Princess Party Pants...Turns 2

Oh the difference a year makes...here is Jolea as a newborn

Jolea at her 1 year birthday party...

Jolea at her 2nd birthday party...

Oh Boy...what a fun weekend and what a fun party. I love the way the whole thing turned out and I am so Thankful for all the family and friends that were there to make this day so SPECIAL. Jolea got so many new things...I don't know if I will ever find a place to put everything. I think she was really overwhelmed with everything that was going on, and despite a short morning nap, and feeling really icky...she was such a good girl. I don't know if she had a little stomach bug or what...but she was quiet as a mouse most of the day...and then started having really yucky diapers one after the other the later the day got. Bless her heart! I have decided that I am probably going to be one of those over-the-top birthday Mom's, that I NEVER thought I would be. Its her ONE special day out of a 365 day year to feel like she is a total princess. Sure, birthday party's are expensive and exhausting, but the smiles and sweet giggles make it all worthwhile. I guess I had better start planning next year's party starting now...so I don't run out of time or money! I wanted to share a few of my favorite photos from the party...but I'm disappointed because most of my pictures of Jolea were taken by Grammy...so I don't have them uploaded to my computer yet. I guess I will have to share those in a later post. A little gift wrapping eye-candy...I'm obsessed with pretty packages

I posted this darling mannequin a few months ago...but I decided on a different tutu and different ribbon...what do you think? I really thought it turned out cute.

She found her home at "The Center of Attention" on the cake, cupcake and cookie table! The Gerber daisy's are from our wedding. My best friends mother was my coordinator! I climbed into the attic...dusted those babies off, re-wrapped it with Zebra ribbon...and Ba-Boom...instant cuteness.

Remember the cupcake picks I designed? Well here they are in all their glory...and get this it cost me a total of about 5 dollars to make them myself instead of paying 20 to 30 dollars on the Internet.

I ordered the cake and the cupcakes from United...the lady I visited with one afternoon was so nice and so helpful that I wanted her to get my business. It turned out "OK"...I was a little disappointed with the smeared black icing inside the zebra design...but hey that's a tiny detail...right? I tried to do EVERYTHING I could to make sure she knew EXACTLY what I was expecting in terms of the cake. I printed a picture off of the Internet and I even provided a zebra stencil so she could airbrush the design. I purchased a much smaller cake at a much larger price last year...and I was VERY VERY disappointed with it, so I wanted to make sure that didn't happen this time! Overall...I was pleased...and it tasted good too.

Do you remember the zebra print letters that I did to spell out Jolea? Well...it took me forever to come up with an idea of how I was going to display them at the party. If I had to do it all over again I would use much smaller letters instead. I already had these letters from her old nursery...and didn't want to go out and spend money on new ones...so I had to make due. Below is the process I used to come up with the cute little pots that I made to proudly display her name.

(click to enlarge)

This is how they ended up...

Of course no party is complete without balloons...especially this one...because they are one of Jolea's favorite things to look at and play with. The bouquet came from Card and Party...but they didn't have any mylar balloons that would match the theme. I got lucky at the Dollar Tree and stumbled across solid colored star-shaped mylar balloons. I bought 2 whites and 2 blacks...they worked like a charm...and added a little sparkle too.

Presents...Presents...Presents...and a SPECIAL THANK YOU to all of those who came and played such a special role in this little girls birthday celebration.

This is the darling little basket that my friend Whitney was kind enough to let me borrow. Her daughter who is 1 used this theme too...so she was happy to lend me some party goods...and I am so glad she did...cause it turned out great. I filled the goody bags with "girly" things and candy of course, but this was the hardest thing about the whole party. Someday when she is a little older, we can do a craft or something that will serve as a party favor...but until then...its candy and junk...there is just no way around it! I did think it was clever to add in those Little Debbie Zebra cakes that you see at the grocery store too. If you look close at other pictures of the cake table, you will see a zebra runner...well Whitney let me borrow this too. It was a long slender piece of fabric, that was perfect for a rectangular table, but since I was using round, I folded it up and used it as a runner right down the middle.

Here is an up close shot of the table...and the funky paper lanterns that I hung from the chandelier. The best thing about these is that they were practically free @ .37 cents each from Michael's. Too bad I didn't have some black ones to throw in the mix.

At the end of the day...I was dead-beat tired...and so was my little girl. She fell asleep in Grammy's bed at 7 o'clock. It was such a special day to celebrate such a special life...and I am so Blessed to be her Mommy. I know this year will fly right by...and I will be planning birthday # 3 before I know it.