REAL PARTIES: A Day in the Garden

This adorable “Day in the Garden” themed party – created by hwtm reader Dana Nussbaum for her daughter Maddie’s first birthday – is full of SO MANY creative details!

There’s a touch of the whimsical garden theme in absolutely every element of the party… from butterfly lollipops in the dessert buffet to garden themed board books and snail/butterfly finger puppets in the favor pails to themed activities like “flower potting” and “ladybug relaxation” stations.

I’m especially loving this bright & colorful cupcake tower and all the garden-themed accents worked into the treat buffet!

Read on for lots more pictures and all the creative details, as told by Dana…

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“The theme was inspired by my daughter’s absolute love for our backyard and all things outdoor/garden… flowers, ladybugs and everything in between!

Centerpieces: These added so much whimsy and color to the party and were so easy and fun to make! Each centerpiece was made with a brightly colored tin bucket and 3 multicolored pinwheels. A little green tissue paper grass added the finishing touch!

Each child received a flower headband upon entrance (a great find in the Target $1 bins!)

The party site was decorated with pictures of Madison from each month of her first year. I framed them in brightly colored frames I found at Ikea and labeled each one with the corresponding month using scrapbooking labels.

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ACTIVITIES
A giant ball pit was the hit of the party! I custom made ours with a large inflatable pool selected in the colors of the party and then filled it with over 1,000 colored playballs.

In addition to the ball pit, kids had the choice of three stations to choose from:
• Flower Potting Station – kids potted and watered their own pots using miniature gardening tools and tiny painted pots found at Target.
• Handprint Station – each of the kids made their handprint on a mat board customized with the slogan “Oh, How I Have Grown!”  and took it home as a keepsake.
• Ladybug Relaxation Station – for kids needing a break from the action, I set up a special Relaxation area with a giant ladybug beanbag and flower tuffets; there was a small table featuring a terrarium with ladybugs and toy bugs / dragonflies for the kids to play with.

Since this was a sunny day, a special Sunscreen Station was set up with sunscreen wipes and a pair of sunglasses for each child that they could also take home with them (easy to find in the party favors aisle; I embellished mine with floral stickers to match the theme).

In addition to taking great traditional shots of the party, our amazing photographer (Jen St. John) also took a Polaroid of each family and we put them in customized embellished folders so each guest could take some memories home with them.

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DESSERT BAR
We are a big dessert family so we set up a dessert table with garden theme goodies such as gummy ladybugs, butterfly lollipops, caterpillar sugar cookies, giant pixie sticks and a tower of baby-sized cupcakes! (also see image #3, at top)

Baby Snack Bar: Since we had many babies in attendance at the party, I didn’t want to leave the lil’ ones out…we featured a baby snack bar with glass containers of baby-friendly fare like Yogurt Melts, Organic Puffs and Dried Fruit, along with miniature multi colored snack cups so their parents could fill one up and take it outside to the garden.

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PARTY FAVORS
-The inspiration for these was a collection of Madison’s favorite things, all with a garden twist…
• Personalized sand pails (found for $1.00 each at Michael’s and easily customized with stickers)
• Miniature Bubbles
• Little Twig Bath Care Goody Bag (Bumble Bee bath mitts with a selection of sample-sized bath products)
• Renee & Jeremy CDs (this is Maddie’s favorite musical duo!)
• Garden Themed Board Books
• Playtex Straw Cups customized with garden theme stickers
• Handmade flower hair clips for the girls (a great find on Etsy!)
• Butterfly / Snail finger puppets (found for under $1.00 at Ikea!)
• Personalized Name Labels for each of the kids (with garden theme designs like butterflies / bugs)”

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A few more fun shots:

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VENDORS:
- Send in the Clowns: Party Entertainer, Party Assistant, Handprint Station
- Mary Had A Little Party: Invitations, custom signs, favor tags, birthday banner, cupcake toppers
- Barbara Neely Designs: Caterpillar Banner
- Chickabug: Labels; Dessert Bar & Potting Station
- GlitzGlamBowtique:  Custom Birthday Hat
- OrangeKisses:  Custom Tissue Poms
- Jen St. John Photography:  event photography
- Crumbs Bakeshop, Calabasas – mini cupcakes
- Susie Cakes, Calabasas – birthday cake