SUNSHINE BIRTHDAY PARTY

I love a good party theme (you can see here and here) and since this was the LAST 1st birthday party I was going to throw (sniff sniff, just thinking about it makes me so sad), I knew it had to be a good one.  Our sweet Nash is literally our little sunshine, he cracks us all up all day long, so it was only fitting that it should be his theme.  This party was so much fun, and I did a few extras this year that made it even more special with a personalized book, photo invitations and even a poster picture print all from Mixbook.  Read all about the DIY’s, the cake smash fail and the one thing I regret never doing for all my other boys’ first birthdays.

This right here is the birthday boy NOT enjoying his cake ha!   He did take a tiny try but then got over it and walked away.  I sat him back down about 4 times because he is MY kid, he better stinking like cake ha, but no.  He did love the m&m’s so I guess him loving chocolate makes up for it.  I don’t know why but I always think this is going to be some super cute funny moment and for some reason with Nash and my first they just were not into it…Dennon on the other hand did not disappoint.

So lets talk yellow…lots of it!  Because every sunshine party needs lots of yellow.  I knew I wanted the gift boxes to have all things yellow and of course all the treats.  Most candy or party stores color code their candy (thank you for THAT) so this was super simple and fast to plan.  The party favors I put in some clear pillow boxes which were so fun and added to the decor of the party.  The table cloth was just a white plain table cloth covered in yellow masking tape, quick and easy!  I’ve gone the whole “painting route” and I have to say this was MUCH easier and I got the idea here.
I knew I wanted TONS of yellow balloons so the kids could play in them.  We blew up around 120 balloons and made these balloon swatters which the kids had a blast hitting them with.

I knew I wanted the saying “you are my sunshine” displayed somewhere.  And decided to print one out and frame it as the main table decor.  You can download the printables and use them as some party decor or add them to your invitations.
YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE PRINTABLE (black and white) ,  YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE PRINTABLE (with yellow)

Next were the invitations.  And let me just say, I am full blown in love with the design studio in Mixbook for making invitations.  It’s so easy to use, there are so many stickers and designs you can swap and customize any card.  It was all my graphic design ambitions coming to life, because I always have the ideas but don’t know how to design.  I wanted the photo invitation to include a picture of Nash so I did a mini photo shoot (5 minutes in my office ha) and love love love how it all turned out.  I loved it so much I made a poster size print that I displayed at the party as well, it was just a fun and easy way to add some decor.

So this year I made a photobook for the party.  And can I just say, how sad I am that I didn’t do this for my other two boys’ first birthday!  It seriously was so incredibly special putting it together.  Pictures of him at the hospital, me and him together and other cute pictures from the year.  Friends loved looking through it, I even left a few pages blank toward the back of the book so that guests could write sweet notes about Nash and that me and my husband could write him a little note as well.  I just think it’s such a fun idea for a party, something so memorable and fun to share with others.  And for him to keep when he is older.  Mixbook has some of the best book themes EVER to choose from, something for every occasion and theme. This was such a fun party to plan and I loved how it turned out!

Printables designed by Rad and Happy

This post is in partnership with Mixbook.  Thanks for supporting the brands that keep Tell Love and Party going.