Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Tea Party 1st Birthday - On A Budget



This weekend we celebrated my little girl's 1st birthday with a homemade tea party.  I'd seen some amazing parties on other blogs, but wanted to come up with my own style, make the stuff myself AND still pull together the whole thing for under $75.  Yes, welcome to Crazyville, population: me.

I am still sane enough to state what I hope is obvious: this took time to put together.  Usually when you see a jawdroppingly gorgeous party they leave out the part they were up until 3am for a week making it and that it still cost a bunch.  I've got 3 kids at home and limited time & money, but by starting to gather supplies and make the crafty bits little by little in advance (when I had 10 minutes here, 5 minutes there, etc.), I was able to do all this stuff at a reasonable pace.  It made the actual day a lot less stressful and I got to bed before midnight.   So enough boring talk, let's roll out the party!!

To start, I made these teapot invites using my Cricut & Sure Cuts A Lot software several weeks ago.  You can read more about them here.


Here's a little tour of the actual party:


I used yardage of cotton fabrics for the table & cart coverings (bought on sale for under $2.50/yd), so they could be reused or made into sewing projects later.  The pink flowers were silk ones I use to decorate in the house in the spring.  All the trays, glassware, china plates & teapots were things I already had, but went together easily.

I made a gift bag with some of my favorite print papers & spare ribbon:


Birthday banner made with my Cricut, SCAL & some ribbon:


To hold the banner, we used conduit pipe wrapped in crepe paper (credit to my husband for that idea) and topped with these little doodads:


I made little tea sandwiches and used my Cricut to cut out little teapot signs for the refreshments to tie them to the theme.


Since it's a tea party, even though it was 90 degrees, we had to have tea!


And several kinds of treats.  Like this cookie cone (made with the tutorial from Prudent Baby):


Cupcakes with matching wrappers (using the Cricut & SCAL):


And of course a cake made with my personal favorite, modeling chocolate:


How did she like her first taste of cake? Let's see how she started (wearing her last minute added DIY teapot party hat, of course):


And this is where she ended up:


And her "What?!  Haven't you ever seen anyone enjoying their cake before?!"


And the birthday girl had to have a tea dress, so I'd made this for her to wear (which had to be changed moments after the cake photos:


In addition to getting some wonderful gifts (including several gorgeous handmade ones from my crafty aunt), she finally saw the quilt I made for her in this post:


We even got a somewhat decent picture of us together (where Mommy doesn't look quite as exhausted as she feels):


Would I want to do this for every birthday?  Ummmm, no.  But for a memorable first birthday, for my last baby, it was definitely worth it!

Sharing this with my fave link parties too so check them out here!


53 comments:

  1. What a sweet little birthday party for a cute little sweetie. You did a great job. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. hi cheryl-- what a beautiful party and great attention to detail. and that girl is a doll! so sweet.
    malia

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  3. Wow! That party looks amazing! I love the cake, the cookie cone, and all those decorations! What a great party! Thanks for sharing with your readers!

    -Ponytails

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  4. What a lovely party for your little girl! I love all your paper cut stuff (I have been really wanting a cricut and that software since you blogged about it when you first got it)

    I hope she had a fun day and well done you for not being up til 3am and able to enjoy it properly!

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  5. Wow, what a wonderful themed party ! I'm inspired to do something like this for my next family party.

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  6. What a lovely party! It looks fantastic. Love the cake photos - so fun. :-)

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  7. oh my this is gorgeous! So cute, I love it :)

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  8. Adorable. Love all the details. (and that hat is too cute!)

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  9. what a sweet birthday party for sweet boy.thanks for sharing
    display stands

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  10. Fantastic crafts and yummies! My favorite is the gorgeous cookie cone, what a sight.

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  11. Lovely party - everything looks wonderful!

    Susan,
    http://entertainexchange.blogspot.com/
    Party and Entertaining Inspiration

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  12. It was a very nice and cute party.That girl is a little princess.
    Hugs from Málaga (Spain)
    Liliana

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  13. What a wonderful party! You put so much detail into it. Can you tell me what cartridge you used for your Cricut to cut the cupcake holders. I'v been wanting to do this. Thanks for your help... Blessings, Sherry

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  14. Happy birthday little princess!

    You did a wonderful job. Kudos for your craftiness and creativity (not to mention the hard work).

    That dress is darling. Did you use a pattern?

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  15. Lovvve all your ideas. The cookie cone is sooo cute! That baby is adorable and looks very happy with the party Ü

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  16. Awww- how sweet. Love all your crafty additions to the party and that dress is too cute.

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  17. Super cute and sweet, you didn't overlook any detail! I want one of those tasty looking sandwiches...

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  18. I am so excited I saw your post my little girl's third birthday is in three months and she just asked to have a tea party birthday and I had now clue what to do. You're idea where so adorable! This definatley gives me a good place to start!

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  19. Thanks for sharing your amazing tea party! I love the before and after pics of the cake-eating experience too :)

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  20. What an adorable party! Thanks for linking up to the Mad Skills party!

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  21. That is such a cute party! Great job on it!

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  22. Coming over from Show and Tell! this is adorable and I am so impressed that you made everything and stuck with a budget! Just lovely and happy birthday to your little one..so precious! Christie at Three Pixie Lane

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  23. I love your creative ideas! This is my kinda blog and I'm glad I found you on the hop. I'm your newest follower. I hope you'll enjoy my blog too.
    Maureen

    http://www.maureenmakesit.com

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  24. I loved raising boys but seeing this tea party makes me wish we had a girl to spoil. This party looks so fabulous. It is so sweet and precious!

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  25. J'adore!!!!!! You are an inspiration!

    New follower from NFF! I can't wait to show my daughter these pics and ask her if she wants her next b-day (in january) to be like this one!!

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  26. This is beautiful! I love all the pink details!

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  27. I love your little teapot labels:) And that cake...Love it! I bookmarked your etsy page-LOVE those hats! You have a lot of talent!

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  28. Wow! That party was absolutely beautiful. And the cupcake tester seems pretty pleased.

    Kudos on a marvelous job done!

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  29. What a cute party! Looks like everyone had a good time! Esp the birthday girl with her cute outfit and cupcake! The banner and colors are just beautiful! Thanks for linking up to Topsy Turvy Tuesday!

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  30. That cookie cone is awesome...and your set up is so cute!
    visiting from tatertots and jello!

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  31. This whole set up literally couldn't be any cuter. Now I want to throw a tea party, and I don't even have any kids! Great ideas!!

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  32. I would love to learn how to make the cookie cone, it so beautiful and elegant.

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  33. a fine example of 'it's the thought that counts' and 'little and often' being the only buddies you need to make the perfect birthday celebration :o)

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  34. a fine example of 'it's the thought that counts' and 'little and often' being the only buddies you need to make the perfect birthday celebration :o)

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  35. Oh, love love love it! Do you mind coming over to Germany for the end of September and planning my birthday party? ;-)
    It's all so adorable and you look amazing in the photo. Not the least tired! When I plan parties for my kids I usually end up looking totally exhausted in the photos - no time for sleep, makeup and such. Am working on my plannig skills ... :-)

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  36. Everything looks GORGEOUS! (and delicious!) Happy 1st Birthday to your beautiful little girl.
    Best regards,
    Gloria

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  37. Very nice! And glad to hear you mention all the time things like this take, and how to avoid all nighters! It takes an obsessed crafter to understand how someone would loose precious sleep to make a nice party, I'm definitely one of those! thanks so much for sharing on Craft Schooling Sunday!

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  38. Girl, you sewww rocked it!! None of us ever wants to admit that hours and sweat go into prep'n for events. lol

    What a loving momma!! And beautiful b-day baby.

    I still gotta check out that software.

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  39. Girl, you sewww rocked it!! None of us ever wants to admit that hours and sweat go into prep'n for events. lol

    What a loving momma!! And beautiful b-day baby.

    I still gotta check out that software.

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  40. Thanks so much for linking up to the Pretty Packages Party. I just get lost in this post looking at the pretty party and ADORABLE baby! Have a wonderful week!
    smiles!

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  41. Found your blog from Childmade:

    Gorgeous! I love how you used items from around your house to pull off this look. I have a party coming up in a few weeks ... this is inspiring! I better hurry up and get started, though ;)

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  42. Cheryl!!! If this is what you do on a budget...imagine if you had Amy Atlas' budget for a party?!! :)

    LOVE it!!

    Thanks so much for linking up! Come back tomorrow for the show off of fave parties!

    xoxo
    Bird

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  43. This is an inspiration. I have been thinking about my daughter's third birthday which is in early May (yes, I am thinking about it in December...part of my vow to make 2011 more organized than 2007.8.9.10). I think this idea will work beautifully and it's nice to see it executed so beautifully on a realistic budget, we also have three kids. Thank you for sharing!

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  44. This was a very nice tea party! I loved look at it! I am so excited to have my Hope Faith her first birthday party too! Thanks for the tips!!

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  45. Love this idea! MY daughter turns one in September and I am looking for ideas. I may steal this one. Thanks!

    BTW--I am also following your blog. I'd be honored if you'd consider following mine. It's called Chatons World and is found at http://chatonsworld.blogspot.com

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  46. So yea, that was AMAZING. So adorable and incredibly budget-friendly. You are one savvy mama.

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  47. This DIY 1st birthday party supplies are really budget-friendly yet so unique! The product of your creativity will be treasured by your little one if she saw these pictures when she grow up.

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  48. Hi Cheryl, long time no surfing here! I'm planning E's 1st birthday party for next week and remembered your post for Serena's so thought it was high time I popped by to say 'hello' and grab a little inspiration! Can't believe your gorgeous girl is now 3, how time flies. take care, Nic

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    1. Nic, you are so sweet! Time does go by fast - it seems like just yesterday you were newly expecting and now the 1st birthday is nearly here. I've put my other parties on the sidebar too so they're all easy to find (and have another one to add in the near future). I'm so touched you remembered that birthday post. I hope you have a wonderful celebration and 2013 gets the family allotment going again:)

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  49. Oh my gosh! Cute baby and darling party....

    The best to you,
    Sharon and Denise

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much ladies. This was my very first "styled" party, so it's wonderful to hear such nice things about it over the years:)

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