Jules is ONE / camping picnic party

 when a year goes by this fast it's scary! i cannot believe my baby is 1! 

to celebrate, we had a picnic at a neighborhood park.

the fenced in area kept the babies contained, the playground entertained the older siblings and the coffee entertained the adults.

decorations were simple, i painted these cardboard trees inspired by [roxy marj] who made his bear blanket that he was photographed in for the [monthly milestones] which you can see are printed out and used as a banner. seeing the growth from 1 month to 12 months is amazing.

lincoln had the same monthly banner at his [carnival themed first birthday]

the felt fire was sewn and put into this awesome metal container i thrifted.

balloons become more spunky with a little [tissue paper tassel]

you also cant go wrong with a donut tree and [mini s'mores]

this tent is pretty much part of the family. also seen at [lincolns lego batman party] 

the only change i make from party to party is the garland.

adopt / make your own [a-frame tent] with this easy diy post.

 the spread was easy, inspired by autumn. since the party was in the morning, we had: 

- coffee [thanks heritage!]

- bagels

- pumpkin muffins

- apples and caramel dipping sauce

- fruit

- mini s'mores

- donut tree

- apple cinnamon sticks

 this adorable smash cake (and the "goodie bag" cookies below) 

were baked and created by the beautiful and talented [@amandajanebakes]

 our 1 balloon decided to take off a little early.

i always try to personalize as much as i can, without going overboard.

i found this [mountain bodysuit] and sewed a plaid 1 on it.

 Jules was the cleanest smash cake baby. took one lick and decided he's good. 

luckily we had a ton of kids to share with.

monday munchies / 1st birthday smash cake & cupcakes

cake cake cake cake cake...

ingredients

• -3 cups flour
• -1 tsp baking soda
• -1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (3-4 bananas)
• -1 tsp lemon juice
• -1/2 cup butter, softened
• -1/4 cup canola oil
• -1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• -1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• -3 eggs
• -1 tsp vanilla extract
• -1 1/2 cups buttermilk

extras: animal crackers, sprinkles, cream cheese frosting (2; 16 oz tubs), cupcake pans, liners, 3 mini cake pans 

side note: i am a terrible frosting maker, its either too thick or too runny. i didn't have the patience to test it out for lincoln's party, so i bought some. if you think your a rad frosting maker.. you should totally go for it! recipe found on [cooking classy]

1. preheat oven to 350, and grease cake pans, fill cupcake trays with liners. 2. mix liquid ingredients (bananas, eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, oil, butter, lemon juice, and sugar) in first. 3. add baking soda and flour. 4. bake for 20 min and test with toothpick. my cupcakes cooked in about 25 min and my mini cakes took about 30-35 min. 5. cool on drying rack. 

- for cupcakes, wait until cool, frost, sprinkle, decorate.

- for mini cakes, with a bread knife, cut off pointed top on two of the three to make flat. leave one for the top of the cake. frost in between each layer. and around the entire cake. sprinkle, decorate. 

sorry for the lack of step by step photos. i was a whirlwind prepping for this party. i was mostly happy these were made in time. so happy because...  someone enjoyed his cake... 

carnival birthday party

happy first birthday, my baby boy!

someone just woke up from his nap, and we have grocery shopping to do. i plan on posting some more about the DIY part of the decorations.. but for now, here are some photos from this weekends birthday bash!