Our little gal Emerson turned 1 this past weekend and we went all out for her party. Some of our close friends and family came in from our of town to celebrate with us and it was a truly special day. Not to get too sappy, but this past year has easily been the best of our lives. Challenging, yes. But so very rewarding and full. Approaching her birthday, I got pretty emotional at the thought of Emerson going from a baby to a toddler. I already miss her cuddles and clings. However, her curiosity and excitement for discovering this world is contagious and I'm so ready for this fun next year together.
When I set out to plan her party, I really wanted to incorporate things she loved. Our house is set back into the woods and one of our favorite activities together is watching the woodland creatures in our backyard. We have wild turkeys, deer, chipmunks, squirrels and birds of all kinds. We really love animals around here. Emerson also adores the vintage Steiff animals my mother-in-law lent her and squeals every time she gets to pick one up and hold it. So a flora and fauna theme seemed like a perfect fit.
Many of the party details are DIYs-- the triangle garland, mustard wall banner and desserts and I've tried to describe how I made them below!
I originally set out to make Emerson's cake look much more polished than it turned out. But at 2am in the morning the night before the party, things got desperate and I decided to go for an impasto palette knife look. I really liked the way it turned out considering the circumstances and it was super easy to execute (frost a crumb layer, refrigerate, and then lather it on thick).
See the DIYs after the jump!
Wall Hanging Banner and Triangle Garland DIY:This birthday wall hanging banner is made from mustard fabric I got from the craft store (a yard of fabric is more than enough). I freehanded the banner shape and sewed the edges with a .5" seam. I used a dowel rod from Lowe's cut to around 20" to hang it. For the handwriting, Lauren Saylor of a fabulous fete, had a "happy birthday" overlay available via the Studio app that I used as inspiration. I freehanded the writing onto tracing paper and then traced the back of the paper so the lead would transfer onto the fabric when pressed. Then I used a white acrylic paint with a fine tip brush to write out the lettering.
For the triangle paper garland, I used metallic gold, ivory and pale blush card stock paper alongside mustard colored thread. I cut the card stock into triangle about 2" tall. Then I ran them through my sewing machine with the mustard thread and voila! Easiest paper garland ever. This seriously took less than a half hour to make, including the cutting.
The beverages included a cucumber and orange infused water, a strawberry and lemon infused water and a mint lemonade.
I hadn't planned to incorporate lilacs into the floral arrangements, but when I went flower shopping the Friday before, these massive lilac bunches hit me so hard and I instantly fell in love. All the lilac bushes around our neighborhood were suddenly in full bloom, so I knew that having them around the house for the party would remind me of this amazing spring season.
This face of hers in the photo above with my mom and dad, her Ammi and Poppy, so totally embodies her personality-- full of life and wonder.
Fabric Wall Hanging Banner: DIY (above) // Triangle Paper Garland: DIY (above) // Flowers: Arranged by Lindsey Bingaman and Sourced via The Farmer's Daughter Flowers // Desserts: Dark Chocolate and Smash cake were homemade and the Burnt Almond Torte via Oakmont Bakery, Macarons via Gaby et Jules // Cake stands and Platters: Antiques, Homegoods, Threshold for Target // Cake knife and server: Anthropologie // Decorative animals: vintage Steiff // Photography: Erin Kelly Photography
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// We used a rocking bassinet bedside for the first few weeks of E's life. It made those late night wake-ups much easier and it was nice to lay half-asleep and rock the baby back to bed. We would also take it to friends and family's houses for an easy place to let the baby nap.
// I cannot express how much I love this crib. I fell in love with it when I was pregnant and never looked back. It transitions from a bassinet to a crib to a toddler bed. And it fits into our tiny nursery perfectly. Plus, the design is so gorgeous and I'm a sucker for that stuff. 
// What I didn't realize before I had a baby was how hard it would be to keep a pacifier in a baby's mouth. They fall out ALL THE TIME and E would wake up and I'd have to do the sleep process all over again. Having a plush toy on the end of the paci kept it in Emerson's mouth better when she was laying on her back for a nap or at night. 
// For a few weeks, this is the only thing Emerson would nap in during the day. It has a vibrating feature to go along with the swing motion and the mobile would keep E entertained.
// I really like this bag and get a ton of compliments that it doesn't even look like a diaper bag. There's a place for everything and I've never felt like I needed more storage.
// For the first few weeks of E's life, we had her sleeping in our room bedside. So we used this sound machine in our room. After we transitioned her to her nursery, we really missed the sound machine and wanted one for ourselves. The white noise is perfect and you can adjust the sounds.
// I laid this cover on top of Emerson's changing pad cover to keep things clean. It's waterproof and super easy to throw in the washer/dryer. I also used it on her bassinet/crib when she was tiny and would spit-up/blow-out on the regular.
// This is a no-brainer and again, was the best-reviewed and cheapest I found via Amazon. I made 
// The thing I really like about this particular bath tub is that it transitioned from when E was an infant and would just lay with 
// I totally get why this is one of the highest-rated toys on Amazon for babies. When I'm leaving to go ANYWHERE in the car, I make sure I have diapers, wipes and this toy haha. It's the only thing that will distract Emerson when she's flipping out in the car and I only use it in the car so that she doesn't get used to, or tired of, it.
// I love this baby book and I was surprised by how much I have enjoyed writing in it and documenting all of E's milestones.
// Depending on how quickly your baby grows, you may need to switch to a convertible car seat around this age. I remember listening to my mom friends talk about car seats and all of them swore by the Diono brand. It's narrower than other car seats on the market, which means you can fit multiple car seats in the back. And it's known as being one of the safest out there (huge plus). 
// Awesome for when baby starts teething (and safer than the traditional toothbrush). Emerson also loves using this as a teether.
// Everyone gets this as a baby shower gift and I didn't completely understand why until E was about 4 months old and would chew on it all day. Now I take this everywhere with us for whenever she's feeling like chewing.
// Oh my gosh, our child is obsessed with this. She will jump for 45 minutes to an hour if I let her and she squeals with delight when I go to put her in it. It's a life saver when you need to do your makeup, make dinner, or do anything that requires you to use two hands.
// This was another thing everyone got as a shower gift, but kind of confused me until our baby turned 5 months. Now she plays in here like a champ. We also took it on vacation with us and used it as a crib for about a week and it was awesome. It folds and packs up so nicely and fits into the back seat of my car with ease.
// This quickly became Emerson's favorite plush toy (and mine, too). It's BY FAR the softest plush toy I've come across and it's just so stinkin' cute.
// I wasn't into the whole Baby Led Weaning thing, but I did like the idea of Emerson learning how to feed herself from a younger age. So this feeder was awesome for us. I'll just cut up avocado, banana, etc. and throw in it here and she'll chew/mouth on it and eat. It's also been a LIFESAVER for her teething. I fill it to the brim with frozen blueberries and let her have a field day.
// Buy a lot of these because they WILL be thrown on the floor quite often. I bought the more expensive bowls with the suction cup bottoms, and Emerson pulls them right off her tray and throws them on the ground, so I just buy the regular bowls now.
// Oh the lengths I will go to soothe a teething baby, am I right? I like this teething necklace because I can put it on while we're out shopping (and Emerson is in the carrier) and she'll just chew away happy as a clam. It's also not terrible to look at, so I don't feel like I'm wearing a ridiculous baby toy on my neck.
