Sawyer's Wild One - Part Two

Sawyer's birthday shirt came from The Blue Envelope - shipping was extremely fast, and the shirt is so well made. I definitely recommend ordering from them!

I can't believe it's been almost a month since we threw Sawyer's party. The planning seemed to take over my life for the few weeks leading up to it. We had a few set backs when dealing with the location. Originally we had planned to use the clubhouse in our complex, but after speaking with the Homeowners Association we learned that since we are renters, we weren't able to reserve it. At first I was upset - how was I supposed to throw a party with no location?! After a little panic, I decided that having it in our condo would actually be perfect.

Now that we knew where the party would be, I had to choose invitations to send out to friends and family. I considered designing my own, but knew that was a project that I didn't really have the time to take on. I headed to Etsy, where I found the perfect shop, OhHappinessCards!

I ended up choosing the digital option, and went to the local Staples to have the invitations printed and cut on cardstock. 

Once I had invited guests, I started planning decorations. I spent most of my time on Pinterest and made daily trips to Hobby Lobby and Target rounding up supplies. I knew that I wanted to make most of the decorations myself, and I also wanted to make things that could be reused after the party. I purchased frames for Sawyer's one year photos, and had one of my favorites printed as an 11x14. I used that as a starting point for the decorations actually. I bought an extra copy of the book to use for decorations as well. I had originally planned to have copies made, but in the end I just chose to cut out the pages directly from the book.

I made the banner after seeing similar on Etsy. I just used acrylic paints that I already owned, and hung using jute twine I found in the dollar section at Target.

Now that the first wall was decorated, I started on the second that would surround the food table.

I hung a "tree" above his highchair, made from green balloons and brown streamers which I taped to the ceiling.

I covered an "S" from Hobby Lobby with characters I cut out from the book. I also painted a burlap covered canvas with a scene from the book. I absolutely loved how both projects turned out! 

I knew I wanted to incorporate the monthly photos, so I used the same jute twine from earlier, and the tiny clothes pins that I had used for his smash cake banner to hang the photos. I happened to have a maternity photo featuring the book, so I started with that, then chose a photo from the day he was born, as well as one from each of the eleven months leading up to his birthday. I finished with one of the photos from his One Year shoot. I accented with Wild Things and Max, which I cut out using an x-acto knife.

We served Cherry Limeade, which is super simple to make. (See recipe below!) We filled mason jars with ice and garnished the rims with a lime wedge. We purchased special glasses for my nieces to use, which also doubled as party favors.

Cherry Limeade

• 2 Liter of Sprite - you could probably use Sierra Mist as well, but I prefer Sprite

• 12 ounce frozen limeade concentrate - I usually choose Minute Maid

• Jar of maraschino cherries - For this I just grabbed the biggest jar I could find, and went with the stemless option. You will be using both the cherries AND the juice

• Bag of ice

• Lime wedges - Completely optional, but I like to add them

For the party I doubled the recipe, since we were serving more people and the dispenser was SO large. Start by added the limeade concentrate to your pitcher. Pour in the Sprite, and stir to combine. Next pour in the entire contents of the jar of cherries. Stir.  Obviously the cherries weren't going to end up in people's glasses using this particular dispenser, but usually I like to have a few cherries in my drink to eat once I'm finished sipping! You could always save a few to throw into the glasses for guests.  I finished up by throwing in lime wedges.

My Dad got crowns from Burger King, and my Mom spray painted them gold to use as decorations. I loved how the crown looked on the drink dispenser.

The print was also purchased from OhHappinessCards' Esty shop, and I found the frame at Target.

The gold boxes on top of the fridge were filled with Pez dispensers, temporary tattoos, gum, and toy snakes for Sawyer's cousins to take home.

Now to everyone's favorite part - the food! After researching local bakeries, I found the most perfect one to use for his smash cake and cupcakes. One Belle Bakery is not only very close to us, but they do incredible work! The owner even competed on TLC's Ultimate Cake Off, which I think is amazing! Check out their Instagram - Seriously, impressive.

We went with cupcakes for the guests, because that meant we could have more flavor options, and they were easy to grab. They decorated the cupcakes with all of the characters from the book - coincidentally, the scene they used was the same scene that I used to decorate around the 11x14 framed photo!

We chose Red Velvet, Banana Fudge (my absolute favorite), and Chocolate-Chocolate Chip with Fudge

The smash cake was so perfect. I told them that I wanted to make sure that there was a crown on top, and I wanted the quote "We'll eat you up, we love you so" incorporated, and they went from there.

I was so blown away by the cake - it exceeded my expectations!

 For the food, we prepared things that were easy to eat while moving around. We had veggies (broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes), Spinach Artichoke Dip, Sandwiches (Chicken Salad and Pimento Cheese), Tortellini Salad, and my favorite - Terrible Teeth! These consisted of apple slices with peanut butter and marshmallows made to look like monster mouths. I had planned to cut the sandwiches into a crown shape, but time didn't allow that!

I had planned to let Sawyer wear his Max costume for some of the party, but after photos it was covered in dirt and other debris, so I removed the crown and let him wear that while he ate his cake.

Everything came together so perfectly, and Sawyer's Wild One was such a success. I enjoyed making all the decorations myself, and they're so much more meaningful knowing that I created them!

Sawyer loved his cake. We had to make him stop eating it - I think he would have finished the entire thing if we would have let him!

I forgot to mention my skirt! I found it at Edge of Urge the week before the party - it was the only item in the store that was Where The Wild Things Are related, and it was my size. I couldn't believe it!

After a quick outfit change, it was time for presents!

Surrounded by blocks and Star Wars Tsum Tsum's

Playing with cousin Bailey and his new blocks

Bailey and Gracie were so excited to help Sawyer open his gifts!

Bailey's face in this picture is so funny! She really wanted those books opened.

I was so thrilled that some of my best friends from college were able to come! Emily surprised me by bringing along Shannon and Stephanie, and having them all here made me so happy!

By the end of the party, Sawyer was definitely ready for a long nap, and so was I!