first birthday party, animal style

jakey really dug in to his cupcake. he inhaled that thing in nothing flat and politely asked for more. crazy kid! good thing i made them small (and organic with no sugar) so he could have as many as he wanted!

 i had tons of fun letting my crafty side out getting ready for this party. i found tons of pins on pinterest that gave me great ideas for the decorations and food. i set up an area inside the front door with a tree limb that was spraypainted orange and some little note cards. this was jakey's wishing tree - everyone wrote him little notes and wishes for his future. the drink station had mason jars that i painted with chalkboard paint for people to write their names on. the ice was water balloons that i put in the freezer - no wet mess when it melted! brilliant!

i tried to make the cupcakes look like mushrooms but im not sure i 100% succeeded. oh well. they tasted good anyways. the silverware was made to look like carrots and i made little owls out of toilet paper rolls that i put everywhere. i wish i could take credit for dreaming all this up but it was all inspired by things i found online. i do take full credit for execution though! the 40 or so people (inluding 14 kids 3 and under!!!!) had a great time. it was so wonderful to be around so many friends and family for such a great reason - celebrating the life of one of the cutest kids around.

the final craft project was these animal masks. i made a bunch in kid and adult sizes for people to use as photo props. not as many people took pictures as i was hoping, but there were a couple winners:

this grandpa raccoon and grandma cat are my favorites!