hot glued them to the clothespins. I cut up pieces of leftover straws and strung them in between the clothespins so they wouldn't slide. To see all of the monthly photos, click here.



For the cookies, I used Martha Stewart's Sand Dollar cookie recipe, here. A friend ordered the cake for us (I'll get back to you on where it's from). I found the toothpick candles at the dollar store.



I made the cupcakes. I bought the "Red, White and Blue funfetti cupcake mix" back in July, made white frosting, and found the cupcake liners in the Patriotic section of Hobby Lobby. I designed the cupcake toppers in Photoshop and hot glued them to lollipop sticks.



The crabs were Oreo truffles (a bag of Oreos and a package of cream cheese thrown in a blender) topped with red Wilton's melting candy and black frosting eyes, and the pinchers my friend Katie and I made from fondant. Covering things in chocolate neatly isn't my strong suit and the fondant sort of melted but they were delicious anyway.



For the kids, we had goldfish crackers and Capri suns.



We also had water. Again, I designed the wrapper and straw flags in Photoshop. Caleb removed the original wrappers from the bottles and secured the new ones with a piece of tape. Same with the straw flags- folded them in half and attached them with tape. I found the red and white striped straws at Walmart.



This sign was hanging in the kitchen. I saw the concept on Pinterest and Etsy (where else, right?) and decided to recreate my own in Photoshop and personalize it for Selah. I love how it turned out and it's now hanging in Selah's room.



I made signs for around the party that said "arrivals/departures," "baggage check-in," "baggage claim" and "customs and currency exchange" to tie in the cruise ship theme. We had another little table set up with chocolate coins (currency exchange) and cards where all the party guests could write a message to Selah (customs). I made the notes in Photoshop. The photos are from her 1 year session and the little S we found at a flea market before she was born. I borrowed it from her room. The star tablecloth is another 4th of July Walmart find. The welcome life preserver was hanging in her room as well, we found that at a garage sale this spring.



The party favors were probably my favorite thing to assemble.


The main favors were Swedish Fish Candies- I put them in snack size bags and stapled a treat bag tag that I made in Photoshop to the top.



The littles got suitcases filled with goodies. I made them from Kraft bags, construction paper, country stickers and blank tags. I printed the tags with coordinating paper and each little's name. Inside they were filled with fish related items to relate to the theme. The older kids got a magnetic fishing kit and a sea animal that grew in water. The babies got fish teethers and a stuffed fish. Everyone got bubbles with a fish wand and a sea animal loofa. I am a sucker for sticking to the theme through and through, even the favors. I couldn't bring myself to get anything that wasn't related to the theme. Haha.



This technically isn't DIY or related to decor, but we got Selah this kitchen set and play food for her birthday. We found it at a garage sale, in the box, unopened, for $10 way back in April. I snatched it up because I already knew we wanted to get her one for her birthday. It was a steal because when I was buying some ingredients for party food a few days before I saw it at Walmart for close to $50. YES. The night before the party we pulled it out of the garage and Caleb assembled the play kitchen for the party while I assembled the real kitchen for the party. We worked for four hours. It was all worth it. She plays with her play kitchen everyday. She had a blast at her party.


Any questions, need a tutorial, or see something I didn't talk about? Let me know in the comments.