It’s been a full month since Luca turned one and I still can’t believe he’s not a baby anymore. Okay, obviously he will always be my baby, even when he has his own babies, they will be my baby’s babies…you get the point. But technically, we are toddling right into toddlerhood and I miss that sweet, little baby that would yawn and make the best sounds. Just look at that tiny guy! Oh gosh, anyway, that baby is now one.
We went back and forth on a theme because there are SO. MANY. Throw a quick search into Pinterest and prepare to be overwhelmed with a gazillion pins. If you can twist it into a cute saying and throw a bunch of colors in the mix, it’s fair game. We also knew that this would probably be our only year to do what we wanted before there was an opinionated toddler screaming about Disney or monster trucks, so we were going to take full advantage.
I should also preface this with the fact that John and I are both stuck in the 90s and still say things like “bomb dot com”, “sweet”, and my personal favorite…“word”. So, when we saw Bash Co + Events use a bunch of Notorious BIG lyrics for their client’s birthday, we were sold and a 90s hip hop birthday was born.
I will share all the details below and link all the goodies. If you want to see more details about the DIYs of the party, I will be sharing a few different tutorials in future blog posts, so subscribe to get on the mailing list!
First up, let’s start with the signage. I made the printed signs in photoshop and then printed them at Costco! Anyone want to see a quick tutorial on those? I think they would be super fun for quotes in your house too. The frames are from IKEA, which I already had for a gallery wall I want to install in our bedroom. But let’s be real, the star signage here is the most amazing calligraphy from my friend Shelley at Scribble and Script. She’s done my wedding signage, gender reveal, baby shower, and now Luca’s first birthday. She is THE BEST at what she does and even offers classes to teach her skills. Look her up, seriously.
Let’s talk desserts, because isn’t that what everyone really wants at birthday parties (umm…and alcohol…cough, cough)? The cookies are by The Cookie Dealer and are as delicious as they are adorable! The bundtini’s (cupcakes) are Nothing Bundt Cakes. And last, but not least, the cake and smash cake are from Frosted.
How cute are those Luca faces?? So easy, just crop your favorite photos to approximately the same size, print them on regular printer paper, cut out your baby’s adorable face, and add a crown or party hat. Ta, da! I taped them to the straws that I also used for our drinks. I just cut the straws in half.
Luca sure loved his first taste of sugar!
The backdrop, I made, by painting this Amazon canvas with exterior flat black paint, mixed with a little water and fabric softener. I wish I could give you a ratio, but I just played with it until I liked the consistency. The fabric softener is supposed to keep the canvas from cracking. Mixing in water also made the paint go further. After I let the canvas dry a full 24 hours, I took a paintbrush and splattered white and gold paint all over the canvas! Play with it, there’s no right way to do it, just keep flinging until you like the outcome.
Okay, balloon garlands. I’ve made simple balloon garlands before with the Etsy kits and they’ve always been just so-so. This time I wanted to step it up, so I did a little research and found this YouTube channel and it was really helpful! She has so many videos that explain how to take your balloon garland to the next level! I used fishing line, and the balloons and pump linked below to make the whole thing. Super cheap and easy. It took about two hours, the night before the party, to make two HUGE arches. One piece of advice, if you are doing an outside event in 100-degree weather, be prepared for a million balloons to pop and just know if you are using dark colors, they will fade in the sun in a matter of a couple of hours. I expected and planned for this. If I hadn’t, I would have been disappointed.
- Balloon pump
- 9″ black latex balloons
- 18″ black latex balloons
- 5″ black latex balloons
- 12″ gold latex balloons
- 12″ tie-dye balloons (these were gorgeous before I took them outside. If you’re having an indoor event, I highly recommend them!)
- 260Q balloons (I used these to tie the clusters together then add to the outside in places)
I wanted to incorporate flowers into the design but wanted to keep everything pretty modern, so I decided to go with dried florals. Actually, I needed an excuse to make arrangements for our house for fall, so this was a great ‘two birds’ moment! Don’t tell John, K? Thanks! I will do a separate post on those later this month!
The photos I used for the tables and ‘One Year of Luca’ board are from Social Print Studio. I love them and use their prints for his baby book too. The wood cutouts are from a shop on Etsy called Carpenter Farmhouse.
Since you can’t really see the pictures on the tables I thought I would share a few here because, holy cow, they are hilarious and adorable!
Finally, I made Luca’s ‘Regulators’ shirt with my Silhouette machine. If you’re interested, send me a message and I would be happy to share the file.
Whew, that seems like a lot of information for one post! If you have any other questions, leave a comment, or send me a message! Keep scrolling for a few more inspiration photos. I think it’s safe to say Luca had a great first birthday!
